Directors can sometimes seem like mythical figures, even more so than actors. We often don’t see them in person on the screen, but their vision is all over it. James Cameron and Greta Gerwig, who have both directed huge box-office hits this year, sat down to talk about their craft.
Sitting down for Variety’s Directors on Directors, they discussed everything from how they approach writing to working with actors to struggling with just how overwhelming it all can be and how many hats they have to wear. Cameron has written several films, such as Avatar, Titanic, and Aliens, as well as writing for others. Gerwig writes for herself as well, such as in 2017’s Lady Bird and 2019’s Little Women, but also writes with her partner, film director and screenwriter Noah Baumbach.
“I do separate the processes,” she explained, “I write the script, and it’s not until the script feels worthy of making a film, I think okay now I’m ready to do this.” When writing, you have a sense of ownership over your creation, but they both agree that has to expand and become flexible, especially when you hand over a character to an actor.
“When I give them the character then they instantly know more about it than I do,” Gerwig confessed, adding, “There are just some actors, that you feel, when you talk to them about it or they audition or they walk into the room, it’s already theirs, they already have it, they have it inside of them and they already know more than you do.”
Cue gushing over Sigourney Weaver, who Cameron directed in Aliens and then again in the Avatar franchise. When it comes to good actors, the Titanic director is all about “letting them off the leash,” qualifying, “I don’t necessarily think I am smarter than an actor who’s feeling it in the moment.”
Directors have anxieties, too
How could they not? When the studio hands them a bunch of money, they are in charge of hundreds of people and need to execute an artistic vision that may or may not be possible to entertain millions worldwide. I know I would be stressed. Cameron and Gerwig shared those anxieties with one another, with the former explaining,
“I’ve started to realize that it’s really a little filter that drops into your brain that says, ‘I now know nothing about this movie, and what’s gonna happen next and what kind of journey is it taking me on?’ And man, when I watch in that mode with other people, I start to see all kinds of things. ‘Shit, I didn’t set that up very well. Oh, they’re lost here. Ah, f**k.'”
Even if it’s just two people watching in the editing room, the pressure can be enormous, with Cameron adding, “We have to do that for some hypothetical millions of people, and it can kind of drive you nuts.”
Of course, there are some coping mechanisms, with both talking about how collaborating, and running things past teams of people, can help you to realize you aren’t alone; there is another set of eyes on the project and what is happening. Another way he looks at it is to crunch the numbers:
“What I like to do is I like to figure out how many tickets I need to sell for the movie to break even, and what is that as a percentage of the total population of the planet. And it usually works out to be like 2%. So if I can’t make 2% of the human race happy with this movie, then I should get the hook, you know?”
When risk-taking pays off
Both Cameron and Gerwig have taken huge risks in their career with projects that many initially didn’t think possible. Talking of his well-received projects, Gerwig told Cameron, “When you look at it in retrospect, everybody thinks, ‘Well of course that was gonna work.’ But at the time, no one knew it was gonna work at all.”
Both these directors thrive in this field, creating iconic films that no one would have ever imagined before, or even executed, with Cameron having to create the technology to realize his vision: “I’ve had imagery in my mind since I was a kid that there was no way to do. It’s only in really the last decade that we’re at a point where pretty much anything I can imagine is now doable.”
Gerwig also finds herself working on projects that she initially believes there is no way it will ever get done, with the likes of Barbie just feeling unrealistic from the very beginning. “It almost feels like playing a game of chicken with a movie-making process,” she joked.
Their risk-taking has paid off with Barbie not only becoming the biggest box-office hit of the year but bringing the topic of feminism into the mainstream once more. Cameron is the second-highest-grossing director with three of his movies in the top ten highest-grossing movies of all time, with Avatar sitting pretty at number one. His films also contain a message of environmentalism and respect for the planet we call home.
“I very much appreciate this,” gushed Gerwig at the end, “and I can’t wait to talk again. You’re the most interesting person to talk to about filmmaking.”
Cameron responded, “Well, let’s talk some more when the next opportunity arises. I mean, we both can obviously learn a lot from each other. So this has been fantastic. I really enjoyed it.”
We do love to see creatives supporting one another!
(featured image: 20th Century Studios/Warner Bros.)
