In his new thriller The Box, director Richard Kelly puts forth a thirtysomething couple (Cameron Diaz and James Marsden) with a spiritual crossroads to consider: accept a significant financial upgrade from mysterious benefactor Arlington Steward (Frank Langella) with the tiny catch that a stranger will die for it, or continue eking out a meager existence but do so with the knowledge that there are no favors owed or strings attached. It's a conundrum that the 34-year-old Kelly himself might be familiar with, since he rose to fame on the utterly independent, inevitably dystopic visions of Donnie Darko and Southland Tales, yet a financial lifeline is being dangled by a studio system (in the form of Warner Bros, which financed The Box) that can pad his future stories with budget, comfort, and potential compromise.
I talked to the writer/director last night about formulating his next move, his uneasy détente with the present day (and the influence of the Internet), and the unexpected side effects of being a creative person with biceps.
So what's your mood going into the film's release this weekend?
You know, I always keep my expectations as low as possible. [Laughs] This is an unpredictable business and I'm glad to be working. I'm just glad that the movie is finished and we're getting a wide release. That's something I've never had before.
I wanted to ask you about that. Donnie Darko and Southland Tales had these strange in-between openings on around 60 theaters -- not quite an LA-and-New York platform release, but not quite a semi-wide release, either.
Yeah. It's always tricky. There's maybe some rhyme and reason to theatrical distribution, but it seems to be becoming increasingly unpredictable. Obviously, the first two movies were released with very, very minimal marketing. I'm grateful to be part of the corporate machine here [at Warner Brothers] when it comes to distribution, because the independent distribution system right now is in incredible disarray, I think.
You've done studio scripts and rewrites before, and I have to imagine you were being offered directing gigs. What kept you from accepting one at a studio until now?
Well, I think I just always tried to hang on to my voice, and I've always felt like I maybe had a stronger connection to my own kind of writing material. I feel as though I'm kind of a control freak in that sense, where I need to write screenplays that I direct, but as I've gotten older now and I've completed three films that are in my voice, I feel like I'm more open than ever to potentially directing someone else's screenplay. It's just a total release now that I've gotten past [film] number three. So we'll see what happens, I honestly don't know. I have my script I'm working on, but I'm just trying to keep all my options open, really.
When you were writing screenplays for other directors, were you less of a control freak? Did you have any problems letting those go?
Yeah, that's a situation where it's a job-for-hire and I realized, "Listen, this is for someone else." You obviously still have an emotional connection to it. I've always had a pretty strong emotional connection to any art I've ever created. I've learned to try not to let that connection wear me down as much, and when I look at a writing job for some other producer, I try to keep a bit more detachment from it. You have to kind of assume that whatever will be, will be, and you hand it over and do the best job you can.
Was The Box an easier shooting experience compared to your first two films?
The only thing that was stressful about the shoot on The Box was the cold weather. We shot quite a bit of it in Boston, and it was just blizzard conditions, the coldest winter in probably years. There were a lot of exteriors, and you could really sense the entire crew [feeling] down and everything. It was a lot easier, though, in the sense that we had 44 days to shoot the movie, and the first two movies I had 30 days, 28 days. This was obviously something where I felt like I had more padding and I was more comfortable. It made me realize as well that I'd really, really love to be able to continue work at a higher budget with a studio that hopefully understands what I'm trying to do and understands my screenplay and supports my vision. I'm trying to figure out a way to keep doing that.
It's striking to see a studio thriller like this that's set in the 1970's. Usually, you'd have to fight tooth and nail with executives who'd want it set in the present day.
I think they understood why its necessary, since it's tied into historical events at NASA in 1976. There's also the issue of, if you tried to tell the story in the present day, there's modern technology that would drastically impact the plot. Social networking, internet search engines, surveillance cameras, all that kind of stuff. When Arlington Steward shows up with his offer, they just have to go on the internet and Google his name and look him up. [Laughs] It would just all transform the plot in a way that's probably not as intriguing and suspenseful. Now we live in a world where we know everyone and can see everything. Privacy's essentially been eradicated, and everyone's out there online, tied into the system.
It's interesting, though, because Donnie Darko and The Box are relatively recent period pieces, while Southland Tales is set in the near-future, as is a script you're working on now that takes place in the year 2014. It's like you're skirting the present day.
It's not that I have anything against it. [Laughs] Maybe I haven't discovered a story that would make it necessary. I've always been fascinated with recreating the past, but I also find it even more fascinating to speculate about the future, to predict where things might be headed. Filmmaking is a wonderful opportunity to construct a universe. To be the architect of an alternate future or a speculative future is exciting to me.
Your last two films essentially found their audience well after their theatrical release. How do you measure that? When you see Donnie Darko costumes at Halloween, do you think, "OK, it really did make an impact?"
Yeah, it really does mean a lot to me to see that stuff out there. It makes me realize that the movie is continuing to make a lasting impact. Obviously, it'd be really nice to have a hit right out of the gate and have it reach a wide audience immediately, but I certainly understand that in the long run, if the movie continues to reach people, it's almost like a consolation prize in a way. A good one.
You can see that sort of effect, I think, in how Donnie Darko galvanized the careers of so many of those actors. Not just Jake Gyllenhaal, obviously, but Mary McDonnell, Beth Grant...
...Ashley Tisdale was in Donnie Darko. She was the dorky girl in the scene with Patrick Swayze who asked a question about her sister eating too much. That was Ashley Tisdale! [Laughs]
Seth Rogen's in it, too.
Rogen played the bully. It's great to see all these younger actors go on to have big careers. I'd have to give some credit Joseph Middleton, our casting director. When you work with a younger actor, you feel kind of like a mentor for them, that you helped to guide them along. It's great to see them move on to bigger and better things, absolutely.
You've got a pretty vocal group of film critics who've championed your work in the past, like Manohla Dargis, Amy Taubin, Nathan Lee. Do you read any of your reviews?
Some of them. I try not to get too mired in reading everything that's written about the films because I think that ends up driving you completely insane, probably. It's great just to know there are people out there who understand what I'm trying to do. If anything, I kind of rely on my close friends and family and making them happy. I don't just want to make art that I want to see, I want to make art that my peers appreciate. I try to make movies that are a lot to digest in the first viewing, that leave your head spinning when you leave the theater, and it can take a little bit for all the pieces to coalesce in your mind. I do appreciate anyone who writes about movies being a little thoughtful about it, that they spend a day or two thinking about the film before they put pen to paper or start typing on their computer. I think one of the things in new media is that people have a tendency to try to be the first one to write about something, and that creates a culture of instant judgment that might benefit from a little more thought and digestion.
You're very plugged in to new media, though. Southland Tales had an elaborate website before the film had even started. You've got a Twitter with lots of followers.
In a way, I kind of fear the internet. [Laughs] You can either fight the internet and ignore it, or you can somehow use it to establish your voice and who you are. It's an inevitable thing. I find Twitter to be amusing, kind of ridiculous but kind of great at the same time. You don't take yourself too seriously, but you can let people know what you're doing, and it's fun to read other directors' Twitter feeds. It seems to be something that directors tend to gravitate towards.
Do you feel a kinship with some of those directors? For example, did any of them give you feedback when you were editing The Box?
I have a lot of director friends who I showed an early cut of The Box to when I was trying to figure out what to cut out. It's a long process. I found that with a lot of my friends who are directors, there's a mutual respect for each other. We understand the difficulties and the struggles involved in doing what we do. It's a never an issue of competition, I think we're really happy when someone makes a great film.
Who are we talking about?
Kevin Smith is obviously a close friend. Eli Roth. I'm good friends with Edgar Wright...when he's in LA, he's become a good friend. I've actually become good friends with Quentin [Tarantino] recently, John August...there's a whole group of people who I really respect and they tend to have great perspectives on the process.
You know, my last question is about something I always notice when I read profiles of you, and I saw it in the recent New York Times profile, too: They always go on and on about your looks like they can't believe you're not this skinny geek. "He works out!" "He's actually good-looking!" How did you somehow become one of the most objectified directors in Hollywood?
[Laughs] I don't know! I try to take care of myself. I do my best. Exercise is something that keeps me sane and keeps my head clear. If anything, I've been joking that I'd love for Steve Jobs or Bill Gates to invent a machine that transmits my thoughts right onto the computer so I could write my screenplays while I'm at the gym exercising. I don't think that invention's going to happen anytime soon, though, so I'm stuck.