“I just had my first time directing yesterday. I’m working with my sister directing episodes for a pilot with Vin Diesel called The Ropes, about the lives of bouncers. We’re so psyched. I had the most amazing first day of shooting. I was on the set for 12 hours, went to bed at two am, was up again at 7.30, my energy and brain completely alert. I can’t wait to get back on set. After one day on set, I’m feeling the itch. I’m also directing a video short for Glamour magazine. And I’m in talks to possibly direct a film in Montreal, but I don’t want to say too much about that until it actually happens.“
Words spoken by Zoe Saldana in the May issue of Prestige Hong Kong. I do vaguely recall a post on the old S&A site in which she expressed interest in eventually directing, so, no surprise here.
As for the Vin Diesel pilot she’s talking about, we’ve covered that as well; it’s actually a web series Diesel is producing with Fox Digital Entertainment, titled The Ropes – an original web series about the lives of bouncers!
And the film she might direct in Montreal, who knows what that could be. I haven’t heard anything about it.
But, in case you are wondering, Zoe is taking directing seriously, and wants to be good at it, further stating in the interview: “It’s not like it’s something that I’ve been thinking about for years and years. I haven’t really been pondering it. If anything, even if I have wanted it, I’ve been afraid to put it out into the universe. Sometimes if you want something really badly and it doesn’t happen, you can be really disenchanted by it. But I have had the offer made in the past. Directors would see how meticulous I am. I would drive them insane sometimes, asking all these questions about the lighting or the camera. They would just hear me think out loud. One of them said to me, “You’re going to end up directing one day.” That gave me the certainty that if I had really been feeling this way, I should go look for it, because it might be looking for me… I wish I was one of those tech minds who sees a gadget and who knows immediately how it works. But I’m not. So I really have had to learn on the job. I’ve been working in film for 11 years, always on the acting side, and I sometimes took the liberty to talk to the director of photography or the lighting guys. I always respected what they did, but it came from an unknowing place. Now I know how much work they do, that it’s the behind-the-scenes people who are the first to come in and the last to leave. I’m in their shoes, and behind the camera, and I have a whole new respect for them. Now that I’m sitting on the opposite side of the camera, I’m included in every component – the stunt people, the casting process, script supervision, storyboarding. I understand the power factor now, the control a director can have over an actor. I want to be good enough at it, so I’m taking camera classes, using the same Canon camera that was used to do The Social Network and other films. It gives a texture to film that’s so contemporary to this day and age.“
You can read the full interview HERE.
