Upcoming directing and producing projects are expanding Toni Collette’s creative horizons, according to the Australian actress speaking at Qumra this weekend.
She will soon star in A French Pursuit, a comedy feature directed by Catherine Hardwicke. Collette will produce the film through her Vocab Films company, alongside UK producer Christopher Simon’s New Sparta Films.
“Meeting the production team we’re working with in France, casting people – it’s stuff you don’t get to do as an actor, it’s incredibly satisfying,” said Collette, speaking in Doha where she gave a masterclass to emerging filmmakers and attending industry at the Qumra meeting on Friday, March 1. “It’s important in life to keep learning, that you don’t get complacent. I’m so grateful that I can do that in this filmmaking world that has given so much to my life.”
Collette is also gearing up to make her feature directorial debut with Writers And Lovers, an adaptation of Lily King’s 2020 novel, which she adapted alongside King and Nick Payne. It tells the story of an aspiring writer in 1990s Boston who is shaken up by a love affair and her mother’s sudden death. Collette will produce through Vocab Films, alongside Susannah Grant and Sarah Timberman for Topic Studios; Grant was previously producer on 2019 Netflix series Unbelievable, which starred Collette.
Of the dual actor-director role, Collette said, “People say ‘how can you possibly do that?’; I’m just like ‘It’s one less person you have to communicate with!’”. Another unannounced directorial project is also in the works.
Collette took an executive producer credit on Ari Aster’s 2018 horror Hereditary, which made $82.8m worldwide against a $10m budget. She explained why she is now taking a more substantial producer role.
“I have had producing credits in the past, but they haven’t been in any way active – it’s literally because you come on board to help the money,” said Collette. “But now, Chris [Simon] is my producing partner and I’m learning so much from him, and so much in general about how to put films together from the first seed, not just coming in as an actor. Being an actor is a very small part of the filmmaking process.”
Beautifully green
Collette noted that Aster is one of many first-time directors with whom she has worked. “I didn’t realise this was a problem for people,” said Collette. “Everyone has to start somewhere. Directors, when they’re starting, some of them are frustratingly green, but some of them are beautifully green. It can make for a really special experience.”
“He is incredible, I’m so glad Hereditary came along,” said Collette. “It was very intense; he is the most overtly prepared director I’ve worked with. I saw him recently and he’s relaxed a little bit.”
In the two-hour session, Collette went over highlights from her career, including her breakthrough role in PJ Hogan’s 1994 comedy Muriel’s Wedding. “Everything about it seemed pre-ordained,” said Collette, who said she had met Hogan on the first day of auditions; and he returned to her three months later after casting around Australia.
Clips played from the film included an iconic scene where Collette’s Muriel and Rachel Griffiths’ Rhonda dance to Abba hit ‘Waterloo’. The success of the film almost led to a pre-Mamma Mia ABBA musical, revealed Collette.
“PJ Hogan was approached after the film came out by ABBA to turn it into a musical,” said Collette. “PJ was very protective of our film and said no. Then ABBA went and found a little story about a wedding – and made a film called Mamma Mia instead! It could’ve had an ongoing life.”
Collette teared up when discussing how her first collaboration with Simon, 2015’s Miss You Already in which she plays a woman who gets cancer, has brought connections in her real life. “I went to a gluten-free bakery in Sydney and this girl stopped me and said, ‘I watched the film with my mum right before she died, and it made her feel so much better about what she’s going through.’”
“I’m just acting, but to know that you’ve actually affected somebody when they’re going through such a profound experience in their life, it’s the most beautiful thing.”
With credits including Hardwicke’s Mafia Mamma and Miss You Already, Nicole Holofcener’s Enough Said and Karen Moncrieff’s The Dead Girl, Collette has worked with many women directors across her career. “We’re all human; the best director should get the job,” said Collette of the topic. “Female stories I think benefit from a female director. I’ve always been open to working with whoever feels right in the moment; I’ve worked with a lot of women.”
The two final Qumra masterclasses are from Birdman sound editor Martin Hernandez tomorrow; and Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan on Wednesday, March 6.
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