She’s continued to be a force on screen over the years, from 10 Things I Hate About You to Save the Last Dance to Silver Linings Playbook and Jason Bourne videos; to name a few, Julia Stiles has recently entered a whole new type of role for her – directing.
With her directorial debut in Lionsgate’s Wish You Were Here, which she also produced and co-wrote the screenplay with the bestselling book’s author Renée Carlino, the story centers around a young woman named Charlotte (played by Stiles’ Orphan: First Kill co-star Isabelle Fuhrman) as she navigates through life, love and heartbreak.
Starring Fuhrman, Mena Massoud, Gabby Kono-Abdy, Jennifer Grey and Kelsey Grammer, Wish You Were Here arrives in theaters on January 17. I sat down with Stiles, 43, this week to discuss her journey into directing, to reflect upon her career so far and how she plans to navigate within the entertainment industry moving forward.
Jeff Conway: First of all, the possible framing choices in this Wish You Were Here film and the quality of the use of lighting are very beautiful. Congratulations to you and your film crew, Julia.
Julia Stiles: Thank you so much. That really means so much to me. I’m glad you liked it.
Conway: Absolutely. You are so well-known and beloved to so many of us for your long and diverse acting career. When along the way did you start to really grow a curiosity on-set towards directing and ultimately felt like this leadership position could be something you wanted to take on within your film & TV career?
Stiles: You know, I’ve been missing directing for a while. There were a few projects that I tried to start or didn’t, but I searched for the right story for a long time. Maybe I was also a little scared. I was trying to direct until one of the actresses in the movie [Gabby Kono-Abdy], who plays Helen, the best friend, sent me this book, Wish You Were Here, and I immediately thought it would be a wonderful movie and I can watch it completely.
It was kind of a catalyst that allowed me to feel more confident taking on this role. I’ve been on sets for 25 years, so after a while, you notice a lot of things and see what works and what doesn’t. I also have a wonderful interest in cinematography, lighting, design – the visual elements of a film and also timing, in terms of editing and even setting and music of a film. I have had these interests for a while and you have no involvement at that point as an actress.
Conway: So, Julia, being a creative user and having made Wish You Were Here, in what ways do you find that being a director, co-writer and producer on a project like this fulfills you in some way? In what way can your performance paintings alone not be enough?
Julia Stiles is singing her “Wish You Were Here. “
Stiles: It’s a ton more responsibility. I mean, in some ways, it’s crazy – it’s the most exhausting thing, but also that creative adrenaline kicks in and it was the most energizing experience I’ve had. Then, you step into the editing room – it’s a little bit more relaxed because you have some time and you have footage there and that’s really where the crafting comes. I loved it because people wanted to hear what I had to say. People, the crew and the cast were like – “What do you want it to look like? What do you want the emotion behind it to be? What’s the beginning, middle and end? What are we doing?” And to have people listen to you that way is so wonderful.
Conway: I’m glad to hear that. However, you have such an attractive career, Julia, with so many other acting roles in the last 25 years, as you said. So how would you describe your own professional adventure during those decades, Julia? The ups and downs and how did they make you the user you are today?
Julia Stiles and the late Heath Ledger on the set of their 1999 film “10 Things I Hate About You”
Stiles: So many ups and downs. I feel very grateful. I’ll start with movies that other people are still talking about years later, decades later; For me, everything I have learned is a true gift as a performer. Everyone starts out as an acting audition and you just need to get hired. Then, I was lucky enough to have some successes and, as crazy as it was, in life, it gave me a lot of opportunities. I was young, I didn’t know what to do with those opportunities. And then, I think more recently, in the last 10 years, I would say I started to become more grounded and a little more strategic or thoughtful about the potential choices I was making and who I was looking to work with. Sort the stories you wanted to tell, furthermore, within the limits of what is presented to you.
Julia Stiles attends the 2024 Gotham Awards at Cipriani Wall Street on December 2, 2024 in New York City. . . [ ] City.
And then I realize, I swear, it’s so surreal and it’s something I’ve been looking to do for a long time and I’m like, will this ever happen? In the end, this movie is so amazing. enjoy for me. In fact, I really hope it resonates with audiences. That’s what happens with our actors and our crew. I felt like: Oh, we’re in whatever because in the funniest scenes, the lightest scenes, they were laughing. And then in the scenes that are more about the tragic love story, other people were crying. I have an idea: Okay, this resonates.
Isabelle Fuhrman and Kelsey Grammer in “Wish You Were Here”
Conway: It’s smart to hear that. So if you could only be a director on a previous assignment that you starred in, are there any assignments that you would direct, with the talents that you have lately as a director, so to speak?
Stiles: No, because I had to go through part of Wish You Were Here, sit down to adapt it from the book, and then the five years that I had to fight for the things I was looking for after spending money and all that. . . I can visualize it a lot, shot after shot, scene after scene.
When you are an actress in a movie, you just do what the director tells you or you are only to blame for your performance. You are not guilty of the price of the production, you are not guilty of the design of the film. production or where the shots are, and I think I did all the things with the actors in Wish You Were Here that I swore I would never do as a director. So I have to take it easy with the managers I’ve worked with, because now I sense that you don’t have time to say, “What’s your motivation? You have to be happier, sadder, faster, slower. “
Julia Stiles directing on-set of her “Wish You Were Here” film.
Conway: Well, this movie is about making the most of the time we have, Julia. So in your own life, I’m curious: what are you most proudly and passionately devoting your time and power to today?
Stiles: My kids, my kids. I’ve never felt more proud to have my eldest son come and visit me on-set because he could see – and I thought he would be bored to tears, but he was actually riveted – he could see that my job was a leadership position and he could also see that my job wasn’t just getting my hair and makeup done. That meant the most to me.
Conway: That’s great to hear. So lastly, Julia, following your directorial debut here with Wish You Were Here, what would you say is your professional focus today? Do you still feel that you will do both acting and directing, or do you feel like you want to now focus on one specific craft more so, as you move forward?
Stiles: I think they go hand-in-hand. I am totally hooked – I loved directing so, so much and I’ve never felt more energized. I know acting is also still a part of it. I think that I learned so much about acting from being behind the camera and being in the editing room. On the one hand, in the editing room, I kept saying like – I’m never stepping in front of a camera again because you see everything, but I will – I just might need a little confidence boost.
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