Collider Interview with Catherine Hardwicke--Including New Details on Her Upcoming Projects

What do you enjoy about doing commentary for your films? Do you think it’s important for audiences to understand the work that goes into making a film, especially with something like this?

HARDWICKE: Yeah. I like doing commentary. As a filmmaker and film student, I think it’s really interesting to hear what a director did and how they figured out how to do things. I often like the technical commentaries myself, with the D.P. and stuff. We weren’t able to do a technical one, but you can hear myself and the actors speaking about the whole process of making the film, which can be very fun and interesting. When I talk to film students, I always say, “Buy the DVDs and listen to the commentaries, look at the making of, look at the behind-the-scenes,” because that’s such a great learning tool.

You seem to enjoy the casting process, as much as you do making the actual film. Does it feel like a magical experience to have that moment where you realize that you’ve found the person that’s perfect for the role that you’re casting?

HARDWICKE: Oh, yes! I can go back to my very first movie, Thirteen, and think about that exact moment when I saw Nikki Reed and Evan Rachel Wood do their chemistry read audition together. It just came alive. I was filming it with a video camera and I was like, “I know I can make a good movie now.” And, it was the same thing here. When I saw Amanda [Seyfried] and Shiloh [Fernandez] interacting and their chemistry, I thought, “Okay, that’s pretty sexy. That can be steamy. I feel something between these two characters.” You love those moments, as a filmmaker, or when an actress comes in and reads a small part, like the girl that played the mean girl in the movie. She was just so diabolical that I loved it. You’re like, “Yes!” I never expected it to be that way, but the actress might bring this whole other layer and just give you the chills. Those are exciting moments.

Is The Bitch Posse the next project that you’re going to focus on?

HARDWICKE: That is a really fun one. As a director, you’ve got to have quite a few projects going because you never know which one will actually come together with the financing and get the green light. But, the writer and myself and Virginia Madsen have been working on that for the last few days. The writer came out from New York. It’s very interesting. The writer has to sit down now and really roll up her sleeves and do the hard work of putting pen to paper, so I’m not sure how long that will take. I have another project that looks like it’s going to go first. It’s in Sweden and Germany, and it’s really wild. I can’t quite talk about it, but we’ll probably do the announcement in a couple of weeks. It’s a very fun, very crazy story that goes back to more of my Thirteen days. It’s more indie, raw and gritty, and it’s a true story.

Check out the entire interview here.