There was a story just recently about someone famous involved in the English stage scene getting all angry over the lame Hollywood talent arriving at the door of English theatre to try and recover their careers there. Well he may fear none on this story, for Cate Blanchett is off to Sydney to direct the stage version of Harold Pinter’s A Kind of Alaska, according to the BBC:
It marks the directorial debut for the Oscar-winning actress, who gave an acclaimed performance as Hedda Gabler with the company in 2004…
She is due to perform the Gabler role on the New York stage in March 2006.
The production will play with its original cast, including Matrix star Hugo Weaving, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
John is very vocal on his belief that actors should not get behind the camera or do anything but act, however I do disagree and I think that they can have a great insight and understanding, especially if they are taking notes from the Directors they see. After all we’re seeing some great Directors out of Actors, and of late I’d say Clint Eastwood is perhaps one of those who has made such a radical change of direction, and extremely well too. Of course there are dozens who try and fail, but can’t they try?
I wonder if this is Blanchett’s smaller attempt to see if she could move behind the camera, or if she just wants to stay on stage? What actors do you think have made the move to Directing well, and which are the worst you’ve seen?
Youve already mentioned Mr. Eastwood but to name a few more, there’s Mel Gibson, Kevin Costner, Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford.
I dont see why actors cannot do this, act and also direct, there’s nothing wrong with artistic versatility is there?