Sarah Polley adds director to resume
NEW YORK, March 22 (Reuters Life!) - From child star, to political activist, to the thinking man's pin-up, to film director, Sarah Polley's varied career has made her one of Canada's most talked about actresses.
She is now in the spotlight with her screenwriting and feature-length film directing debut, "Away From Her," based on a short story by author Alice Munro. The film starring Julie Christie and was shown at this year's Sundance Festival and is set for general release in early May.
Toronto-based Polley, 28, who comes from a family of actors, began her career at the age of four in a Disney movie and went on to be the child star of TV series "Road to Avonlea."
After quitting acting for a while to focus on left-wing political activism, she was persuaded to return in 1997 and has since made a successful transition to adult films, appearing in "The Sweet Hereafter," "Go", and "Dawn of the Dead."
She spoke to Reuters recently about juggling her life:
Q: What lead you to directing this film?
A: "I read this short story in the New Yorker and I was entranced. I just couldn't stop seeing Julie Christie's face in the role. It took a long time to convince her to play the part though because she is not someone who likes working a lot."
Q: Did you enjoy it?
A: "The experience of making the film was so great. This is something I want to continue to do in the future. I really love acting and want to continue with that too but I loved the intensity of the collaboration of film making. It is the hardest thing I have ever done but also the most exhilarating. There is such a lot of responsibility and pressure on you."
Q: Why do you think directing is so male dominated?
A: "It is a very strange sensation where you think we must have progressed further than this. There aren't enough (female) role models out there for my liking. I can't figure out why. Maybe it is because the decisions are made mainly by men.
I made this film in a privileged environment. There was no creative battles at all. I think it is because making a film in Canada is a different process and there is a lot of respect in the film maker. It is unheard of for the film maker not to have final cut."
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I am in the middle of scripting two things right now and they are totally different from what I made. I don't want to be a film maker who is immediately recognizable. One is an adaptation and one is an original screenplay.
Regarding acting, I am about to start in June on an HBO mini series about John Adams and in September start a film."
Q: Would you like to incorporate politics in your films?
A: "My ultimate goal would be to combine those two things but it is rarely done well. I have seen political films where the film making gets ignored because it is too focused on the message. I can count on one hand the number of film makers who have managed to do this in a way not horribly literal."
Q: Are you still politically active?
A: "In the last two years I has been completely consumed by this film. It is part of my life -- in my heart -- but I have done nothing in the last two years."
Q: Will you continue to juggle acting, directing, singing?
A: "I think it will be great to go back and forth. I will learn so much about one job from the other job, but it is frustrating because you want to do everything. My fantasy is to devote time to singing and song writing but it is so abstract for me at this point. It is something I fantasize about."
Q: Do you mind being seen as a thinking man's pin-up?
A: "I am blissfully unaware of how other people see me, maybe because I was in the public eye since I was little."
