Susanna White took some time during the press junket for Nanny McPhee Returns to answer some questions for Women & Hollywood. Nanny McPhee Returns opens nationwide today.
Women & Hollywood: How did you get the script for the film?
Susanna White: I was sent it. I was out in Africa. I can remember the day very clearly. I was researching the moment when the American Marines crossed the border from Kuwait into Iraq. And I came in and washed the sand off me and was completely transported. I fell in love with the writing. It’s such a departure from what I’ve done before. I really engaged, mainly with the character of Mrs. Green, a mom who’s desperately trying to hold it all together, do a job, run the house, look after her kids, and care for the old people in the village and not really coping and desperately in need of a nanny. I thought, although loosely set in World War II, it felt like a contemporary story I wanted to tell.
W&H: Why was it so attractive to you since this was such a big departure from what you are known for?
SW: I’d been trying forever to break into making features, for as long as I can remember. I started making films when I was eight years old and it was a long journey for me. And here was an opportunity to make a big studio film with a really good script. And I knew we could attract a level of cast that was going to be fantastic. The other big thing for me was that it involved a lot of CGI, which is an area that I really love working in. So there was lots of boxes checked for me in terms of what I wanted to do and it felt like a very exciting opportunity.
W&H: You’ve done documentaries. You’ve worked in television. Why did it take so long to break into directing features?
SW: I guess for a long time I thought it was my problem. That maybe there was some quality in myself that was holding me back in some way. And it was really making Generation Kill, because to me, whether I’m creating World War II London or the world of the marines in Iraq, it’s about creating a world. And then it’s different in some sense. But clearly other people saw it as incredibly significant that I directed a TV series about an all male world. And it made me realize that there actually was a whole level of sexism going on. People in general didn’t think anything about a man directing something on what might be a female subject. But people saw it as very significant that here was a woman doing a piece of work about an all male world. And that’s when I really woke up and thought people really do see me, not just as a director, but as a woman who is directing. And the same way that I thought it was very significant that Kathryn Bigelow won the Oscar for directing The Hurt Locker. But people saw that as some kind of major achievement. Where as to me it’s just as much of an achievement as The Piano.
W&H: Can you talk about how you got the gig on Generation Kill?
SW: It had been submitted to Kevin McDonald who is represented by the same agent as me in London. Kevin wasn’t available to do it and my agent called me and said these great David Simon scripts are coming and I really think you should take a look at it. I read it and I was a big David Simon fan and met with him and we really connected. And what interested him about me was that it was a brave movie about exploring characters under pressure. And I really enjoyed doing the action but that wasn’t the main thing that made me want to tell the story. We also connected in that we both were really interested in using a combination of actors and non-actors. With my documentary background and his background coming out of The Corner and The Wire, we had very similar philosophy about not wanting to see any acting — for it to feel very real. And finally, he was a big Bleak House fan. He’s been compared to Dickens before and I think he really liked this idea in some strange way of the woman who directed Bleak House to direct Generation Kill. I have to say it was one of the most positive experiences of my career directing that series.
W&H: What was your biggest take-away from that?
SW: I think to realize I could probably do anything. Not to be afraid anymore. I think it gave me a whole lot of confidence because I went in to that having never done action, having never done CGI, I’d never done a scene with 35 characters in it, and doing all that, way in the middle of Africa in really tough conditions in the desert. And it made me feel like if I can do this I can probably try my hand at anything.
W&H: Now that you’ve done your first feature. Have you lined up the second one?
SW: I’m working on various things. I’m having a fantastic time at the moment working with Tom Stoppard on a series for HBO called Parades End. It’s basically one great big novel divided into various parts that tells the story of a marriage around the time of the First World War. It’s a big saga. So, we’re working on that together and that’s about to cast at the moment. And then I’m also working on a thriller of John le Carre.
W&H: So you really didn’t get pigeonholed back in the girl world after Nanny McPhee.
SW: That was important to me. It was interesting doing the junkets because a lot of people were saying its great having a woman directing this movie and what was it like working with the children. And I absolutely loved doing Nanny McPhee on lots of levels, partially because I really wanted to make a movie for my kids and my family, but I was really conscious of not wanting to get pigeonholed in that way. It’s been great because I’ve been sent all kinds of things and it’s very exciting.
W&H: Is there a difference between directing features and television?
SW: I think it’s just better. My whole career in television I’d been dreaming up ideas and people would say it’s a great idea but too expensive. On this, Eric Fellner at Working Title was so encouraging to me and said just look at every scene and think how to make the best possible version of that scene. Look at the ideas in that script and think how to make them the greatest cinema moment you can. And so for instance, Emma had written a scene where a pig dives into a pond and comes out the other side. And I was in my bath and thought what if I did a whole Busby Berkeley set piece here with synchronized swimming and pigs. And I went back to Emma and asked what she thought of the idea here and Lindsay Doran the producer really liked it because she was an Esther Williams fan. And suddenly I found this thing where I thought everyone was going to say no but people were saying wow that’s great. Can you think of more stuff? And then I dreamt up a magical harvest, and I dreamt up other big set pieces.
Also the opportunity to get real A-list cast. That was very exciting to me. The casting director had asked who I wanted to play Lord Gray and I said Ralph Fiennes and she said yeah, but who else. And I said I want Ralph Fiennes because he’s the right person for that role. And we offered to him and we got him. And similarly, I thought who would be the ideal father to come over the hill and I thought Ewan McGregor. I know Ewan’s agent quite well and we floated it past her and we got Ewan McGregor. It was thrilling. I think certainly with the HBO, television is a very exciting place and I think all the boundaries are shifting. With people like Kate Winslet doing work for HBO at the moment, I think that’s one of the reasons I’m so excited about working on this Tom Stoppard project is because it’s a really great long-form drama. So that’s the right form for that piece of work. I think we’re at a very exciting time in terms of the whole CGI world, and the 3D world and all the technology really excites me.
W&H: What advice do you have for someone who wants to break into directing?
SW: It took me a really long time. The only thing that kept me going… I guess I just had it inside me very early on and I knew that is what I had to do. And it really was a long hard struggle for me, even though I was lucky because I got the Fulbright scholarship to go to film school at UCLA. After I finished at UCLA it was seven years before I got a break into production. But I didn’t give up. I think my best advice to people who want to direct is not to give up. At the moment you can make things very cheaply. So keep making things. That’s the best way to learn. By watching a lot of stuff and having a go. You don’t need to make things on a big budget. The best ideas are free. I think it’s about just really having faith.
W&H: What has Kathryn Bigelow’s Oscar win meant to you?
SW: What I hope is that it’s going to make it easier for people coming up now. I feel very lucky. I had a long career in television and now I’ve made a big scale feature, but it wasn’t straightforward for me to get there when I look at my male contemporaries. And I really hope that for the young women coming through now, it’s going to be easier – it will be a more level playing field. It will be talent that comes through regardless of whether you’re male or female and I really hope that winning the Oscar put some big cracks in the glass ceiling.
W&H: Why has the film The Piano influenced you above all other movies?
SW: I think there is a very female sensibility behind that film. It’s a very delicate, balanced, nuanced and emotional story. And I can remember very clearly being at that movie with the man who became my husband and he did not get. And still to this day he cannot get why I got so excited about it and why I remain so excited about it. It was a very female story brilliantly told. And I think everything about that movie worked. It’s incredibly visual. I can still remember the shots of the big dress under the water. And the performances are so strong. It’s unbelievably sexy and the score is just divine. It works on every level. I guess there are lots of movies that have influenced me but that one showed me a different way of making films. It’s like hearing lots of music being played but it’s not in the pitch your voice fits in with. And suddenly it was like here was something in my register that resonated for me.
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