Colliders ownSteve Weintraubhad the opportunity to sit down with Hawes to talk aboutThe Amateurand his filmography.
They also discussSlow Horses,Black Mirror, and the eagerly awaited DC seriesLanterns, starringKyle ChandlerandAaron Pierre.
JAMES HAWES:Slow Horses.
Image by Jefferson Chacon
Because part of a director’s job is to invent a world and the tone.
I’m a huge fan ofSlow Horses.
And it’s not slowing down.
Image by Jefferson Chacon
So I love the success, but part of me wants to go and play with the family again.
What’s it like?
Have they asked you to come back?
Image by Jefferson Chacon
Or are you sort of like, Well, I’m doing features now.
I’m doingLanterns, my schedule’s pretty full.
HAWES: My schedule’s pretty full, and I’m spoiled with that.
Image via 20th Century Studios
The thrill is insettingthe world and building it up.
What was it aboutThe Amateurthat said:Oh, I want to do this?
HAWES: It was the sort of film I’d like to go and see.
Custom Image by Nimesh Niyomal
I love the genre, as you will gather.
It’s like you have a very good tone, a very goodedit.
HAWES: A film is an organic thing.
So I felt there were moments where I wanted to spend more time with Charlie Heller in his grief.
More time with him in his solitude or his darkness.
I like to think that’s become part of the signature and the rhythm of the whole film.
Image via John P. Johnson/HBO
That’s a richness of the script and of what Ramis brought to the character.
Was that in the script?
Did anyone at the studio say, We really need to get past this?
Image via Netflix
But it’s really important to establish who Ramis character is.
Then you’re left wondering: is he going to go that dark?
You’ve directed a lot of television, and now you’ve recently made two features.
Image via Warner Bros. Pictures
Had you been thinking about doing features for a while?
How did you make that transition from doing a lot of other stuff to now this?
There is no obvious career path that you’re able to follow.
Image via 20th Century Studios
I wasluckyin that I sidetracked into television, and I had some amazing adventures.
So, you make your own luck.
You find your opportunities as you go.
Image via 20th Century Studios
Here I am back doing TV again.
I hope I will continue to be able to switch between the two.
Justified like this show is as being part of a collective experience in the IMAX or wherever.
Rami is fantastic in this.
He’s just such a good actor.
I know this is a little generic, but what surprised you about working with him?
Because he’s so compelling to watch.
HAWES: His commitment, I think.
I didn’t ever doubt it.
He has such an intelligence, which was vital to the character.
I always think that actors can’t affect intelligence.
Its either something they have to have or not, and you utterly believe it with him.
You believe he has the IQ of Charlie Heller.
Then he brings that emotional intensity that makes him so captivating on the lens.
How ‘The Amateur’ Changed in the Edit
“We can strengthen it.
We can enhance it.”
What did you learn from those early screenings that impacted the finished film?
HAWES: There were two things very early on.
Quite early on, we decided to test it, and two things stood out.
The other was, there were one or two relationships in it that begged for more screen time.
We shot a couple of extra beats with him because it felt so satisfying as a character.
We can strengthen it.
We can enhance it.
We can clarify a few more bits here and there."
Were there any big changes made as a result of test screenings or showing it?
HAWES: Remarkably not.
No, there really weren’t.
The script held up.
There were changes made in the edit.
We played with that structure.
The script is your blueprint, but the building emerges as you put brick on brick.
You were shooting and then you got stopped by the strikes.
HAWES: It did in the way you just talked about.
Obviously, there are downsides.
You lose momentum, and momentum is a very important part of the filmmaking process.
It was -19 during the day, and we couldn’t practically film there.
But we did have that pause.
It was time to know the material.
‘Lanterns’ Is a More Grounded Series With “Sci-Fi Magic”
It bewitched me.
As I mentioned earlier, I’m a huge fan of Damon Lindelof.
I think he’s such a brilliant writer.
And the fact that it’s you and Damon and Chris [Mundy] and Tom King working onLanterns.
How did you get involved in this project?
Was it something you went after?
Did they ask you?
HAWES: They asked me, amazingly.
I’d worked with the team at HBO Max, three times before.
I set upSnowpiercerwith Sarah Aubrey and Joey Chavez.
I’d worked with them onThe AlienistandRaised by Wolves.
There is a very particular humor that they brought to this.
Yet there is a rich vein of humor running through it.
Again, it was about that tone.
So listen, it all starts from the script.
When you turn those pages, can you get the smell of it?
That absolutely happened withLanterns.
To some extent it’s a swerve.
Superheroes and not somewhere I’ve really played before.
But it’s created in such a way and I can’t tell you much that it bewitched me.
The series will bring the Green Lanterns Corp to life.
Ive spoken to people and even James Gunn.
And he said that it’s like a very grounded detective story.
Unlike the comics, which can be a little bit more sci-fi, if you will.
They don’t need that extra sprinkle of sci-fi fairy dust.
It works within a physical world that we’ve come to know.
One of the things that’s really cool for you is you’re directing the first two episodes.
Just likeSlow Horses, you get to be the one that establishes the look and feel of the series.
I’m just curious, what can you tease people in terms of what you were thinking?
Because you’re setting up a huge TV show for DC!
HAWES: I don’t think Icantease that yet.
[Laughs]Im sorry, Steve.
You’ve talked about the rootedness that’s out there with James.
It’s an extraordinary combination of cast.
I’m thrilled by who we’ve got here.
I don’t think DC fans will be in any way disappointed.
I know James Gunn has already spoken about how excited he is.
So, yeah, watch this space.
I’m a big fan of Aaron and a big fan of Kyle.
What are they bringing to the characters that really has excited you the way Rami is forThe Amateur?
Because I’m so excited that they’re both in the show.
I think they’re going to be great.
The next word is charm.
These are two people youjust want to hang out with.
There’s just no doubt you want to hang with them.
You want to go on that journey and add to that.
They’re not on the outside that deep in those skins.
Speaking ofBlack Mirror, you directed two episodes of those.
And how much is Charlie [Brooker]?
What’s that collaboration with Charlie?
How much individual freedom do you have in your episode?
HAWES: You have an enormous amount of freedom enabled by Charlie.
But there were absolutely films that I was able to say:This is how I see it.
This is how I created it.
Being excited to be involved, but letting the filmmaker step out and create somethingindividualwithin theBlack Mirroranthology.
I’m a huge fan ofBlack Mirror.
HAWES: It’s the latter because there’s some amount of casting that’s going on.
I met with her, and worked with a DP who she knew very well.
She sort of felt that there was a fit with giving that rooted thriller feel to that particular episode.
Plus, it was feature-length.
So for me, it was a wonderful, ambitious piece to play with.
They have a sense of what’s likely to fit with a given director.
IsBlack Mirroror something you’d like to go back to?
Because the new season’s about to come out, and I’m so looking forward to it.
I mean, it is the sort of thing I’d love to go back to.
Charlie and I have spoken about it.
We spoke about maybe trying to find something to collaborate on separately in the future.
It would be an honor to do so.
Whats Next For James Hawes?
I just want to marinate in my own creative juices.
How much longer do you work onLanterns?
Do you already know what you’re doing after this?
HAWES: have another two weeks of shooting, and I work on into maybe doing the edit.
But I do not know what I’m doing next.
I overlapped directly fromSlow HorsestoOne Life, fromOne LifetoAmateur.Amateur,I finished the final mix on the Friday.
I flew to startLanternson the Sunday.
I want a creative break.
I just want to marinate in my own creative juices and do some plotting and planning.
HAWES: There are a couple of things I’m cooking for myself.
I’m working to develop those.
Obviously, I’m lucky enough to be reading some material as it lands.
What do you think would surprise people to learn about directing a big Hollywood movie LikeThe Amateur?
HAWES: I have to think about that for just a second.
That’s loaded with so many elements.
I mean, is it different to anything?
It’s thescaleof the logistics to achieve the scale of the images.
What’s a decision that you had to fight for that you’re so happy you fought for?
HAWES: The book has a lot of its action set in Prague.
It gave us an exotic big screen location.
It has a danger about it.
It really puts Helleroutof his element so that you feel him on edge, and at risk.
So I think that was worth pushing for, and I’m thrilled the production made it possible.
I don’t actually know, was it because of getting Imax screens?
Did they tell you why they moved it?
And how much are you sort of like, Fuck it, it’s a movie.
Let’s have fun?
HAWES: I really wanted this to feel rooted.
If we had a golden rule, it was: rooted but elevated.
Make it feel real and then push itjustinto the world of thrilling cinema.
Why Martin Ruhe as your DP?
The film hits theaters in April.
Actually, this is one question that’s not about this movie.
You’ve directed a number of TV episodes for TV series.
It already has its style, knows what it wants to be.
What is it like stepping on set to helm those?
Are you watching all the episodes?
How are you preparing to step on set?
He obviously had a very clear style established.
Then, I do!
I watch everything, I watch everything I’m allowed to.
I bed myself into the lookbook.
I turn the pages on Ridleys storyboards.
That’s a different kind of a job.
I was a big fan ofRaised by Wolves, and I actually talked to Ridley for the show.
I’m sad it didn’t get a third season.
HAWES: It was really extraordinary.
The Amateuris in theaters April 11.
Keep an eye out for our spoiler-filled half of the conversation on Collider.
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