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What were your first thoughts when you read the script for cocaine bear?
I fell in love with the characters. I’m an actor first, so I always read for the characters’ journey and who they are. They were really quirky and in over their heads, and no one knew what to do with the bear, and I just thought it seemed like such a fun romp. So it’s really the tone that struck me right away. It looked like a Coen Brothers movie or a Quentin Tarantino movie, but with a bear. I don’t know how else to explain it.
What attracts you to a project as a director compared to an actor?
I can do an acting job in a few months. A job as a director… I’ve been working on the film for… It’ll be almost three years. So when it comes to directing, I have to devote my whole life to the project. I have to devote not only time and energy, but a lot of my concentration has to be devoted to it. So this must be a story I’m dying to tell. And I feel the same way about most of my acting work as well. I like to play. It’s a lot more fun and a lot less pressure than directing. So it’s easier for me to say yes to acting gigs than to directing. Directing requires my whole life to stop, so it has to be something that I think can really stand out and entertain a crowd. I’ve done three movies now, and I just want to keep adding to the legacy of what I can put out into the world.
The cocaine bear is an outrageously funny story. What was important for you to bring it to life?
Well, the bear is number one. I was quoted as saying it could be career ending, it could be risky for me, but what I meant by that is that there is a bear at the heart of this story that I have no control. I can bring actors on set, and I can pick a good location, and I can have an amazing crew, but I really had to trust Wētā to build a bear so believable it would never take you out of the movie. I’m so proud of the work that came out of it and I love our bear. But that’s what scared me the most about making the film.
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