Over the years the actress has been consistently outspoken about causes and issues she believes in.
This is just the latest, and she assures us it wont be the last.
There will be more where that came from, I can promise you, she says.
Credit: Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:Its not uncommon for people to transition from acting to directing.
I had never wanted it.
It really, really didnt.
Paint It Black (2017) Alia Shawkat CR: Brian Rigney Hubbard/Olive Productions.Brian Rigney Hubbard/Olive Productions
you should probably see it for what it is.'
They saw it before I did.
Now that youve done it, do you want to do it again?Yeah, definitely.
It had always been there; I just never paid attention to it.
That was sort of the voice in my head.
But I think thats an endemic behavior for women because we live so much in our unconscious minds.
I couldnt get the cinematic version of the story out of my head.
A lot of books do that though, they leave these deep impressions on us.
We talk about complex female characters, but what does that even mean?
What does that look like?
All of those things which are inherent to the female experience.
There are some really, really wonderful ones, but there arent enough of them.
Shes had her book turned into a movie.
So, it took a while to sort of woo her.
This deals so honestly with the topic of suicide and how it affects people left behind.
Was that a personally meaningful topic for you?It wasnt.
I totally respect and understand how complicated it is to tell stories about people taking their own lives.
And, for me, that was the more powerful story less the answers and more the questions.
Its finding more poetic ways to convey feelings and thoughts of women onscreen.
There is a strong Gothic sensibility to it.
And I also needed to convey the class-ism in Los Angeles.
The fact that you have so many people here that are literally separated by Sunset Boulevard.
It couldnt just be a gorgeous house; it couldnt just be an ostentatious mansion.
The soundtrack relies heavily on the interplay of the punk scene and classical music to great effect.
It was pretty wild.
Another thing I have a great connection to here in this city is classical music.
That was another thing I said to Janet Fitch was how much classical music meant to me.
My aunt is a classical pianist a beautiful, beautiful concert pianist so that also ran in my veins.
So I knew the classical songs I was going to pick.
I like the idea of this slow punk world against one of the most beautiful classical pieces ever written.
So those are two of the different sides of that.
Just because its calledPaint It Black, I didnt want there to be a Rolling Stones song in it.
Lastly, on a different note, I wanted to ask about yourNew York Timesop-ed.
How did that come about?
Im tired of talking about James Woods.
I said what I needed to say in thatTeen Voguepiece and I was done.
And she really didnt have to do that, but she did.
And it was really sweet of her.
It is not lost on me that a black woman is the reason that article happened.
There will be more where that came from, I can promise you.
Paint It Blackis being distributed by Imagination Worldwide and is available now on VOD platforms.
