Rupert Friend on Stepping Behind the Camera

Rupert Friend has just signed to Another Film Company for directorial representation.

The Homeland actor already has producer and director credits under his belt for two short films and some music videos and, ahead of a screening of his most recent short film, Steve, an excerpt of which is above, he talks to shots.net about his work, moving from in front of the camera to behind it and why he wants to step into the advertising world. 

Are you an actor who became interested in directing via his day job or has directing always been the goal?

I had no aspirations to direct whatsoever. When I began acting I was uniquely fascinated by it but what I've realised since then is that storytelling has always been key.

Stories have always been part of my life and so I wrote and produced a short film called The Suicide Brothers [in 2009, below] with a friend and it did well at the festivals, and then in 2010 I wrote Steve and instead of trying to persuade a director to understand what I meant by it, I thought I'd just do it myself, and it was a terrifying leap but it resulted in the best three-and-a-half days of my professional life.

Why was that?

I just loved it. I loved working with the actors, the production side, the cinematographer, everything. Solving the problems and telling that story in one room in 15 minutes and making you care about the people and laugh and feel scared and all of that. So, I sort of said to myself, this won't be the last time I do this. And I'm really interested in the challenge of different formats of storytelling.

You're interested in telling stories in a short space of time?

That [Steve] was a 15 minutes challenge. A feature film is typically more like 100 minutes, and a commercial 30 seconds, a minute or maybe five minutes, depending... and I love that [kind of challenge], the client challenging you to tell a story in a short space of time. 

Was there a moment that you realised you wanted to be a director as well as an actor?

It was while I was making Steve.

But what pushed you to make that film?  

Well, like I say, the first film [The Suicide Brothers] I wrote and produced but I spent so much time on set and with the directors [the Brownlee Brothers], basically shadowing them, supporting them, storyboarding with them, editing with them, everything.

And then I was on set working with the actors and I just loved it, so when I wrote Steve I realised the challenges that filmmaking throws up are really exciting to me and especially the challenge of working with actors.

That, as an actor, is something I'm not only interested in, but I really enjoy, because I see a lot of directors who get quite scared of weighing in with some big Oscar-winner.

Like Colin Firth?

Exactly... like Colin Firth. And saying to them, "you know what, we are not there yet, we have to go and work on it". That opening take of Steve, which was one, single two-minute-thirteen-second shot, we did it 21 times.

So if there is a way of combining storytelling, working with actors and beautiful visuals, that’s commercials. And I'm fascinated to see if I can bring what I've learned from the decade-and-a-half in acting into the world of commercials.

How did Steve come into existence?

Steve started out life as a short story I wrote for my friends to read while they were in the bathroom. The idea was I wrote three stories that were the length of a piece of A4, in size 12 font, and it was about the length of time you take to do...

...what you need to do.    

Yes... your most private time. And one of the people I gave it to was Colin [Firth], having worked with him. We had shared a love of writing, we are both big readers and he said ‘if you ever made a film of this, you know who should play Steve’.

And that just got me thinking.

Would you say your directorial strength, at the moment at least, is working with actors?

Yes, definitely. I'm definitely really excited about working with actors and as a writer the craft of storytelling is fascinating to me. But I think one of my other strengths, dare I say it,  would be that I'm a novice.

Can you elaborate?

I didn't come up through business or film school, I haven't worked in the advertising industry. I haven’t had my head in one world for 20 years. As an actor I've been all over the world being a million different people and learning a million different things, so I feel like the outlook that I have is naive, in a good way.

What is it about advertising that attracts you?

I love the idea of a small story, beautifully told. To me it’s like a poem or a little jewel in a box. There is something that is concise and elegant about that. I'm not interested in advertising because I'm desperate to sell other people’s stuff, what I'm interested in is making beautiful content that brands want to associate with.

What commercials do you admire?

Guinness Surfer [below]. No one [in the ad] says, ‘this beer is delicious’, or ‘wow, it’s so good for me, I must have some more’. There are some surfers, there are some horses, there is music, and you never forget it, and it’s one of the greatest adverts ever.

If I didn't tell you it was a Guinness commercial, I just said I made a short film, it’s a minute long, it’s called Surfer, you would be like, ‘it’s great’.

Are you into striking visuals?

The opening credits of Steve is this bleeding teabag and when we did that, I literally spent a day with every kind of teabag in the house trying to make that happen. In the end I got together with a special effects guy and my cinematographer, we got a fish tank and we decided, it’s [going to be] all real, there is no CGI, that's 100 per cent real.

We shot it at 48 frames and it was the most mesmeric thing, and you could say, ah tea, blood, danger, whatever, fine… but it’s just a beautiful visual.

So, a strong intro is important to you?

I'm really interested in that mood placement, where I want you to start feeling the music. I want you to relax and know that you are not going to have to concentrate or remember someone’s name too quickly. I want you to feel like it’s okay, rather than when someone starts talking and they [bombard you with] information, and you are like, ‘I just need a minute’.

Coming back to advertising, is there any particular brands you would love to work with?

Definitely Guinness. When you think of Guinness, you think cool, classy, elegant. It’s these adverts [that] will be being watched in 30, 50, or 60 years.

How are you going to juggle acting and directing?

Acting is a job with a lot of waiting around. Directing is a job with no waiting around. So directing suits me very well because I don’t like waiting around.

It is going to be a bit of a plate juggle. But I work better that way [rather] than sitting in a room for two years pondering.

Do you see yourself as having a particular style?

I would like to create projects with a reputation for being visual page-turners. So that when you are watching, you always want to stay with it, you are never bored. Like when you are being told a story at the pub and the person has you in their hand; you don’t want to check your phone, you don’t want to go to have a piss, you are just engaged.

Are you, or will you be, working on any more short films?

I'm interested in that because I generate content all the time and I like ideas. I think it is the strongest modern currency there is. And I'm someone who works in ideas. I'm very, very excited to say, ‘here is an idea, let’s talk about if it works for you’. And I think that is only going to get more exciting as I move forward.

A screening of Steve will be held at London's Charlotte Street hotel on March 2. For more information or to attend the screening, please contact Nicky Flemming at Another Film Company.