Emmy-nominated filmmaker Michael Morris (“Better Call Saul”) chatted about directing the critically-acclaimed movie “To Leslie,” and being a part of the digital age.
The synopsis of this film is as follows: Years after a lottery win, a West Texas single mother, Leslie (played by Andrea Riseborough) is alone, living hard at the bottom of a bottle. Nowhere left to go, she is forced to come home and confront her past.
On the filmmaking process, Morris said, “It was phenomenal. It was a process. I was just working with some of the most talented people imaginable starting with Andrea but everybody in the cast and crew was unbelievably accomplished.”
“It was simply unthinkable because we had so little time,” he admitted. “We had 19 days to shoot it on location. We also shot it on film, it was a real experience. Everyday was a sprint but what I am proud of in the film is that it left space for the performers to create moments.”
Morris praised the entire all-star cast (Andrea Riseborough, Allison Janney, Stephen Root, Marc Maron, and Owen Teague) for being fabulous. “They are all amazing. I had a dream cast, and it was perfect in that way. Matt Lauria and Mac Brant, who played the bartender, are both brilliant actors too. James Landry Hébert, who played Pete, is a phenomenal character actor as well.”
“Andrea and Owen and I have worked together in ‘Bloodline’ so I knew going in what she is capable of. Anybody who has worked with Andrea close-up knows that she has a power around her when she is performing. She commands a moment, and she has always done that. I needed an actress who could hold the camera living in her mind and she never missed,” he explained.
“Andrea is playing an accent, she is British from the north of England and she’s playing very sensitively and very carefully someone with a condition that has physical aspects to it,” he added.
“I started making ‘To Leslie’ with an idea that if we spend time with a human being who has made mistakes, and we invest in that person, then we will start to feel for that person, love that person, and even root for them despite their behaviors sometimes. I hope this movie allows us to increase our amount of empathy in the world,” he elaborated.
The digital age
On being a filmmaker in the digital age, Morris said, “I think it’s absolutely a golden age for artists in any kind of film medium whether it’s television or film. There are multiple platforms available to us as filmmakers, so in a sense, it has created an incredible moment where everybody is able to express themselves and tell stories in any way they want. That will make a new generation of filmmakers and will actually advance the art in ways that we’ve never thought of..”
“The only downside is that it’s the Wild West, it’s unorganized and it’s very hard to find something these days. I am hoping that word of mouth isn’t just limited to jus the biggest movies. So many great movies come out every year to live alongside the biggest ones. I hope people start talking about all of them,” he added.
On the title of the current chapter of his life, Morris revealed, “Discovery.” “We’ll see what happens,” he admitted.
Advice for hopefuls
“The main advice, especially now, is just do it. Don’t do it well, it doesn’t have to be good. If you want to start, start. Just having made it is half the battle. As a writer and as a filmmaker, don’t try to make it perfect. Don’t be your worst critic. Get it out of your head first and onto the paper, and once it’s on the paper, then you get to be a critic.”
Success
On his definition of the word success, Morris said, “The luxury of choosing projects that fulfill you or challenge you while leaving you in a space to create things and to enjoy the most things like family. I don’t think it has anything to do with finances, success has to do with being creatively fulfilled without having to give up the things that are most important in our lives.”
To learn more about Michael Morris, follow him on Instagram and check out his IMDb page.
