I remember trying to do emotional things and
being laughed at and it was embarrassing. And
I remember the punk-rock fury inside of me said,
“Oh, I’m going to fucking do this and I’m going
to keep fucking doing it until I figure out how to
do it. And I’m not going to stop because I don’t
think that being afraid to be vulnerable and
exposed is art.” And so still to this day, this is
my sport. Calibrating the line of moving people
and speaking to people emotionally is the only
thing I’m interested in. I’m not interested in
being in fashion or being cool because history
does not make me believe that that has a very
profound effect on anything. And so I want to
dance with beautiful things in this world.
Why are people scared of sincerity?
Because it’s vulnerable. That’s it. That’s all it is!
It’s what I say about dark filmmaking — I started
with that, I find it much easier. I feel like I could
be winning awards much more... You could be
in a different world if you just stayed dark and
serious, dark and serious, dark and serious.
I can hit those buttons over and over again.
To try to be sincere and move people, that’s
a much harder sport to me.
Presumably that means taking your ego out
of it? Because as you say, there are certain
types of films that win awards.
Those things are great, but that’s not what I’m
here for. I don’t get anything back from that.
Of course, your ego gets something back from
that, but participating in an emotion with an
audience, that’s much more addictive.
It was when you lived in New York in the
’90s that you started doing film work.
Yeah, I got an internship at a commercial
production company. Then I got onto a set and
became a camera person for nine years. At the
time, I remember only wanting to be a writer-
director, so feeling very frustrated. But in
retrospect, it was a huge education. I think
it’s made me, in great parts, able to direct.
Were you writing outside of your day job?
I was trying, but not succeeding because I was
always working. So I just abruptly quit and
went to AFI [the American Film Institute] as
a way to just stop and think about directing and
writing all day long.
Did that solidify for you that directing was
the thing you had to do?
I never decided to be a director, nor did I ever
question being anything else. It’s almost
compulsive. Because I’m not interested in being
a director — I want to make the film. And so,
therefore, that’s what you have to do. If I’m
going to be the one to choose which image goes
with which picture, I have to be a director.
And you didMonstervery quickly after
you graduated.
Yeah, it was a whirlwind experience. I went to
Clockwise
from top:
Charlize
Theron as
serial killer
Aileen
Wuornos
in 2003’s
Monster
— Jenkins’
fi rst feature;
Wuornos
and lover
Selby Wall
(Christina
Ricci);
Jenkins and
Theron on
set; Theron
won the
Best Actress
Oscar for
her portrayal
of Wuornosof Wuornos.