Belo ,
top to
bottom:
Jenkins and
Chris Pine
on the set
of TNT’s
mini-series
I Am The
Night(2019)
— Jenkins,
who also
executive-
produced
the show,
directed the
first two
episodes;
Pine plays
LA reporter
Jay
Singletary,
helping
‘Pat’ (India
Eisley)
investigate
her real
identity.Because you put your own money in?
No, because I didn’t get paid to make the movie.
And now I [was] in debt from the credit cards
from everything else. I didn’t want to cash
in, and I don’t believe in developing the stuff
within the studio system, so I kept writing on
spec, and then the movies wouldn’t [happen].
I’d do a pilot to try to make ends meet and then
I got pregnant. And it was a conscious decision
to get pregnant, because I said, “Another movie,
even if it’s hugely successful, it’s lateral, you
know?” Whereas I could not have a child, which
would be fine, too, but that was something
I wanted. And I met my husband and we were
in love and I said, “Open the door.” But of course
I was super-scared, particularly because I had
not gotten another feature made in that period
of time and not made any money either, and
now I’m pregnant. So I assumed I would make
another movie shortly thereafter. And then
when I had my son, it was different than
I thought it would be. So I directed the [The]
Killingpilot. That started a run of doing pilots
while he was little.You were still writing scripts — were you
putting them in front of people?
There was one movie, an R-rated movie about
a dog, which I spent the entire time leading up to
Wonder Womantrying to get made. And no-one
would make it. I still love it! I’m so in love with
and obsessed with this movie. It takes place in
the prison system. It is very dark and very
beautiful. And nobody believed in it and it’s
a little out-there. But I fucking love it. And I still
want to make it.AFI. I took out student loans. I was in so much
debt, and I had been writing something that
took place at the World Trade Center — people
jumping off was the opening of the film. And
then 9/11 happened.
Oh my God.
And I was literally at the rock bottom of my
career. Like, how did this happen to me? I’m
broke. I’m a struggling filmmaker. It’s so cliché.
I was so lucky to meet Brad Wyman, my
producer, who said, “I’m making these shitty
serial-killer things — straight to video.” Which
led to me rapid-fire-writingMonster.
There’s quite a gap between this guy saying,
“I’m making some shitty serial-killer
straight-to-video thing,” and where you
ended up, which is with Charlize Theron
and an Oscar...
As soon as I started writing, I started to take on
the responsibility of this person’s life. It no
longer became possible for me to make that
as a B movie. So I actually wrote a much more
ambitious script. Who wants to see Aileen
Wuornos as a love story? I do! Probably nobody
else. And it was a great lesson, because it was
the first time that I wasn’t commercially minded.
I was like, “I’ll tell you whatIwould watch.”
It taught me to be authentic to what I’m
passionate about. Brad read it and said, “I will
make this.” I had written it with Charlize in
mind and it opened the door for me to say,
“Well, that’s who I really want.”
What kept you writing through the belief
that no-one would want it?
At that point, it was my only shot. It was
a moment of pure desperation. And so I locked
myself up and wrote it in seven weeks and just
wrote for 24 hours a day.
Was it difficult to retain creative control?
Oh, yeah. I did end up having complete creative
control, but it was a battle the entire time. It was
brutally hard. [But] I was lucky in a couple of
ways. People were so out of their depths with
what I was doing, they didn’t have any opinion.
And luckily I had Charlize by my side. Any
time the heat started coming for me...a couple
of times we had a producer say, “Can’t she just
smile a little more? Look a little better?” And
I was like, “You should talk to Charlize about
that.” And Charlize would say, “What?!” I was
lucky to be partnered with somebody strong
and brave and with a shared vision.
Because of Charlize and the Oscar, did
people assume that you’d made it? A big,
fat pay cheque, everything ’s sorted?
Here’s the hilarious thing. I live in a small rented
house right now because I’ve never made
a dime until this movie [Wonder Woman 1984].
And I’ve been living hand to mouth, pay cheque
to pay cheque, rental to rental, because I ended
Monster$100,000 in debt. No money.
❯Belo