M6| Friday, February 21, 2020 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
FROM LEFT: JERRY DE WILDE; FRANK OCKENFELS 3; FOCUS FEATURES/ENTERTAINMENT PICTURES/ZUMA PRESSAUTUMN ON ‘EMMA’
Why “Emma”?:Emma is the
ultimate anti-hero.How so?:She’s a misguided
bully who finds her soul.Her journey:She stumbles
through a maze of mistakes
and youthful hubris.Research:I devoured every-
thing about 1815 England:
the music, fashion, design,
food, etiquette and dance.Shooting style:Iwantedthe
film to look edible. Every-
thing needed to be delicious.I
was born in a log cabin in
the woods. My parents were
hippies before there was a
word for it, and they wanted
my birth to happen in a
beautiful place. So in 1970, they
drove from Los Angeles to Wood-
stock, N.Y., where keyboardist Paul
Harris, offered them a cabin.
My dad, Jerry, met my mother,
Mary, in London a year earlier.
They sat next to each other on a
double-decker bus. Sometime later,
he walked into a restaurant and
there she was again. My mom was
a talented artist but a terrible
waitress.
After they traveled through Eu-
rope, my dad brought her back to
L.A., to an artist commune called
the Farm. It was in Studio City,
back when the Barham Ranch was
dirt roads. When mom’s visa ex-
pired, dad offered a solution: “You
can go back home or you can
marry me.” Mom happily accepted
his proposal.
After I arrived in October, they
traveled to Brooklyn and England
so both sides of the family could
meet me. Back in L.A., they decided
it was time to move on from the
Farm.
For a time, we lived with John
Sebastian of the Lovin’ Spoonful
and his family near Woodstock.
John sang me to sleep each night.
By 1971, my parents could afford
a place in Beachwood Canyon, L.A.,
where my brother, Jacob, was born.
My father had studied to be a
pharmacist and wanted to be an
actor but became a documentary
photographer. In the 1960s, he as-
sisted his mentor—photographer
and filmmaker Robert Frank.
In the early ’70s, money was
tight so we moved into my father’s
tiny photo studio in Hollywood. Ev-
eryone bathed in the work sink,
and we slept in the loft my father
had built. There were a few more
moves until we settled in a run-I started documenting artists with
my camera. Beck was the first to
ask me to document his work on a
regular basis.
In 2000, Elliott Smith asked me
to shoot the cover of his album,
“Figure 8.” He also insisted I shoot
his video. It was my first foray into
directing. Nearly 19 years later and
a lot of commercial directing, I was
asked to pitch “Emma” in the U.K. I
got the job.
Today, I live in a 1950s ranch
house in East L.A. It’s full of little
treasures and chaos. My daughter,
Arrow, is 20 and, like me, 6-foot-2.
She sings in her rock band, Star-
crawler.
When I was directing “Emma” in
Lewes, England, my parents came
to visit the set. My mom was over-
whelmed with emotion.
She had left England with my
dad when she was 20. She has a lot
of nostalgia about her childhood.
She was so proud of me.
—As told to Marc MyersAutumn de Wilde, 49, is an Ameri-
can photographer, videographer
and the director of “Emma,” a film
adaptation of the Jane Austen
novel, opening today.MANSION
HOUSE CALL|AUTUMN DE WILDE
‘Normal’ Was Never a Life Goal
The ‘Emma’ director was raised by bohemian parents who helped her develop an artistic eye
down house in Los Feliz.
My parents were caring, kind
and terrific roommates. They left an
impression on me that being nor-
mal should never be a goal in life.
Mom taught me how to make
something out of nothing. She cro-
cheted, painted and sculpted. Ev-
erything for her was art.
Through my father and his pho-
tography, I learned the value ofdocumenting friends and the fleet-
ing quality of a vibrant social
scene. Because he included me in
his process, my artistic eye and
judgment developed.
My mom and dad were powerful
guides and fierce protectors who
didn’t assume they were always
right. We struggled financially, but
my parents were optimistic and
made life fun for me and my
brother.
In public school, I was a total
nerd. I grew fast and wound up 6-
foot-2 by high school. I was beyond
awkward. I looked to Olive Oyl for
inspiration. I hoped I could be a
badass like her.
In school, I routinely took pic-
tures of friends using my dad’s
Nikon FM2. My friends loved my
photos, and I loved showing them
how beautiful I thought they were.
In my early 20s, I went to the-ater school at Los Angeles Commu-
nity College. I had a crush on a guy
who went there but quickly fell in
love with the craft.
Eventually, I realized I was more
at home behind the lens than onstage. I enjoyed playing pretend
but not living the actor’s life. In
1995, I wound up on the entire Lol-
lapalooza tour.
That’s where I met Beck and was
introduced to the indie-rock scene.Autumn de Wilde, above, in a 2018 portrait, and, left, with her parents,
Jerry and Mary, picking blueberries in Fall Creek, Ore., in 1972. Top right,
Anya Taylor-Joy, on right, stars in the film ‘Emma,’ with Mia Goth.JOURNALISTS DON’T
‘JUST WRITE STORIES.’
THEY RECORD HISTORY.
Learn more about the impact your journalism career
can have on the world. Wall Street Journal reporter
Erin Ailworth and others share career advice at
dowjonesnewsfund.org/careers.