Sir Samuel Alexander Mendes CBE (born 1 August 1965) is an English film and stage director, producer and screenwriter. In theatre, he is known for his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret (1994), Oliver! (1994), Company (1995), and Gypsy (2003). He directed an original West End stage musical for the first time with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2013).
For directing the play The Ferryman, Mendes was awarded the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play in 2019.
‘Empire Of Light’ Helmer Sam Mendes On How Olivia Colman’s Performance Was Informed By His Own Mother’s Mental Breakdowns, Why Obsession With Nicole Kidman’s ‘Blue Room’ Nudity Stopped Him Reading
deadline.comAfter racing to finish his upcoming Empire of Light and seeing Searchlight launch at festivals leaning into the Cinema Paradiso-style movie love letter element, Sam Mendes is ready to come clean about what his first solo-scripted film is really about, and the experiences that informed it.
The grandeur of the seaside 1980 London movie palace is certainly the backdrop for an unlikely romance between a middle-aged theater manager (Olivia Colman) and a dashing young ticket taker (Micheal Ward, whom you’ll recognize from the opening episodes of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe mini).
The youth is dealing with the rampant racism that put young men like him in danger in the UK. But here, the Oscar- and two-time Tony-winning director Mendes bares what the film is really about: the mental illness and slowly building breakdown of Colman’s character, which was informed by the filmmaker’s own experiences with his mother.
His goal: to shine a light on a condition that too long has been suffered in silence. DEADLINE: When we did the first interview right off the plane when you finished 1917, you said the inspiration came from asking your father why your grandfather washed his hands so incessantly.
Read more on deadline.com
