Three Great Things: James Ashcroft
Three Great Things is Talkhouse’s series in which artists tell us about three things they absolutely love. To mark the current release on Netflix of writer-director James Ashcroft’s new dark thriller The Whisper Man, starring Adam Scott, Michelle Monaghan, Robert DeNiro and Michael Keaton, the New Zealand filmmaker shared some of the things he loves most in life. — N.D.
Books
I’ve always had a real love for literature, and I love to collect books. I read a lot and there's nothing more exciting than when I hear about an obscure book that I've never come across before and it becomes an obsession. I've probably spent far too much money on books. (My wife would say I've definitely spent far too much money pursuing my obsessions!)
I used to be somebody who would feel like I really needed to own a particular book. But now, if I find something, I imagine it was the universe telling me to read it for a specific reason. If it becomes one of my favorites, then I not only want a first edition the need, but I also need a copy of every publication of that book. There's a few books on my bookshelf where people ask me, “Why have you got so many copies of this?!”
I used to buy a lot of books from secondhand bookstores when I was a kid, mainly because of the covers. Many of my childhood books are stored in boxes at my parents’ house, and it's been really interesting to see how a lot of them have come back into vogue. I was hugely influenced by the book Paperbacks from Hell by an author who I’ve worked with, Grady Hendrix. That book put a dent in my mortgage, because it introduced me to a whole other layer of paperback horror and thriller books from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s that I previously didn't know existed. Obviously with the advent of the internet, there's way more opportunities to find those books, but today, I still find it very hard to go past a secondhand bookstore and not do a thorough scan. I can scan very fast now!
The number of books I’m still actively looking for now is now pretty low. For the ones I haven't been able to find, I suspect there's a reason why they only did one print run … But I found one book a couple of years back, which only had a single print run, and I just cannot understand why it hasn't seen the light of day since. My next film is also based on a paperback book that was published in 1984, which, when I read it, I just could not believe I had not heard of the author. When I buy books, I read for pleasure and for work as well, but I like becoming obsessed with a project. I like saying, if it doesn't haunt my sleep, it's probably just a good idea.
Clothes
My second vice is clothes. I live at the beach, in a little place in New Zealand called Mount Maunganui, in the Bay of Plenty. It’s very nice, my family is all there and I love it, but there's only so many days that one can wear shorts and a T-shirt. One of the great bonuses of living in New York for a year making The Whisper Manwas that I got to wear gloves, coats, boots and suits, and I didn't look out of place. (As opposed to dropping my kids off at school, wearing a suit!)
Over the years, I've become more and more interested in the history of fashion, especially from working onThe Whisper Manwith Kasia Walicka Maimone, our wonderful costume designer who's done The Gilded Age and so many iconic films. I learned that clothes are not fast food and actually were invented as an art form. I find that fascinating. There might be a clothing-related film in my future, because I can imagine getting obsessed about that. I'm a big fan of films like Phantom Thread, not just because of Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Day-Lewis, but because the film explores artistry in a way I find very compelling.
My love of clothes partly goes back to my time as an actor in New Zealand. My process back then was that I would start from the outside and build inwards, using costume and makeup to inform the character or give them a physical dimension. But as a kid, I also used to have fantasies about wearing suits and cowboy boots – which now I get to do whenever I want! I'm always of the mind that people should dress in what makes them feel good. Because if it makes you feel good, that speaks to who you are.
When I’m directing, I’ll dress in a suit, unless we're filming out on the beach. I enjoy dressing smartly, but it also sends a clear message about occasion, and there's a sense of formality to the work, which doesn't mean you can't also have fun. We live in an age of thumbnails, so people read each other and make assessments very quickly, so I always want to convey my intention in what I wear.
Parenthood
Another thing that occupies me, and relates to The Whisper Man, is thinking about what it means to be a father and a parent. I've got three daughters, and after Covid, I built a house for my parents on our property so they could live next to us. I wanted to take care of them. Adam Scott and I talked a little bit about parenthood while making The Whisper Man,because he's a father as well. No one teaches you how to be a parent, so I always feel like I'm somehow failing as a father, even though I'm not. You make mistakes and you learn from them, but you never get a stage of thinking, I've made it as a father.
It's the same as being a director: you get more and more experience, but you never feel like you’re there yet. There's always so much to learn, so I think it’s healthy to change those definitions of “making it” or being the best, and instead focusing on how you can foster curiosity as a parent, how not to “parent down,” but allow your child to parent up to you. I feel like I've learned a lot as a father of three girls, including not to make everything about directing. But, in many ways, I've learned a great deal about directing from what my children and my wife have taught me.
For me, listening is huge. I probably listen a lot more as a director than as a parent, because I believe that is the contract that you enter into, but I love to listen to my children. So often, the temptation as a parent is to provide a solution, rather than sharing your own experience and then unpacking the situation with your child, taking in their perspectives and yours. My daughters are all incredibly forthright young women, so they let me know their opinions! I've had to learn in that role. But equally, I don’t think directing is about saying, “I have the answer – let me tell you what it is.” It's about asking a question and being curious about how that question is held by the entire cast and crew. I love the conversations that occur with collaborators when you’re are in a place of genuine listening and engagement.
Photo of James Ashcroft by Noam Galai / Getty Images for Netflix.
