Indiewire’s Peter Knegt talks to Sam Mendes about the dizzying expectations awards season heaps upon a film:
“For me, I’ve learned that the best thing you can be doing when a movie comes out that is awards-eligible is doing something else,” said Mendes. “At the moment, I’m rehearsing for a new play and I’m totally immersed in that. And I’ve made another movie since ‘Road.’ Obviously I care deeply about the film and I really, passionately want it to succeed, but I’ve learned if you want something too much it’s the worst thing for it. You overload it with hopes and expectations.”
Mendes learned this when he made “American Beauty,” which came out of nowhere to win Oscars for best picture, director, actor and screenplay. “I had absolutely no clue that I was making a movie that would get anywhere near the Academy Awards, let alone win. So for me, the process is to get back to that level of disengagement. It’s better to be disengaged. Don’t sit on the internet all day. Don’t read the bloggers or the critics. Just let it be. It’s gonna be what it is and what it does is what it’s gonna do whether you read those things or not. I’m just a passenger. I like to be working on something that’s creative and artistically fulfilling. Fun that it is, the awards circuit is neither of those things.”
