In the company of Neil LaBute.

Neil LaBute’s first taste of success as a playwright, screenwriter and director came when his award-winning stage play In the Company of Men went on to win further acclaim as a self-directed film in 1997. Since then, he has continued to make waves on screen, with television series such as Van Helsing and I-Land and films such as Nurse Betty and The Shape of Things, while also establishing himself as one of America’s foremost dramatists.

This summer, LaBute’s focus has been on the stage, attending the Sibiu International Theatre Festival in Romania to talk about his new collection of short plays, Unlikely Japan and Other Plays, then staying on to direct a Romanian-language production of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya – “which I don't speak. But happily, the cast all speak English and want to work on their English, so we converse that way and we run our rehearsals. But when it comes down to the text, they hop into Romanian. Four weeks from now we'll find out if I’ve actually understood anything they said! It's a good experience, trying to make connections outside of your language.”

At the beginning of his career, LaBute only directed his own works, and he is still driven by the need to write above all else. “I would say I'm gifted with a long-burning love of writing. Like the old days where I had no idea if anyone was ever going to read it, I still liked to write because I come up with stories and I want to tell them.” It was Nurse Betty (2000) that persuaded him to move into directing other people’s screenplays. Steve Golin, producer on LaBute’s second film, Your Friends & Neighbors, asked him to work on the script with first-time writers John C. Richards and James Flamberg, subsequently inviting him to direct it as well. “That's where the crossroads came in my career: am I only going to direct my own things, or will I direct other people's stuff as well? I was like, ‘Yeah, I want to do this, it’s going to be fun.’”

“That’s why I still do theatre and make short movies – I can go off and make a short movie in black and white in a day with friends, and nobody gives a shit”

— LaBute

Balancing comedy and romance with sudden shocking moments of violence was a new challenge. “I had done two movies that were super talky, and then it was, ‘Violence and stuff are going to be in this. I want to get this right.’ I hadn't really at that point done special effects as a filmmaker, and I wanted to do as many practical effects as possible. I like a good spurt of blood, just like any of my colleagues do, and they can be kind of beautiful.” He says that there are more graphic scenes from Nurse Betty that had to be cut before the film could be released. “Chris Rock gets shot at the end; his entire face blew off under the lens. MPA eventually was like, ‘No, you gotta cut this shit’, so it had to happen.” Having refused a writing credit for the film (“I just thought it would be nice to get credit as new writers by themselves”), LaBute found himself reluctantly collecting the Best Screenplay Award at Cannes on their behalf. “And from then on, I've been open to directing other people's stuff, or doing whatever. I just try and find a good adventure.”

In the UK to direct his next film, an adaptation of A. S. Byatt’s Possession, LaBute met up with the team that was to make The Shape of Things. Originally performed on stage in London in 2001, it was made into a film two years later with the same cast and very few changes to the script, largely thanks to leading actor Rachel Weisz, who also acted as co-producer and pushed the project with Working Title. The play was revived last year at London’s Park Theatre, with reviews noting that it had stood the test of time. “It’s not topical humour or references to people, it’s just a general sense of talking about art, love, all those things,” is LaBute’s explanation. Although the recent production stuck to the original 1999 setting, he can imagine it being successfully translated to the present day with Weisz’s character, Evelyn, as a social media refusenik. “She would say, ‘You're making anybody who does anything famous. I want to be looked at because I can actually create something of worth and beauty.’” LaBute is not unsympathetic to this viewpoint. “I want to create more than anything else: I want to write, I want to make a movie. So I get that part of her – she takes it to the nth degree, but I do understand the impulse.”

While several of his works have crossed over from stage to screen, some of his best experiences have been in the theatre, such as the 2005 one-man play Wrecks starring Ed Harris. After premiering in a large venue in Cork, further performances in the US played smaller theatres that were more suited to the work. “Suddenly he can look you in the eye, break the fourth wall, talk to the audience. You really haven't lived until Ed Harris has looked you in the eye.” Similarly impressive was Matthew Fox, who arrived in London to star in LaBute’s play In a Forest, Dark and Deep after a six-year stint on Lost. Right from the first readthrough, everyone could see he had something to prove. “He came out of the gate like a bat out of hell, and that's the way he did the play for four months. I’ve got to appreciate someone who loves their work that much.”

Glossing over the occasional problematic colleague, LaBute has a fine list of “very collaborative and cool” film actors he’s worked with: Morgan Freeman (“he didn't want to talk for too long, he didn't want to over-rehearse. He’s so still – the best film actors are so still”), Gwyneth Paltrow (“a fucking pro, she knew exactly what she wanted to do”) and Jason Patric, who LaBute describes as brilliant. “If you watch After Dark, My Sweet, it's one of the best things I've ever seen a guy do. He always told you what he thought, including studio heads and stuff, and I don't think it ever did him any favours. A fierce friend and loyal co-worker – I really like him.”

Another of LaBute’s favourites is Aaron Eckhart, who he has cast in many films starting with his directorial debut, In the Company of Men. Selected for the 1997 Sundance Festival, the film made LaBute’s name and an ample return on its original modest budget. One of the advantages of shooting it “in my backyard for $25,000” was having total artistic control. “Ever since there’s been always other voices going, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if…?’ or ‘What about if we did this?’ or ‘We don’t have enough of this’.” His 2006 remake of The Wicker Man starring Nicolas Cage is a case in point. “So many people saying ‘What about this?’ or ‘This isn’t scary!’ that in the end you almost don’t know what you’re making. There are things about it that I still love, but other things where I wish I hadn’t done that or listened to this or that. That’s why I still do theatre and make short movies – I can go off and make a short movie in black and white in a day with friends, and nobody gives a shit.”

Although he had total control over the making of The Company of Men, he couldn’t control how it would be interpreted. “Unfortunately, some people have used it as a training film for how to be a bad person.” He’s mystified by viewers who idolize sociopathic businessman Chad. “That’s a guy I don't want to spend a lot of time with.” The ending was the result of sudden inspiration on set. “It wasn’t on the page. I was like, ‘Hold on, just take the sound out on that last moment – oh yeah, that’s perfect.’ So: lucky accidents.” He’s aware of how much success in the film business comes down to those lucky moments. “So many talented people I've met didn't keep at it – the wheel didn’t spin the right way enough, so they were like, ‘Fuck it, I can’t stay in this race’.” But for LaBute, giving up has never been an option. “There wasn’t anything else I could do. I grew up doing farmwork enough to know that I hated it, I like eating a McDonalds but I don’t think I want to work there, so yeah, I think I’ll make movies and do theatre.”

Author: Rachel Goodyear