Bruce McDonald hits the big time

eNow's Christine Diakos goes on set with Canadian director Bruce McDonald. After a decade of low-budget cult hits, he's finally filming his first big-budget Hollywood movie.

Bruce McDonald is an imposing figure - six feet tall, stocky build, long rock and roll hair with a few days of facial growth, not to mention the silver tooth that stands out front and centre. But inside this bear of a guy lies one of the calmest, coolest directors I've ever met.

Patience has been a necessity in his career. He's been plugging away on the low-budget fringes of the Canadian indie world since the 1980s. He first made a mark with cheap and charming underground Roadkill, which cost a measly $200,000. His biggest splash came five years ago with the tattered, gritty genius of Hard Core Logo, which landed him the best reviews of his career.

His new feature, a crime caper called Claire's Hat, is budgeted at an extravagant $10 million - well over three times bigger than his last biggest budget.

And all that scratch was enough to take his casting choices to the Hollywood level - including the very scary Mickey Rourke and his leading ladies, Juliette Lewis and Gina Gershon.

Diakos: Did you ever think that you had the patience necessary to have to be a director, are you surprised by it?

McDonald: I probably got patience from my mother, she's a very patient person, so I think I inherited that quality. It's something that is always a little bit shocking, when you work on a (film) production, how long things take, but it you know very early on it becomes the norm. So, your patience is tested often, but since that is one of my few good qualities -- I think that's a good one to have.

ABOUT THE FILM



McDonald: Juliette Lewis plays the east end Montreal girl, Gina Gershon plays the Bay Street Toronto financier who's fallen from grace. And it's really the two of them. It's their movie and they get to run, shoot, fight and they get to swear, and they get to be cool. I thought it was a kind of fresh thing, it was a kind of fresh to, because traditionally women are the girlfriend the mother, the whore, the whatever. And I thought , let's put them right up front -- let's put these two women right up front in the drivers seat.

Diakos: The reasons why you would have Hollywood actresses play the lead characters are obvious -- It does give it a worldwide appeal in a much broader level, but any hesitation on your part about that choice or were you on board right from the beginning?

McDonald: I had a hesitation â| because I had never sort of worked with movie stars before. When we went to L.A. to see our American stars. Juliette walked in the door and I thought right away, I'm a big fan anyway. And she thought that was really charming, I guess, so we talked a little while and we talked about the part and what she was really bang on. You know, same with Gina -- very different approach to her preparation, other than the fact that she is super-prepared and she is like full on. And they both love these parts. That's the great thing -- it so great to work with an actor that's in love with this, because they all give you 150%.



Diakos: I guess it's important to have a sense of style and your style is very distinct. Did it take a long time to find what your style is, do you think you have a style?

McDonald: I don't really think I have a style. I think the style is a condition of what you're given. I think you know if I made my very first film, no matter what kind of style I wanted I could only, there are only a few styles I could really choose. I couldn't be Franco Zeffirelli with $200,000, I couldn't be Martin Scorsese with that. So the style is a function of budget and a function of design. This is kind of a film noir style -- kinda got a bit of class to it. You know, nice clothes, nice spaces, nice places, nice, faces, you know it's kinda got a little polish to it. I couldn't do that with $3 million -- I needed the budget I have for this.



Claire's Hat is filming now and is likely to open next fall at The Toronto International Film Festival.