Face to Face with... Simon Curtis

Since directing the biopic My Week with Marylin, starring Michelle Williams and Kenneth Brannagh, Therapy Films’ latest signing Simon Curtis has described seeing Williams’ performance as Monroe to be “the greatest experience of my career”. Having worked with countless high-profile actors over the years in television and film as an executive producer and director, Curtis is now set on launching into the advertising world. Here he tells us about signing with Therapy, “great performances” in commercials and who he would like to spend some time with away from work if he could.

You’ve recently signed with Therapy Films, how did that come about?

Barry Hughes had seen My Week with Marilyn and said he liked my earlier work with the BBC so he approached me and after meeting him and the Therapy team I was impressed with the wonderful work they're doing and was very excited to be a part of it.

What sort of jobs will you be looking for and is there a particular type of client you’ll be hoping to work with?

I like to think of myself as an actor's director and so commercials that require great performances is a place I hope to start. I have also been lucky enough to work with some big name talent so I hope that experience will be of value. I'm impressed with any ad that grabs your attention and allows you to appreciate it for being a well directed and visual piece of work. British Airways Pioneers, Hovis Go on Lad, Stella Artois’ Ice Sculpture Competition and Heineken The Entrance are all commercials I admire.

Your directing/producing CV is quite extensive; do you think this will help with the jump over to commercials?

I certainly hope so. I'm used to making a tight schedule work and holding on to a vision while getting a lot of input from producers and financiers.   

Tell us about directing My Week with Marylin; what was the shoot like and how did you enjoy working with the characters/script?

We set out to tell the story as told by Colin Clark in his memoirs so it was fun to research and recreate actual events. I loved working with the actors who bravely took on iconic roles, we knew that we had to stay true to the story we were trying to tell. I waited a long time to make something I knew I would be passionate about and I hope that’s translated on the screen. I've been overwhelmed with the response the movie has had.

Who’s the most interesting actor you’ve ever worked with and why?

I've been very lucky with the actors I've worked with. I enjoy discovering new talent as well as encouraging the depth and strengths of already established actors. I gave Daniel Radcliffe his first job when he was ten and watching Michelle Williams become Marilyn could only be described as a magical experience. I am proud to have directed with the Dames – Judi [Dench], Maggie [Smith] and Eileen [Atkins] and of course, adore working with my wife Elizabeth McGovern.

What’s your favourite commercial of all time and what do you like about it?

I love the Jane Horrocks/Prunella Scales Tesco campaign. It's funny, there's a charming story behind it and gets the point across and their performances are effortless. Most recently, I liked the T-Mobile parking ticket commercial.

If you could spend a week with anyone, who would it be?

I would love to be taught tennis for a week by [Roger] Federer and [Rafael] Nadal and then have dinner with Billy Wilder.