People forget that, very often, directors are paid significantly less than actors and sometimes take work because, well, they've got bills that need paying.
More than a few well-known directors have taken on work because the money was good, even though the material was bad. In other cases, it's a question of doing something with the hope you can make it better. In a recent interview with Sam Taylor-Johnson, the director of Fifty Shades of Grey, that was pretty much the case.
However, the only thing standing in her way was the author EL James and her complete and total control over every minute detail of the film. "With the benefit of hindsight would I go through it again? Of course I wouldn’t. I’d be mad. It was a struggle and there were lots of onset tête-à-têtes, with me trying to bat it into the (right) place," said Taylor-Johnson, who went on to say that she was "so confused by EL James."
Taylor-Johnson is currently doing press for her upcoming Netflix series, Gypsy, with Naomi Watts and in another interview with THR, she expounded on her time on set with EL James and working on Fifty Shades of Grey. "Every scene was fought over. It was tough. It was like wading uphill through sticky tar. Her thing was, 'This is what the fans expect.' I'd be like, 'Well, let's try and hit those marks but create a new universe at the same time.'"
In fact, according to Taylor-Johnson, EL James - real name Erika Mitchell - was responsible for her being sacked as director for the next two and replaced with James Foley. As she tells it, Universal "wanted to see how the first one went before any discussion. It went well in terms of box office. But less well with my relationship with Erika."
At any rate, Taylor-Johnson's moved on to better things although to be fair, directing a commercial for rubber dog-shit would be better and she's directing a Netflix TV series so that's miles ahead of Fifty Shades of Grey.
Via THR / Sunday Times
