5Qs

Jaclyn Bethany

Film Director & Actor

Photograph by Diana Patient Makeup by Nina Jackson — *Photograph by* Diana Patient
*Makeup by* Nina Jackson

1.

You’ve mentioned books have inspired your films. How does literature influence your work?

I think because I grew up in a place (Mississippi) that has been very influential in the scope of literature and drama, I became interested in reading and writing at a young age. My mom would always read to me when I was little, and before I could write I would have her write "books" for me and I would draw the pictures. She was an avid reader, and I really think she inspired my love of literature. I remember for summer reading in high school, we had to read both Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Hemingway's Farewell to Arms. My best friend's mom gave us Hemingway's A Moveable Feast before a school trip to Paris. I was around 15, and I think that was the first time I had a visceral reaction to literature. When I first started writing short films, I struggled with totally original ideas. I wanted to write adaptations or pieces inspired by pre-existing works. My first short film I wrote and produced was a short adaptation of Chekhov's Three Sisters set in Mississippi. Two of my most recent films, draw on Tennessee Williams and explore a modern spin on a big Chekhovian gathering. I think going back to the greats, and looking at how they develop characters, relationships, conflict is what I always try to go back to as an artist when creating. Tolstoy's Anna Karenina is my favorite novel of all time. Literature can be so cinematic. You imagine worlds.

2.

What style of writing, to you, is most impactful?

I think poetry. I think that stems from being from the South. Even though Faulkner is so specific - his writing is so poetic. Same with Welty and Williams. They are all very different but united in this sort of evocative manner. A younger Mississippi writer - Katy Simpson Smith, is astounding. Her most recent novel, The Everlasting, is so poetic and enthralling - it takes place in Italy during four distinct times in history through a surprising arc of a fishhook. Her words really got me through the beginning of the pandemic, looking at ancient cultures and how they survived. It would make a great mini-series or film!

I also have a friend that is a very talented poet, Greta Bellamacina, it's inspiring to see that art form come to life for her in such a personal way.

I have also discovered some new writers that all have fresh voices related to our current moment, they all seem to explore some kind of existential dread through complex female characters. Recent reads include Luster by Raven Leilani, Nothing Can Hurt You by Nicola May Goldberg, and Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan.

3.

Do you find yourself attempting to subvert the “typical” display of female roles in your films?

Sure. But I'm a little sick of the conversation around this. I don't mean this negatively, but I hope there is a day when there are no "typical" female characters and they aren't singled out all the time. If you look back on Hollywood when it was just starting out - there were so many women in powerful roles. Why are we so focused on how we went backward? We need to look forward, and women will continue creating complex characters.

4.

Where do you go to research?

Haha, well in the olden times I used to go to the cinema or theater. Remember that? I would spend a day at the cinema (two of my favorites Arclight Hollywood & Metrograph in NYC had bookshops attached to them) and spend a day watching old and new films. That's impossible now. Though, I have been trying to educate myself at home by reading, watching tons of cinema and television. I have always been a devotee of bookshops and libraries. Going to a bookstore and sitting, strumming pages there's nothing like it. There's a lovely bookstore in my hometown actually, called Lemuria. They have a great selection of new, Southern, and classic writers. I could spend hours there. I am currently working on a script that leads up to the witch hysteria that happened in Puritan America. I want to take a trip to New England soon. When it comes to research, I am often inspired by a place. Another script I am working on is a mystery, a detective story set in 1979 Mississippi - after a great flood. Whenever I come home, I have an urge to work on something set here. Just living and breathing in the South is great research for anything like that.