From the sun-dappled coming of age film Under The Tuscan Sun, or the goofy romcom The Truth About Cats and Dogs, Audrey Wells has helmed some memorable films that the female movie-going public counts among its favourites. Audrey has not just directed these films, but also written them, in addition to other films like 2004’s Shall We Dance? and the Brendan Fraser-starrer George of the Jungle.
In the country recently, Audrey says she would love a chance to try her hand at a true-blue Bollywood film, although she admits she hasn’t seen any. “However, I have seen bits of films that Aishwarya Rai has been in, and I’m a huge fan!” she says. Being a woman writer-director — and having strong female protagonists in her films — means Audrey is often questioned about whether her gender influences her work. “Yes…but some of my films have animal protagonists but I’m not a dog, am I?” she quips. “My films have male, female, children and animal protagonists. Is my perspective influenced by being a woman? Yes. But I would say that my opportunities are also influenced by being a woman.”
Audrey says she is inspired by her own experiences and those of her friends in penning her stories (“It’s dangerous to be my friend — you’ll end up in one of my screenplays!”), as also by numerous literary figures. But does being a director also influence how she writes a screenplay? Audrey replies, “I love to direct the movies that I write, but I think all good screenplay writers are already filmmakers. If you’re a good screenwriter, you already see the shot when you’re writing it. You write visually.”
Next up for Audrey is a film about a football team formed by African refugees in the US, a project she finds interesting because “these people are still living the American dream in a way we’re not”.