Making movies must run deep in the Cronenberg clan DNA. First, the legend himself, David Cronenberg, followed by son Brandon, and now daughter Caitlin just released her first film, Humane.
Humane is playing at the Fox Theatre on April 26 and 28 and other cinemas.
There are three film directors in your family now. What’s that like?
It makes pretty much no difference to me whatsoever. Apart from just sharing, lamenting moments about, oh, casting is really hard, or someone is taking a really long time getting back to us, or something fell through and kind of bitching about it together — everybody is doing their own kind of thing. Their art is very different from mine. And I think people will be trying to find comparisons, but it won’t be that straightforward because I’m not really thinking about what they’re doing or what they’ve done, as I’m kind of moving forward into this.
Did your dad want to get in there and help or was he chill?
Oh, he’s so chill. I mean, he’s not the kind of person who offers advice unless he’s asked for it. And I only ask for it if I really feel that I need it. You know, I’ve been working long enough. But I think that he just trusts that I know what I’m doing enough to ask for help when I need it. And he’s not the kind of person who would step in and try to interject if he doesn’t think I need help. And I appreciate that because, as you know, nobody likes someone who oversteps.
What do you think the biggest lesson is that you learned from him?
I think that the biggest lesson that I learned from watching him work is that you can enjoy your career, you can love what you’re doing and just respect every single member of your cast and crew. Not that I wouldn’t have already. But everybody deserves to be working on a set that feels good to work on. If the director is in a good place then everybody else has the opportunity to feel like they’re in a good place and that they’re in good hands. And I learned that from working on his sets. I hope that my crew would say that our set felt like a very calm and fun place to work.
Has he or Brandon seen the finished film yet?
Neither of them has actually seen the final cut. I definitely showed both of them earlier cuts, like I did with many artists who I trust, and I really wanted to share. And I know that they will be honest with me.
What’s the origin story of Humane?
So funnily enough, Michael Spraga, who wrote it, I actually met him taking his photo for Post City [Yes, Caitlin was our photographer back in the day.—Ed.]. I was given an assignment to go to his house because he had made a movie called Sidekick. I went to his house to take a portrait. He had all these DVDs, and he had DVDs of Veronica Mars. And I loved Veronica Mars. And I didn’t know a lot of other people who loved it. So we started talking about it. We hit it off and became really good friends. And then I worked on another of his films, doing stills, called Servitude. And then he sent me this script.
And he said you were the only one he wanted for Humane. Quite the vote of confidence.
Oh, he was the first of many votes of confidence, which was an amazing way to step onto set on your first day, like our distributors had already bought the movie before we even shot a single frame. So confidence all over the map, and that really set me on a path of hoping that I would make everybody proud.
What makes you the perfect person to direct Humane?
I think that my photography style probably lends itself to some dark visual storytelling, and he knew I wouldn’t be scared of the gore.
Tell me a bit about the cast, many familiar Canadian actors from Jay Baruchel to Emily Hampshire and Enrico Colantoni.
The cast is amazing. Emily Hampshire was the first person to come on board. And I have a relationship with her from having worked together on Schitt’s Creek, as well as just a lot of other projects. Our paths have crossed many times, and we’re friends. And when I brought it to her, I just said, ‘this is you like you are Rachel’ and she agreed and she came on board first. Then she was also very excited about the prospect of having Jay play her brother because they’ve also known each other for a million years and they’ve never played siblings. But they’ve been friends and worked together. And then Enrico Colantoni playing the villain was the key to all of it. Michael wrote that part with Enrico in mind.
What did he bring to all of this?
He’s been in so many things that people recognise him from, but people don’t always know him by name. They know him by a face. Obviously, he’s got an amazing face, but his name recognition is reserved for fans. But he often plays a nice guy, rather than the villain, because he is a nice guy. He’s a legitimately lovely human being. And he was so good in this movie. It’s the just the layers that he gives to this character, this sinister, evil, sad character. And he brings the entire thing together. And we would do takes where I would say cut, and we would applaud. Because he nailed his insane monologues. His talent is just outrageous.
What are you hoping people take from Humane?
I just want people to have a good time. It’s meant to be a fun and entertaining time at the movies. I’m not trying to teach people about climate change. They should know what’s really going on in the world. So really, this is just meant to be a fun, fun film — to make you laugh, make you gasp, make you close your eyes and then leave and say, ‘Wow, I really enjoyed that.’