For her debut feature film, writer/director Nicole Kassell chose to adapt The Woodsman, a play about a convicted pedophile looking to start a new life in a small town following his release from prison. While the material could be viewed as controversial, Kassell's sure hand and sensitive script have created one of the most intriguing character studies of the year. In the lead role of Walter, a man desperately trying to adapt back into society, Kevin Bacon delivers a beautiful, understated performance that has already generated strong awards buzz.
On the page: Kassell had attended NYU graduate film school and had three short films to her credit when she first saw The Woodsman onstage in New York in 2000. "I was just so blown away by the experience that I contacted the playwright [Steven Fechter]," she recalls. "He was skeptical at the time. So I did a first draft on spec, and he was really impressed with it and the fact that I did it. And so he agreed to let me option the play based on being a co-writer." Her script won the 2001 Slamdance Screenplay Competition, which helped her get meetings about making the film. "The industry definitely looks at those awards," she says. "I mean, it took still another year and a half to get it funded. But what it really did was give such a controversial material a seal of approval. That was like the first big sign, even to myself, that I was on to something."
Making Bacon: Kassell calls landing leading man Kevin Bacon "serendipity." She adds, "He was an actor I'd admired for so long, and he was on vacation with a potential financier that the producer had contacted. The financier had the script and asked Kevin to look at it for his advice on whether it was a worthy investment. And Kevin tells the story that he thought he'd read 10 pages, and he couldn't put it down. And so he wanted the part." She believes her leading man saved the project from development hell. "I was at my low point of thinking this would never get made," she says. "And then that came through, and it was a dream come true."
Also joining the cast was Bacon's wife, Kyra Sedgwick, who portrays Walter's co-worker and love interest. "When Kevin signed on he said, 'What about Kyra?' And I was thrilled," Kassell says, adding that she was initially concerned about the couple working together. "But both actors are so good for their roles; that just superseded whatever issues people may have with their being married. And they're not a tabloid couple. A lot of people in the mainstream don't know they're husband and wife."
First time for everything: Being a first-time director helming an impressive cast that also includes David Alan Grier, Eve, and Benjamin Bratt, Kassell admits to being somewhat intimidated early on. "It was definitely nerve-wracking," she says. "But both Kevin and Kyra were really generous with their time, and I got to rehearse with them a lot beforehand. You know, Footloose was a seminal moment in my life. And here I was with Kevin. And it was a very inner body/outer body experience. When I stepped out, I would freak out."
The Woodsman was shot over the course of 25 days in the director's native Philadelphia on a shoestring budget, and she confesses there are things she'll know to do differently next time. "Of course, when I see the film, I see a lot of flaws that hopefully nobody else sees," she says. "But I hope that will be true of every film; otherwise I'll have to do something else. And, you know, that's part of the learning experience."
Changing subjects: Due to the subject matter of the film, Kassell admits The Woodsman was a tough sell every step of the way. "Even when we went to Sundance we didn't have a distributor, and by the end of the week we did," she says. "And so the next big step is how will it go as a theatrical release. And what I'm learning is, it's a film that gets really extreme reactions. There [are] people that really love it and champion it. And there [are] people that really don't. I have to remind myself that that's a good thing, though it's hard to take the people that don't."
Kassell also credits Bacon with never wavering about whether to play the character. Once he signed on he also became an executive producer. "He was very involved in the casting," she says. "We finished the shooting, and he would come to the editing room. He's been very involved in the entire process and really committed to the film." Bacon's involvement helped line up the rest of the cast. "Once Kevin signed on, I think it made it safe for everyone else," she says. "Kevin personally called up Benjamin, because they had worked together. Kevin also thought up casting Eve. David Alan Grier called up and said, 'Give me any role that's still available.' I mean, people just wanted to be involved in it."
The cast was drawn in by the strength of Kassell's script, which doesn't sugarcoat Walter's crimes but also offers a compassionate take on the character. "I did not want to take on the material naïvely," she maintains. "I interviewed offenders in and out of jail, and family members of offenders and victims. I sat in on group therapy sessions for men on parole. So I just really immersed myself, and it was a huge research project for me over the years. I didn't want to do anything that was blatantly false or inaccurate or unreal." She also says the screenplay differs from the play in that Walter has become far more introverted. "Walter's character in the play is definitely more verbal," she says. "Because, in a play, everything's through dialogue. But he's an angrier, kind of more sarcastic character. In adapting it to the cinema, I was able to make it much more internal and quiet."
Sophomore year: Up next, Kassell is adapting Arthur Miller's play The Ride Down Mt. Morgan. She will also direct the film, which is set to star Michael Douglas and should begin shooting next fall. She says the job came about as a direct result of The Woodsman. "The producer saw the film at Sundance and immediately contacted me," she says. For now, she is looking forward to the release of the film, when she can finally call herself a filmmaker. "This is a tough industry to crack into," she admits. "And before the film comes out, you know, you're still just a wannabe filmmaker."