Here, Peter Weir is an absolute legend. He’s the man who directed ‘Witness’, ‘The Truman Show’, ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’, ‘The Year of Living Dangerously’, ‘Dead Poets Society’, and many more.
That said, the four-time Best Director Oscar nominee hasn’t made a movie since 2010’s ‘The Way Back’. Why? Ethan Hawke seems to think he knows the answer.
Speaking to IndieWire, Hawke claims that Weir is retired and the reason for that is simply because he got tired of filmmaking and certain actors’ egos:
“I think he lost interest in movies. He really loved that job when he didn’t have actors giving him a hard time. Russell Crowe and Johnny Depp broke him. He’s someone “one of so rare these days, a popular entertainer. He makes mainstream movies that are artistic. To get the budget to do ‘The Truman Show’ or ‘Master and Commander’, you need a Jim Carrey or of a Russell Crowe. I think Harrison Ford and Gerard Depardieu were his kind of actors. They were pro-directors and didn’t consider themselves important.
Hawke throwing some shade towards Crowe comes as no surprise. During his peak years as an actor (1999-2007), Crowe had his fair share of anger issues. But Depp? Bizarre never made a movie with Depp.
Weir was, however, attached to the direct “Shantaram” with Depp until he left the project due to “creative differences”. Is Hawke implying that it’s Depp’s fault that the project fell apart?
Anyway, Weir is now 78 and currently residing in his home country of Australia. Maybe one day he will feel like not retiring, but time is definitely running out.
