GRIFFIN DUNNE
Actor, Writer, and Director
The actor, writer, and director was born into the lap of American literary and cinema lore. His recent offerings—last year’s memoir "The Friday Afternoon Club" and this winter’s mid-life crisis dramedy, "Ex-Husbands"—make lasting contributions to both fields.
WHAT IS YOUR TRADEMARK? I don’t know about “trademark,” but I rarely leave home without wearing my extensive collection of T-shirts that bear artwork from old rock bands, heavyweight fights, and obscure beer brands from all over the world.
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS YOUR BIGGEST CONTRIBUTION TO CULTURE? Sadly, I already hit it out of the park with two movies I made in the ’80s. An American Werewolf in London was the first film to alternate between humor and horror. Almost all horror flicks since are designed to scare the shit out of you and make you laugh for comic relief. After Hours invented a whole new genre I call “anxiety comedies,” which have paved the way for all the “worst day of your life” movies that followed.
“"It is my hope that people will return to the box office to see the latest from filmmakers ... just as we used to before streaming and Covid chained our fat asses to a sofa."”
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE MORE OF IN YOUR INDUSTRY? LESS OF? It is my hope that people will return to the box office to see the latest from filmmakers like Darren Aronofsky, Sean Baker, and Brady Corbet, just as we used to before streaming and Covid chained our fat asses to a sofa.
WHAT QUESTION DO YOU ASK YOURSELF MOST OFTEN WHILE YOU’RE MAKING WORK? I ask myself to stop questioning and follow the instincts that made me want to work on the project in the first place.
in your life?
