At last night’s John Cater premiere, we ran into the legend that is Dexter Fletcher, who was there, in his words, ‘to see Mark Strong’*.

We’d never miss an opportunity to chat to Dexter, particularly not when his debut movie, Wild Bill is coming out in a matter of weeks. As well as talking about the mammoth press tour he’s been on to promote the movie, and the addictive effects of directing, Fletcher hinted at what his follow up picture might be, and it’s not what you’d expect…

You’re only a few weeks out from Wild Bill hitting cinemas, looking forward to it?

It’s been a fairly long road I suppose, but here we are, and it’s literally round the corner… It’s been finished for a while. Universal have picked it up, and they’re giving it a fairly wide release, so that’s very exciting. People seem to love it when they watch it, they really respond to it well, it’s not the normal London gangster fare, it’s quite different from that. It’s a nice, heart warming comedy.

What have you been up to in the months since you wrapped on the film?

I’ve been working on other projects, developing other projects. I’m a man in development now. Reign of Blood is on the backburner, I won’t lie, but there’s other things I’ve been looking at and scripts I’ve been reading, but essentially I’ve been working mostly on [Wild] Bill, getting that ready and getting it good to go. This is a side of it that I’ve never done before, all this build-up to release, and the festival circuit. I’ve been round Spain, Chicago, we’re off to Vilnius next week, London of course, and Rome. The film’s taken us on this whistle-stop tour of all these wonderful places around the world. Apparently you can go to a festival every day of the week if you put some effort into it, which is lovely, but I’ve really got to do some work at some point, but I have got other projects that I’m developing with people, and once the film comes out I’ll be clear of all that, and I can get on with my costume drama.

Is that a tease, or are you being serious?

It’s a little tease, but i don’t know. It’s something I’m in development on. It’s a comedy, but who knows.

Are you now very much behind the camera rather than in front of it?

I think so at the moment, unless Spielberg phones up and he’s doing War Horse Two or something, I think so. Of course, if something really amazing comes along, but the thing about directing is it’s all or nothing. Acting, five or six weeks, put on a pretty frock, say the words and go home, directing, of course is a massive commitment, and something you have to be madly passionate about. That’s not to say that acting’s not like that, but you’re a bit more nomadic, a bit more of a gypsy with acting, you’re moving around. You love everyone you’re with for five weeks, and then you never see them again, but directing’s that  all consuming passion, and it’s really addictive as well. You’re like, ‘I really enjoyed that, but I think I can do something more’, the results are huge, and that’s really exciting.

 

*We’re assuming in a friendly, supportive capacity rather than to collect on a debt, but you never know with these acting types.