Jennifer Lawrence at the Center of the Movie, with her Heart and Soul

The New York Times nabbed an interview with David O. Russell, who talks about Jennifer Lawrence and Joy and his decision to center a film on a woman for the first time:

It’s the first story I’ve done that has a woman at the center of it. Jennifer’s usually coming in from the side, like a rogue. [Laughs.] She kind of sneaks in and takes over half the movie. But here, she’s in the middle, not with a bow and arrow, but with her heart and soul. That’s a new one for both of us, because I think her renegade nature thrives on the other mode of attack.

He also talks a bit about how he’s misrepresented as “an actors director” who makes stuff up on the fly:

What do people misunderstand about you, or get wrong?

That I’m an actor’s director. I don’t like being painted with that brush, quite frankly. I think it’s true to some degree, but it’s pigeonholing me. What I’m doing is as much about the cinema, it’s as much about camera and script. I don’t want those to be overlooked and say, well, it’s just about how I got a performance out of an actor. Unlike Cassavetes, there is no literal improvisation in my movies. Everything is planned out, even if we change it. I’ll sit with the actors for half an hour and go: “O.K., let’s redo this. Everybody agree?” We never go onto the playing field not knowing what’s going to happen.

Read more at NY Times.