Vanessa McMahon

Jordan Peele is an actor, writer, producer and director known most for films like 'Keanu' (2016), 'Storks' (2016) and most recently 'Get Out' (2017). While Peele has made a name for himself as an actor and writer for TV and films, he has only recently donned the director's hat with his first feature 'Get Out'. The film makes a comment on the current topics of race issues and politics in America, telling the story of a young African American male trapped in the house of an uber white liberal family who welcome him into their home under false pretenses. Produced by Jason Blum and Universal Pictures, 'Get Out' has topped the charts as one of the highest grossing independent films in history; it has so far raked in over $255 Million worldwide. Peele's directorial debut has received four Oscar nominations including- Best Picture, Bast Actor, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.

Jordan Peele attended the 2018 Santa Barbara International Film Festival where he received an Outstanding Director of the Year award. In a brief interview with him while at SBIFF, here is what he had to say:

What is the most important thing to you when you're directing?

JORDAN: I think it's to have fun. Not a lot of people get to direct, so if you get the opportunity you really have to love it while you're doing it. You can't let the stress of it get you down, because it is the most stressful artist thing I've ever done. You have to be ready to make sure you're still having fun.

Not very many horror/thrillers have made it to the Best Picture category in Oscar nominations. There were 'Silence of the Lambs' and 'Black Swan', of course. How do you feel about 'Get Out' going so far?

JORDAN: I loved 'Black Swan', which did something. But I think it's an under appreciated genre because people don't like to be scared. When they know it's a really good horror movie they think it's going to be too scary for them, so it's hard to get people to actually see it. What I wanted to do with 'Get Out' was make sure it was fun enough that it doesn't make you stay up at night; not like unpleasant scary, but a perfect balance scary.

You said that the most important thing about directing is having fun. What was the funnest part about making 'Get Out'?

JORDAN: You know, waking up every morning and the calm before the storm. You just reflect on the day before and you take a deep breath and say, “You know what, I'm really doing this. I'm really doing this.”

Interview by Vanessa McMahon