New York – When first presented with the script for Nights in Rodanthe, which hits theaters September 26, director George C. Wolfe was immediately drawn to one of the film’s recurring themes. “I was fascinated by the idea that there can be an Act 2 of your life, that you can make choices in your life and they don’t turn out the way you want,” he explains during an intimate Q&A session in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday. “I was fascinated by the idea that there is a second chance.”
Wolfe comfortably fielded questions about his feature film debut, which stars Richard Gere and as Paul and Adrienne, a pair of strangers brought together by chance at an inn in Rodanthe, N.C. during a weekend that would forever change their lives. Best known for his turn in the director’s chair for HBO’s critically-acclaimed drama “Lackawanna Blues,” Wolfe admitted that he welcomed the chance to show audiences his wide range of talents. “After ‘Lackawanna,’ anything that was black, whether it was good or bad, I was asked to do. And anytime I expressed interest in something that didn’t completely look like me, they couldn’t get it,” he said.
Despite the fact that Rodanthe is not a typical “black film,” Wolfe admitted that his experiences as an African American still played an integral role in the film. “The fact that I am black informed a lot of the visuals,” he says of the film, parts of which were shot on location. In the beachfront inn where much of the film takes place, Wolfe even used photographs of his own family to help lend a sense of familiarity and comfort to the décor. The inn also prominently features paintings and artwork that contained hints of African mysticism. “I am perpetually fascinated by African spiritualisms. I wanted to add a subtle sense of magic in the house,” he explains.
Another liberty that Wolfe revealed he took in the film was to cast a black actress (Viola Davis) in the role of Adrienne’s close friend, Jean, the owner of the inn where Adrienne and Paul meet. Explaining his decision to stray ever-so-slightly from the best-selling novel the movie was based on, he good-naturedly told the room, “Black girls have a hard time in Hollywood, so I said let’s cast one!”-ivory m. jones
