A Heart-Stopping (Literally) Premiere

Josh Lucas and director Michael Cuesta on their new film "Tell Tale."

There’s a similar thing going on with “Dexter” too [of which Cuesta directed the pilot and other subsequent episodes]. My mother was telling a story the other day about being in a bar and someone was describing “Dexter,” going on and on. She realized they were talking about a serial killer on a TV show — she thought they were talking about a really good friend! To me, that’s something that, to be totally honest, was missing from some of those other films — you didn’t feel the same level of compassion for the character because they were so clear cut.

Michael, since you directed “12 and Holding,” you’ve mostly directed episodes of shows like “Dexter” and “Six Feet Under” — how did directing TV change your directing style for this film?

MC: It has positive and negative effects. To start with the negative, because I didn’t write the scripts on “Six Feet Under,” I think it made me trust the scripts too much because in TV, it’s not a director’s medium. It’s a writer’s medium. When I made “12 and Holding,” I was trusting the material too much. Looking back on that film, I could’ve gone deeper and I should’ve taken it apart more.

The positive side is the efficiency. We shot “Tell Tale” in 28 1/2 days, taking in the Amtrak school. That’s a tough schedule for a film where you’re pushing a guy in front of a train and taking over the whole Providence train station. So that’s where it really helped me — to learn how to move quick and trust my instincts. It’s funny though, my two other films were small, but they were easier. [laughs]

“Tell Tale” does not yet have distribution, but will play once more on May 1st during the Tribeca Film Festival.

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