Laurence Fishburne will direct new project The Rule of Nines.
Laurence Fishburne to direct new movie The Rule of Nines
The 64-year-old actor is working on the new movie, which was written by John Connor, with producer and casting director Bonnie Timmermann and actor André Holland.
And, Fishburne – who made his directorial debut with 2000’s Once in the Life – believes his lengthy career as an actor has made him a better director.
He told Variety: “The fact that I’ve been making films since I was 11 or 12 means that I’m a filmmaker. It makes me really prepared.
“This may be the moment where I move into the director space in a real, consistent kind of way.”
However, Laurence isn’t giving up on acting and hopes to branch out with more comedy roles.
He said: “From [my first film] Cornbread, Earl and Me on, I’ve always shown up as the guy who will tell you the truth, even if you don’t want to hear it. So I haven’t done a whole lot of comedy… but you have to be able to do both if you want to call yourself an actor.
“I was a big fan of [‘Looney Tunes’ voice actor] Mel Blanc. He was really that guy — and I spent a lot of time in my youth doing voices and being funny, inspired by people like Blanc, Frank Gorshin and Robin Williams, who could create entire characters using nothing but their voice.
“The vocal instrument, for me, has always been an essential part of being an actor. I grew up in a really mixed [area] with people from everywhere, and I was always imitating the sounds of the people around me. It’s just my ear – I have to do it. I can’t not do it.
“I’m someone who loves language. [Recently] someone mentioned my French, and I said, ‘No, my French is terrible – my accent is perfect, though.’ I just love the sounds we make as human beings.”