{"id":755255,"date":"2026-07-10T19:41:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T19:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/755255\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T19:41:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T19:41:08","slug":"jeffrey-wright-explains-why-he-loves-the-batman-and-wes-anderson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/755255\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeffrey Wright Explains Why He Loves ‘The Batman’ and Wes Anderson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe Batman film franchise, Wes Anderson<\/a> and the way politics has become more and more like entertainment were among the topics of debate as U.S. actor\u00a0Jeffrey Wright<\/a> met the press at the\u00a060th edition<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Karlovy Vary International Film Festival<\/a>\u00a0on Friday.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a roundtable chat with members of the press, one reporter asked Wright how and when he knew that he wanted to be an actor after graduating with a degree in political science, noting that the two fields appeared to be quite different. \u201cSo, you think politics and theater are completely different things,\u201d Wright responded. \u201cI\u2019m not so sure. I think our politics has gotten increasingly like show business \u2013 to the detriment of everyone who\u2019s involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAsked about why he joined The Batman<\/a> as Commissioner James Gordon and how such a blockbuster fit into his other work, Wright shared: \u201cI try to stay open to whatever is interesting to me \u2013 for example, the Batmans, and I say plural because I\u2019m in the middle of filming the second one now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe continued: \u201cI think [director] Matt Reeves\u2019 interpretation of the franchise is really fresh, and rich in terms of the narrative, but also rich cinematically. I don\u2019t think he views this as frivolous comic book stuff, but he views it as an opportunity to explore contemporary themes through a really dynamic medium that is the Batman franchise. He\u2019s also a massive fan of the franchise, hugely enthusiastic about it, and it\u2019s deeply meaningful for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWright also suggested: \u201cThese films, the first one and now working on this one, are films from an era that he and I, because we\u2019re of a certain age, just revere, and those are films of the American cinema of the \u201970s \u2013 Sidney Lumet films and films that Dustin Hoffman<\/a> would have been a part of, [Francis Ford] Coppola and [Martin] Scorsese. He\u2019s trying to use all of those as touchstones in these films that might, in other hands, not have anything to do, cinematically, with that type of filmmaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe added, \u201dI wouldn\u2019t want to be a part of a big franchise just to be a part of a big franchise. But if it resonates with me in terms of the themes and the process and the narrative, then I\u2019m in. It could be a big franchise. It could be an independent film. Doesn\u2019t matter to me!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHow about his collaboration with Wes Anderson in his films The Phoenician Scheme, Asteroid City and The French Dispatch? Wright was clearly excited to dive into the topic. \u201cI love working with Wes. I love his films. I love his aesthetic. I love the parameters that he works within,\u201d he shared. \u201cAll films work within a certain set of parameters, but his are very specific to his mind and his vision, and I love that he works in complete disregard of anyone else\u2019s opinion. He is authentically himself. He\u2019s his own genre. He also has a sense of theatricality about him, and surrealism to an extent, that I appreciate, and irony that I just get.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wright also lauded Anderson as \u201ca wonderful writer,\u201d recalling how the two creatives had lunch, with the writer-director then sending him his script sections for The French Dispatch a couple of weeks later. \u201cFrom the first time I read it, it just seared into my brain \u2013 like grill marks on a steak. I was like, \u2018Wow!\u2019 And I just heard the music immediately, and I heard the intent, and I loved it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just wonderful to find collaborators that you know you sympathize with. And that he\u2019s invited me back to work with him again on a couple of films subsequent to that one is just really gratifying. It always feels really, really fulfilling creatively and intellectually to work with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEarlier in the day<\/a>, Wright had celebrated the importance of \u201cgenuine freedom\u201d in the U.S. and beyond during a brief and very warmly received public appearance to introduce a screening of the film\u00a0Basquiat\u00a0(1996) about U.S. artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. The star had also personally introduced it at the 32nd edition of Karlovy Vary. At Saturday\u2019s closing ceremony of the Czech fest, Wright will receive\u00a0KVIFF<\/a>\u2018s President\u2019s Award.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis year\u2019s\u00a0double anniversary<\/a>\u00a0edition of KVIFF has brought a\u00a0parade of stars<\/a>\u00a0to the picturesque spa town, including\u00a0Jesse Eisenberg<\/a>\u00a0(The Social Network,\u00a0A Real Pain),\u00a0Juliette Binoche<\/a>\u00a0(The English Patient,\u00a0Three Colors: Blue,\u00a0In-I in Motion),\u00a0Maggie Gyllenhaal<\/a>\u00a0(The Bride!,\u00a0The Lost Daughter),\u00a0Harvey Keitel<\/a>\u00a0(Mean Streets,\u00a0Reservoir Dogs), legendary\u00a0cinematographer\u00a0Robert Richardson<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Dustin Hoffman<\/a>\u00a0(The Graduate,\u00a0Rain Man).<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was Hoffman who came up repeatedly in the conversation with Wright, who shared that the legendary star was a key influence on his life and career. \u201cWhen I saw Midnight Cowboy, I said, \u2018Wow, that\u2019s a crazy place, that New York. I want to go there.\u2019 When I saw him in Papillon or Marathon Man, and I saw the way he worked, the craft that was so evident, the thoughtfulness, the theatricality that resonated through his work, I said, \u2018If I\u2019m going to be an actor, that\u2019s a model for how to go about it\u2019 because it seemed meaningful and it was just compelling to me. I\u2019ve been influenced by many performances and many actors, but I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anyone whose way of working impacted me more than Dustin Hoffman.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Batman film franchise, Wes Anderson and the way politics has become more and more like entertainment were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":755256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[92131,88,2091,78609,305967,305968,305969,206,48126,83518],"class_list":["post-755255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-dustin-hoffman","tag-entertainment","tag-international","tag-jeffrey-wright","tag-karlovy-vary-international-film-festival","tag-kviff","tag-kviff-2026","tag-movies","tag-the-batman","tag-wes-anderson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=755255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/755256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}