It wasn't all that long ago that writer and director M. Night Shyamalan turned down Penn to study film at New York University. And with his latest movie coming out tomorrow and starring non other than Mel Gibson, it doesn't look like Shyamalan, 31, is having any second thoughts about the decision -- nor should he.
His new film, Signs -- described as a refreshing look at the sci-fi thriller -- is his fifth. But it wasn't until Shyamalan's third film, The Sixth Sense that he had his real breakthrough. The 1999 movie with a twist ending that caused people to rush back to theaters for multiple viewings was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor Oscars.
Signs, which was shot in Bucks County, Pa., chronicles the lives of farmer Graham Hess (Gibson), his two children, and his younger brother (Joaquin Phoenix) after they identify crop circles in their farm. But more than that, the film is about faith -- losing it and the struggle to gain it back. And those involved with the project say that the molding of a suspenseful thriller with real, everyday human emotion is what they're most proud of.
"To actually cook the idea up and write it so eloquently and craft it so wonderfully in the script and then to execute it with absolute certainty and precision, left me very little room to ever have any kind of dispute," Gibson says, adding "I was kind of amazed at what [Shyamalan] was doing."
Born in Tamil-Nadu, India, Shymalan spent his youth growing up in Philadelphia and currently resides in Bucks County, refusing to move to Hollywood. Named Manoj Shyamalan, he added the Night and dropped the "anoj" as a teen after teachers repeatedly mangled its pronunciation. His fascination with the City of Brotherly love is evident -- his films Wide Awake (starring Rosie O'Donnell and Denis Leary), The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable were all shot here. And parts of Unbreakable were even shot at Franklin Field.
Shyamalan is known in the business for his strong work ethic and dedication to portraying real human emotion on screen. Critics have touted him as the next Spielberg and a fresh and original voice penetrating through a sea of drabness and clich‚s. Although his films are often suspenseful and scary at times, he's not looking for cheap thrills -- and he never wants his characters to act unnatural. To keep the purity of a film intact, Shyamalan will sometimes keep scenes that aren't 100 percent perfect.
"I keep a lot of flaws... for the purity of the experience," he explains.
Actors note that Shyamalan is quick to pick up on some of the tricks they have developed over the years and he will not tolerate them. In Signs, Gibson was forbidden from swallowing to make a point.
"He's kind of like the truth police," Gibosn says, adding, "He'll bust you if he's not getting something truthful."
Shyamalan puts a lot of himself into his films. His debut film, Praying with Anger, which was released in 1992, (the same year he graduated NYU) is about an Indian-American who travels to India as part of a college exchange program. Although the young adult looks like an Indian, he feels like a foreigner. Shymalan starred in the film. Even more autobiographical is an intense moment in Shyamalan's most recent film. In the scene, Gibson tries to calm down his two children by telling them the stories of their births. The stories are actually those of the births of Shyamalan's two daughters, ages 5 and 2.
Although Shyamalan hasn't starred in a film since Praying with Anger, he has had cameos in The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs. His role in Signs is significantly larger than the previous two roles.
"I wrote that part for me," he explains, adding, "There's always a character I relate to in the movie and usually I chicken out. This time, I didn't." In The Sixth Sense, Shyamalan was originally going to play the part of the father who watches a videotape of his daughter before her death.
Acting in his films gives Shyamalan an opportunity to better understand his actors, by stepping into their shoes -- a task he learned was not always easy.
"I'm reading [my lines] in the trailer, I'm ready, and I'm like 'I know exactly how to do this with complete authenticity, purity of thought, and bringing myself out and being naked, I completely know. Let's go.' And you walk outside, 'Hey, how you doing' ... 'good, good,' ... 'the crane can come in'... 'okay, yeah,' ... Sit down get the makeup on, 'mike can't go here, we still see the mike' ... Then the lights come on and 45 minutes later, 'Okay, go.' I have no fucking clue how to say it ... and that's such an amazing lesson."
Shyamalan appears in his films not as a gag, but rather to better appreciate the fullness of the art form and to make his films more real.
"The world that these characters live in should have Indians in it because my world does, you know what I mean. It just feels more right with the picture in my head."
Signs is receiving rave reviews from critics across the nation. And while Shyamalan hasn't revealed his plans for any future projects just yet, you can bet it will be something good, something real and something original.
