John Sayles

I’m Evan Smith, the editor of TEXAS MONTHLY.

Like so many others who toil in the cinematic trenches, he’s a true visionary — an artist. And yet he’s no dilletante. At every moment of every shoot, whether’s he’s writing or directing or turning in one of his rare appearances as an actor, his sleeves are, often literally, rolled up. There are very few people who plausibly qualify for the overused moniker of hardest working man in show business, but John Sayles certainly makes the cut — and as a result, the 57-year-old is much admired — for his creative output, for his integrity, for his agility in getting the best possible work out of the finest possible actors, for his commitment to making meaningful, memorable, resonant films about people and places and moments in time. The Schenectady, New York, native’s filmography reads like a modern history of independent film: His debut, Return of the Secaucus Seven, was self-funded with $30,000 earned writing scripts for the legendary schlockmeister Roger Corman. He used the $40,000 from his MacArthur Fellowship to make The Brother from Another Planet, and his career was launched. From Matewan to Eight Men Out, Passion Fish to The Secret of Roan Inish, Lone Star — to this day one of the very best movies made in or about Texas — to Sunshine State, Sayles’ work is about the strength of story-telling. That’s evident even in the films whose scripts he doctors as a way to earn money to make his own films; these include, amazingly, Apollo 13, Mimic, and The Fugitive. His latest release, inspired by one of his own short stories, is called Honeydripper, about a down-at-the-heels juke joint of the same name in Alabama where a prodigal blues guitarist played by Austin’s Gary Clark Jr. saves the day. Sayles and his partner in life and work, Maggie Renzi, self-distributed the film, which is about to play before the grateful faithful in arthouses across Texas — and around the country.

A conversation with John Sayles, on this edition of TEXAS MONTHLY TALKS.