James Oconner 
Anil Krishna 
Jonathan Millar 
Maggie Gyllenhaal Speaks Out Against Authoritarian Directors: “They’re Either Scared or Not Very Smart”
Maggie Gyllenhaal. © AFP
Fresh off serving as President of the International Competition Jury at the 2026 Venice Film Festival, Maggie Gyllenhaal is now in Busan for the Busan International Film Festival. She is there to present Flesh Impact, a short film she wrote and directed, starring Ellen Burstyn and Dakota Johnson.
During a press conference at the festival, Gyllenhaal was asked about directors who take a more authoritarian approach on set and don’t really allow their crews to have a say. Her response was pretty blunt. Looking back at her own acting career, she said the best directors she worked with were the ones who actually listened to the people around them.
“It was always the people who were too scared or not very smart who silenced others,” Gyllenhaal said.
That idea seems to have carried over into her own work behind the camera. Gyllenhaal made her directorial debut with The Lost Daughter in 2021 and returned to directing in 2026 with her second feature, The Bride!. For her, making a film isn’t about being the only person with the answers. She wants the people working around her to feel like they can contribute, too.
“At the end of the day, that’s my job as a director. Everything rests in my hands, so there’s no reason to shut down other people’s opinions,” she explained. “It goes without saying that a film of mine is the collective effort of everyone who worked on it. The least I can do is listen to everyone’s ideas, which ultimately makes a better movie than anything I could have imagined on my own.”
It’s a fairly straightforward philosophy, but Gyllenhaal clearly feels strongly about it. And considering she has spent years on both sides of the camera, her view comes from experience rather than just an idea about how a film set should work. For her, being the director doesn’t mean having to shut everyone else out. If anything, listening to the people around you can be what makes the finished movie better.
Source: Variety
About the Author
