Laurence Fishburne is set to direct a new film, “The Rule of Nines,” per film-news.co.uk.
The 64-year-old veteran actor, perhaps best known for The Matrix, is moving behind the camera for the project, which was written by John Connor. Fishburne will also work alongside producer and casting director Bonnie Timmermann and actor André Holland.
Fishburne, whose directorial debut was the 2000 feature Once in the Life, believes his decades-long career in front of the camera has prepared him perfectly for this new role.
“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,” he told Variety. “This may be the moment where I move into the director space in a real, consistent kind of way.”
However, the actor confirmed he has no plans to quit acting and hopes to branch out into more comedy roles, a genre he admits he has not fully explored.
“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,” he explained.
He cited his childhood admiration for vocal performers like Mel Blanc and Robin Williams as inspiration for his continued focus on character work.
“The vocal instrument, for me, has always been an essential part of being an actor,” he added, noting his lifelong love of language and accents.
