Guys, you have to remember that Colin Trevorrow is a human with feelings.
Even though it’s easy to put filmmakers and actors on a pedestal that makes them seem larger than life, these people still don’t like to see hate thrown their way. With that being said, Trevorrow has been one of the filmmakers hit the hardest with comments over the last year or so. His latest film, “The Book of Henry” was critically reviled and the butt of endless jokes. Then to top it off, the director was unceremoniously dismissed as director of “Star Wars: Episode IX” by Lucasfilm.
READ MORE: Colin Trevorrow Responds To “Vitriolic Dislike” Of ‘The Book Of Henry’
In a new interview with UPROXX, Trevorrow opens up about what happened in both those situations. First, he talked about how the poor reception of “The Book of Henry” led to a painful time in his life. “… look, man, it was painful. But, you know, life is full of pain, and we all experience loss. Not all of us have to watch it play out online, but that’s the gig. And I feel like in America right now, your pain is bait. You know, your pain is clickable,” said the filmmaker.
He continues by saying that the response to the film was “devastating.” Shortly after ‘Henry’ was released to incredibly negative reviews, Trevorrow was fired from his prestigious “Star Wars” gig. Many speculated that the two events were somehow linked.
When Trevorrow was asked if he believed there was a link between ‘Henry’ and his firing from ‘Episode IX,’ he said, “You know, I don’t know. I mean, I can’t really speculate on it. I’ll tell you that the reaction to ‘Book of Henry’ was far more damaging than the actual movie. And I don’t mean specifically at Lucasfilm. I mean, that was a very acidic situation. And, look, every director who has worked in Lucasfilm put their heart and soul into the job and they left it all in the field, and the bottom line here is that sometimes creative people can’t find a shared path through the woods.”
READ MORE: ‘The Book Of Henry’ Is The Ultimate Precocious Child Genius Movie [Review]
Regardless of the reason behind his dismissal, Trevorrow joins a fairly long list of recently fired Lucasfilm directors, which includes Josh Trank, Phil Lord, Chris Miller, and Gareth Edwards (if you believe reports). He was asked about what its like to be part of that list. Trevorrow responded:
“I know all of them. These are friends of mine and I was very close to them through all of their experiences. And ‘Star Wars’ is a very personal thing to all of them, to a lot of people, and there are some people out there – and I know folks might think we’re crazy – but people like me, who actually believe that there is an all-powerful force that binds the galaxy together. And when you’re one of those people, you’re dealing with your belief system, you’re not just dealing with a movie. And so, yeah, that is a very personal loss.”
Even with the negative reception of ‘Henry,’ and the situation with ‘Episode IX,’ the filmmaker has landed on his feet and will next begin work on the upcoming “Jurassic World 3,” which will finish the trilogy that he helped launch in 2015.