James Gray at Locarno: 'Actors Dictate the Style of a Film'
James Gray told a press conference at the 79th Locarno Film Festival that he is "always shocked when an actor says they want to work with me," and that performers shape a film's style far more than people realise (The Hollywood Reporter).
Gray was at Locarno to receive the Pardo alla Carriera, or Career Leopard, the festival's lifetime achievement honour, presented on the Piazza Grande on Sunday, 9 August 2026 (Locarno Film Festival). After collecting the award, he presented his latest film, Paper Tiger (2026), a 114-minute English-language US production shot in DCP 4K (Locarno Film Festival).
Speaking to journalists, Gray described his directing method as one built around giving actors room. He said he tries to make performers "totally comfortable to be excellent" and lets them have the freedom to be themselves in a scene and listen to each other. The New York-born film-maker also said he avoids writing scripts with specific actors in mind, because doing so often leads to disappointment when that actor is unavailable (The Hollywood Reporter).
Gray's remarks carried the weight of a director whose work the festival praised as forming "a rich body of work" echoing Jewish heritage themes (The Hollywood Reporter). The tribute accompanied the announcement of the Career Leopard honour in July.
Asked about his influences, Gray did not hesitate. If he had to pick cinema from 1945 to 1980, he said, Italian cinema "would be everything to me," calling the number of Italian directors in that period "an ocean of brilliance." He also spoke about what draws him to the medium itself. Movies, he said, are "the most beautiful art form" because they are "the closest thing we have to a dream." He tries, he added, to show audiences a version of his own dream and intimacy on screen (The Hollywood Reporter).
For a director who has spent his career working with actors from Joaquin Phoenix to Marion Cotillard, the admission that their contributions outrun his own may sound modest. But Gray framed it as practical. When actors are free to listen and respond in the moment, the film finds its style through them — not through a plan imposed from above.
The 79th edition of Locarno runs through the Swiss lakeside town's open-air Piazza Grande, one of the largest outdoor screening venues in the world (Locarno Film Festival). Gray's Career Leopard places him among the directors the festival has honoured for sustained contributions to cinema.
Paper Tiger, his newest feature, screened for festival audiences following the ceremony.
