Simon Baker, who is known for his iconic role of Patrick Jane in The Mentalist, was spotted at the recently held YMCA’s The Mother of All Black and White Balls on 30th May. He was accompanied on the red carpet with his stunning wife, Rebecca Rigg.
Simon Baker has opened up about his plans to direct. He said that he didn’t want to act after ending his stint with The Guardian, but then The Mentalist happened. He had decided to take The Mentalist as a film school.
In an interview with Good Morning Britain where was live from Canne, he said that since he knew that The Mentalist will continue for a large part of his career, he decided to use this opportunity to learn and grow.
The Mentalist saw 151 hours of shooting and he said that it was like a speed dating of film production. The pieces have to be put together very fast and everything from the script to the cast to scouting for the location of the shoot needs to be done at a fast pace. In order to get a hang of the directorial role, Simon Baker directed as many people as he could on the set of The Mentalist.
With the last and final season of The Mentalist wrapped up, Simon Baker is now focusing on adapting Tim Winton’s Breath on screen. The Australian actor has been working on this idea for a while now and he feels he is ready to take the place the behind the camera to shoot his first feature film.
In order to launch his directorial debut, Simon Baker was in Cannes recently during the Cannes Film Festival. He said that it’s difficult being in the festival as a director and not an actor. He is meeting marketing heads, distributors and sales executives. Baker said that it’s a whole new world out there and it’s something he has never seen before.
Simon Baker bought the rights of Breath way back in 2009. Ever since he read the Miles Franklin Award winning book, he knew that he had to make a film adaptation of it. The storyline along with the rugged setting of the plot came across as very romantic for him.
The filming for Breath will start in the second half of 2016. Simon Baker will be joined by Mark Johnson, the producer of The Mentalist and Australian producer Jamie Hilton. They will be getting help from the Screen Australia and Screen West as well.