Hello, and thanks for tuning in to another episode of The Directors Cut, brought to you by the Directors Guild of America,

featuring today's top directors sharing behind-the-scenes stories of their latest films and insights into the craft of directing.

Please take a second to subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts.

This episode takes us behind the scenes of director James Gray's new sci-fi drama, Ad Astra.

The film tells the story of astronaut Roy McBride, who makes a daring voyage to Neptune

to discover the truth about his father, who led an interstellar mission 30 years ago and was

never heard from again. Roy's journey will unravel a mystery that challenges the nature of human

existence and threatens the survival of our planet. In addition to add Astra, Mr. Gray's

credits include the feature films The Lost City of Z, The Immigrant, Two Lovers, We Own the Night, The Yards,

and Little Odessa, and an episode of the television series The Red Road.

Following a recent screening of the film at the DGA Theatre in Los Angeles, Mr. Gray spoke

with director Damien Chazelle about filming Ad Astra. During their conversation, he discusses how hard it is to not rip off Stanley Kubrick,

the utter difficulty of shooting with space suits, and finding ways in which an expansive journey

across the solar system can feel small and intimate.

You sit here? You take, you take, I give to you.

I've done like 500 of these, and I don't know which...

And we somehow screwed that up?

Yeah, well, it's my one.

You told me it was going to go great.

It's going to go great.

This is the first time Damien Chiselle has ever done something like this.

I haven't moderated before some.

...