Its a tremendous experience on every level.
Its just the kind of experience Hollywood told the 57-year-old shed never get.
In actuality, though, its the latest of several.
Credit: Robert Viglasky/Hartswood Films 2016
There are a lot of people directing, but very few who are really special, says the actor.
Rachel is very special, agrees Steven Moffat, the executive producer ofDoctor Whoand co-creator ofSherlock.
The directors achievements are doubly impressive given her history.
In the early 90s, Talalay was a Hollywood up-and-comer.
Released in 1995, the movie recouped just $4 million of its $25 million budget.
So many men fail and then get their next opportunity, says Talalay.
[Women] can do anything and everything, says Talalay.
Its crazy that the statistics are so terrible.
While in Britain she embarked on what would prove to be an enduring obsession withDoctor Who.
I cant believe now that Im considered aDoctor Whodirector, she says.
It was very much an independent movie.
The neighbors were calling the police, trying to get rid of us.
We were the only movie that had scaryhairdressersworking on it.
But she handled it really well.
Talalay didnt know anything about accounting.
They said, Can you do it?
I said, Yeah, sure.
I just figured it out.
She was great on those movies, producing, says the director.
In turn, the director officiated Talalays wedding to British film producer Rupert Harvey.
It was so much fun, the wedding, I have to say, recalls Talalay.
I mean, it was like having a John Waters comedy routine.
I think he charged $7.95.
Talalay and Harvey are still together and have two daughters.
One of them is a hugeDoctor Whofan and the other is a hugeSherlockfan, she laughs.
The film grossed an impressive $35 million but did not prove to be the career launchpad she expected.
I wasnt afforded the same opportunity, and I feel that was absolutely to do with my gender.
Talalays next film, meanwhile, was the obscure sci-fi thrillerGhost in the Machine.
Talalay assembled notable teams in front of, and behind, the camera.
I feel [Tank Girls] the precursor toDeadpool, she says.
We were really ahead of our time.
Feeling a little inadequate?
our heroine gleefully asks a pair of McDowells goons, lying astride her tanks enormous phallic weapon.
Over time,Tank Girlhas acquired an army of fans, many of them women.
Yeah, yeah, finally!
Im absolutely delighted to have that iconic film that I made.
At the time, however, the films failure torpedoed her career.
Utterly, completely in Hollywood jail, she says.
Waters agrees that his protegees sense of injustice is not misplaced.
Well, certainly, I failedplentyof times and was given another chance, he laughs.
But the subjects that Rachel liked were notgirlythings.
It wasnt like she was trying to do romantic-comedies.
I mean, she liked movies thatmenwould have directed: horror, and action, and everything.
I was the first person to optionPreacher, she says.
I went into a comic book store and heard the Comic Book Guy saying, This is so outrageous!
This is so outrageous!
I was like, Well, I have to have it!
I was like, afterTank Girl, lets go to thenextlevel of impossible.
They did well just optioning it to all sorts of amazing people.
That was an entirely practical thing to [help pay for] my daughter, at U.S. university.
I have thegraphic novels.
I feel no regret.
Im glad that it went to Seth and Evan.
They were exactly the right people to make it.
That was a very common thing I heard from my agents, she says.
The roots of Talalays current renaissance date back to 2005 and the BBCs revival of the long-mothballedDoctor Who.
Talalay met withWhoproducers on a couple of occasions, but to no avail.
In between, she sharpened her fantasy and sci-fi chops, directing episodes ofSupernaturaland SyfysHaven.
The first thing they do is say, Would you like to go on the TARDIS?
Talalay told EW at the time.
Youre like, Are youkiddingme?
Shes unusually fluid, her style always shifting to fit the demands of the narrative, he says.
Certainly, Moffat cant complain about Talalays tight-lippedness over spoilers.
I can tell youonething, which is not very helpful, she says.
The director is more loquacious on the subject of witnessing firsthand Cumberbatchs effect on the public.
I actually have dailies where it’s possible for you to hear them, these open tour buses.
This is the best thing ever, to watch that enthusiasm and excitement.
Yeah, the otherSherlockdirectors have all been offered pilots and features off the back of it.
But remember, you are a woman.
Though she points out that her reps were simply being realistic, Talalay admits she was crushed.
I think there is the potential for strong change now that women are speaking out, she says.
Im taking theSherlockcredit and going off to have meetings.
I really, really want to directGame of Thrones.
Sounds like her agents suggestion that she manage her expectations has fallen on deaf ears.
