At this point, Michelle Zauner’s résumé would fit better on a CVS receipt than a mere 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper. She’s the Grammy-nominated frontperson of beloved indie outfit Japanese Breakfast, a New York Times bestselling author for her debut memoir, Crying In H Mart, and now, she wants to add “first-time feature director” to that list. That credit probably won’t come from the film adaptation of Crying In H Mart, however, which she does want to tackle some day. “But I think I need to learn how,” the multi-hyphenate told Vulture in a recent interview. “I don’t want to learn how to direct on that feature.”
Published in 2021, Crying In H Mart tells the vulnerable and deeply personal story of Zauner’s mother’s death. The book debuted to widespread critical acclaim, and was optioned for a film by Orion Pictures shortly after. The White Lotus‘ Will Sharpe came on board to direct in 2023, from a screenplay written by Zauner herself. Then, earlier this year, Zauner shared that the Sharpe had stepped away after the Hollywood strikes and the film was officially “on pause” and would “not [be] happening anytime soon.”
Now, Zauner is giving a little more insight into that emotional decision. The multi-hyphenate shared that she was “devastated when Will left,” but kept a cool distance with regard to her current relationship with the actor-director. (“I think he probably had a lot of other offers,” she speculated.) For her part, she shared that she “had a very big meltdown in Hamburg, Germany” upon receiving his call “because it was a year of my life (working on the screenplay) that felt completely down the drain.”
It sounds like it was a pretty challenging year too. Zauner described the process of “ceding control” of her own life and grief to a bunch of script editors as “horrible,” explaining that she became “very defensive and guarded because it’s an extremely difficult, personal story.” As an indie musician on a label with a lot of freedom, she had “never been given notes.” But now, “you have a bunch of strangers telling you what to change about real people.” While she called the producers and people involved with the movie “amazing,” she admitted that “it was kind of a worst-case scenario for a first feature about the most personal story that’s already lived a life of its own as a successful book.” She’d love the opportunity to participate in such a collaborative process again in the future, but “with something that’s a little bit less touchy.”
As for Crying In H Mart, it seems only fitting for Zauner to take full ownership and direct it herself one day. That’s how she wants to handle the story, but only when she’s ready, which she doesn’t feel she is just yet. “I’d rather it not be a movie than a bad movie,” she said, but “perspective makes the best work. So if I’ve been away from the screenplay for years, when I open it back up again, I think it’s only going to get better from there.”
For now, Zauner has been hard at work on Japanese Breakfast’s fourth studio album, For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women), which she said contains “some of the best lyrics that I’ve written.” The LP releases March 21.
