The writer/director is Jess Varley, who premiered the film at SXSW 2025 as her first feature. The movie also stars Diego Luna and the young Scarlett Holmes as the final members of Mara's family. David Garbett served as the DP, shooting on the Alexa 35 with Panavision G Series anamorphic lenses to achieve the project's gorgeous look.
We got the chance to sit down with Varley just after the film's first SXSW screening to talk about some of the key things she learned on her debut feature, which can help any up-and-coming filmmaker. Enjoy!
Be Patient and Persistent
Varley was initially inspired to develop the script after reading about the strange, real-life symptoms astronauts experience after missions. It was the seed of an idea that she couldn't shake, but didn't know how to make bigger at first (a common problem among screenwriters, let's be honest).
From there, she kept mulling, finally finding the structure and final act when on the road for a long trip. She met with producer Brad Fuller (of A Quiet Place and Purge fame), who enthusiastically brainstormed with her over a dinner meeting to help break the story.
"But it's a very long road. Even that [dinner] was four years ago," Varley said. "So it's such a long process, but just being able to develop it with him and get it to a place where we could then take it to talent and then build the package out from there was how it happened."
Four years might seem like an eternity when you want to put your project together. But filmmaking is often characterized as a marathon, not a sprint.
Eventually, Fishburne joined in the role of the general and as one of the producers.
"He was someone that we had talked about as an archetype for the role, but not somebody that we would actually consider making an offer to, because this is my first feature," Varley said. "And there was no universe in my mind that anyone like Laurence Fishburne would ever say yes to doing my movie."
The lesson here might be to simply go for it—the least you can do is pitch, ask, and see what happens. You might be surprised by the "yes" you didn't expect.
Gain Practical Experience on Set and Ask Questions
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Varley had experience working on shorts and an anthology film, as well as various roles as an actor, but The Astronaut was her first feature as a solo director. She praised the Irish crew's professionalism as being key to her success and pointed to her times on other crews and projects as prep.
"I said to everybody, 'Obviously I'm going to have blind spots,'" she said. "I don't know what I don't know. ... I had done a horror anthology a few years ago with some other filmmaker friends of mine, some of whom had already done features. So just being able to watch other directors work, it was always so helpful. I learned a ton of what to do, what not to do."
Her work as a production coordinator was also a useful background.
"I think just having a good understanding of, first and foremost, morale is number one," she said of that role. She knew that having a good attitude and keeping everyone engaged was important.
But the most essential experience she pointed to was being on other sets.
"I'll never pass up an opportunity to come to set on someone's movie for a day if I'm invited to go, just watch how they work. You can always learn new things. 'Oh, I never thought of making an adjustment this way. How interesting that they chose to use two cameras here.'"
I said that the willingness to ask questions is key, too.
"I'll always ask questions," Varley said. "It's funny, even our post supervisor was like, 'I love that you ask questions because sometimes I don't know things, but now I ask because you ask.' But it's so true. I think there's so much to learn. There are so many facets of movie-making. How could anyone know all the answers? So just ask. Everyone's always willing to answer.
"I feel like where I've seen people get into trouble is when they don't know the answer to something and they act like they know because they're insecure about coming off [like] they don't know. And then it turns into something unnecessary because, really, all I had to do was ask."
Embrace the creative process
Varley advocated for an open, iterative approach to screenwriting, encouraging writers to not get too stuck on the details during their initial drafts.
"I usually do core concepts like the logline, then maybe a paragraph synopsis, and then maybe a page per act in terms of some more specific beats," she said of her writing process. "And then ultimately a 10-page outline that really gives you the ABCs of what you want the beats to be. And from there, for me, it's just a great roadmap.
"Not that I don't change things and rewrite along the way, but you can almost cross off as you go. Like, okay, I did that scene. And every scene that you write again, does not by any means need to be the best version of that scene. I am very guilty of being overly precious and spending way too much time and thinking about grammar and all of these things that we all do."
She highlighted the value of trying different ideas, even if they don't all make it into the final film. She repeated something we've already highlighted.
"I would say be patient," she said. "Patience is difficult but very necessary."
She encouraged filmmakers to do the thing that we've talked about here before—grab your iPhone and make something. Or whatever you have on hand. And get on a film set if you can.
"You learn by doing," she said. "So, certainly, making your own short films to show your abilities and refine your abilities in preparation for that feature. And also, I cannot recommend working on crews more. I think at every level. I've been a production assistant, I've been a coordinator, I have done background casting, I have done intimacy coordinating—especially in indie film, you're obviously always wearing a million hats—but I can't recommend it more because even if you're not working in your dream department, you're going to learn so much again by watching the director work."
Network, and ask people to read your script
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A space like SXSW is full of creative people and opportunities for connection, but networking is something filmmakers should always be doing.
"Just get yourself in there, meet as many people as you can, and share your vision and share your goals," Varley said. "I think sometimes people are like, 'Well, you have to keep it to yourself because if you put it out there...' No, you should tell everybody what your goals are."
Varley added that it's important not to downplay what you want to do. Don't limit yourself before you have a chance to succeed.
"And don't feel out of alignment if you're not necessarily doing that currently in your life," she said.
Share your screenplays. Get as many eyes on your pages as you can.
She added, "A screenplay is ultimately a shooting draft at the end of the day, and things will change, and it doesn't have to be the holy grail to be able to share it with the world and get feedback along the way."
