Gavin Hood

{{Infobox person

| name = Gavin Hood

| image = Gavin Hood 2015.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Hood at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1963|5|12|df=y}}

| birth_place = Johannesburg, South Africa

| education = St Stithians College

| occupation = {{hlist|Film director|screenwriter|actor|film producer}}

| years_active = 1989–present

}}

Gavin Hood (born 12 May 1963){{citation needed|date=November 2023}} is a South African filmmaker, and actor, best known for writing and directing Tsotsi (2005), which won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. He also directed the films X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ender's Game, Eye in the Sky and Official Secrets.

Early life

Hood was born in Johannesburg and grew up in the Hillbrow area. He is the son of the English-born South African retailer Gordon Hood (d. 2013). Hood attended St Stithians College and went on to graduate with a law degree from the University of the Witwatersrand.{{Cite web|url=https://ststithians.africamediaonline.com/universal-viewer/?q=1220_19&keyword=hood#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=12&r=0&xywh=2705%2C486%2C2207%2C1379|title=Universal Viewer – St Stithians Archives}}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} He then pursued a post-graduate degree in screenwriting and directing at a film school in California in 1991.

Directing career

Upon returning to his home country, Hood got his start in directing when he was commissioned to make several short educational dramas for the South African Department of Health. His first commercial short film was The Storekeeper (1998). He earned an Artes Award for his contributions.{{Cite web|url=https://www.brandsouthafrica.com/people-culture/people/gavin-hood-160409|title=Gavin Hood: from Tsotsi to X-Men|website=Brand South Africa|date=16 April 2009}}

Hood co-produced and wrote the script for his debut feature film, A Reasonable Man (1999), which portrays the accidental killing of a young child mistaken for a tokoloshe. He then directed the Polish language 2001 feature film In Desert and Wilderness (W pustyni i w puszczy) when its original director fell ill. This was then followed by the critically acclaimed crime drama film Tsotsi (2005). Tsotsi went on to win the 2005 Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, granting him his first Academy Award, and was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 2006.{{Cite web |last=Walsh |first=Fiona |title=SA EXCLUSIVE: Gavin Hood on his new film and how his mom getting hijacked set in motion his Oscar-winning career |url=https://www.news24.com/channel/movies/news/sa-exclusive-gavin-hood-on-his-new-film-and-how-his-mom-getting-hijacked-set-in-motion-his-oscar-winning-career-20190219 |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Channel |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Gavin Hood |url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/person/gavin-hood |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=goldenglobes.com |language=en}} Hood was also nominated for the 2005 Non-European Film—Prix Screen International at the European Film Awards for his work on the film.

In 2000, Variety magazine named him as one of its "Ten Directors to Watch".{{cite news| url=https://variety.com/2000/scene/vpage/dance-till-wee-hours-1117775717/ | work=Variety | title='Dance till wee hours | first=Bill | last=Higgins | date=31 January 2000}}

He directed Rendition (2007), his first Hollywood feature, for New Line Cinema. He also directed the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, with Hugh Jackman reprising his role from the X-Men films.{{cite news| url=https://variety.com/2007/film/markets-festivals/fox-says-hood-good-for-wolverine-2-1117968868/ | work=Variety | title=Fox says Hood good for 'Wolverine' | first1=Peter | last1=Gilstrap | first2=Michael | last2=Fleming | date=19 July 2007}}

Prior to the film's release, Gavin talked about the political undertones of the new Wolverine movie:

Any movie that is simply about good versus evil ... is in my view putting out into the world and certainly into a mass audience and young audience's mind a rather dangerous philosophy, which is that there is good and evil in the simplistic and easily defined way

...

I think that for the last eight years, we've had that philosophy very much prevalent in the Bush administration that if you're on the side of good, at least as you perceive it, then you can do no evil ... That's what's so great about this character or about this movie for me and why I wanted to do it ... This is a guy who recognizes his own capacity for evil and I think that's exciting in a sort of popular culture kind of way. After all, the most famous line from Wolverine, the comics, is "I am the best there is at what I do, but what I do best isn't very nice."{{cite web|url = http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Gavin+Hood%3A+Wolverine/|title = Gavin Hood: Wolverine|publisher = SuicideGirls.com|date = 28 April 2009|access-date = 2009-04-28}}

In 2011, Hood began work at the helm of novelist Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. He wrote a draft of Card's screenplay and directed the film.{{cite web|url = http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2010/09/orson-scott-card-enders-game-gavin-hood.html|title = Gavin Hood: Enders Game|work = Los Angeles Times|date = 20 September 2010|first = Steven|last = Zeitchik}}{{cite news|date = 28 April 2011|first = Brian|last = Gallagher|title = Ender's Game Lands at Summit Entertainment|url = http://www.movieweb.com/news/enders-game-lands-at-summit-entertainment|publisher = MovieWeb.com}} Ender's Game was released in U.S. theaters on 1 November 2013.

Hood directed and acted in Eye in the Sky, which was released on 15 September 2015 at the TIFF in Toronto, Canada.

Hood wrote, directed, and executive produced the 2019 British film Official Secrets based on the real life case of the Iraq War whistleblower Katharine Gun.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/lifestyle/2019-12-15-director-gavin-hood-on-why-hes-drawn-to-telling-stories-about-moral-dilemmas/|title=Director Gavin Hood on why he's drawn to telling stories about moral dilemmas|journal=TimesLIVE|location=South Africa|first=Tymon|last=Smith|date=15 December 2019|accessdate=26 November 2021}}{{Cite web |title=Standing ovation for Oscar-winning SA director Gavin Hood at the Sundance Film Festival |url=https://www.news24.com/Channel/standing-ovation-for-oscar-winning-sa-director-gavin-hood-at-the-sundance-film-festival-20190130 |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Channel |language=en-US}}

Personal life

Over the course of his career, Hood has "bounced about, back and forth" between South Africa, the United States, and the United Kingdom.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.news24.com/channel/movies/news/sa-exclusive-gavin-hood-on-his-new-film-and-how-his-mom-getting-hijacked-set-in-motion-his-oscar-winning-career-20190219|title=SA EXCLUSIVE: Gavin Hood on his new film and how his mom getting hijacked set in motion his Oscar-winning career|journal=Channel24|first=Fiona|last=Walsh|date=19 February 2019|accessdate=26 November 2021}}

Filmography

class="wikitable"
rowspan="2" style="width:33px;"\|Year ! rowspan="2"\|Film
width=65 \|Director ! width=65 \|Writer ! width=65 \|Producer ! scope="col" \| Notes
1998 \| The Storekeeper \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| Short film
1999 \| A Reasonable Man \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| Directorial Debut
2001 \| In Desert and Wilderness \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| {{no}} \|
2005 \| Tsotsi \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| {{no}} \| Won - Academy Award for Best International Feature Film Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
2007 \| Rendition \| {{yes}} \| {{no}} \| {{no}} \|
2009 \| X-Men Origins: Wolverine \| {{yes}} \| {{no}} \| {{no}} \|
2013 \| Ender's Game \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| {{no}} \|
2015 \| Eye in the Sky \| {{yes}} \| {{no}} \| {{no}} \|
2019 \| Official Secrets \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| {{yes\|Executive}} \|

class="wikitable"

rowspan="2" style="width:33px;"|Year

! rowspan="2"|Film

width=65 |Director

! width=65 |Writer

! width=65 |Producer

! scope="col" | Notes

1998

| The Storekeeper

| {{yes}}

| Short film

1999

| A Reasonable Man

| {{yes}}

| Directorial Debut

2001

| In Desert and Wilderness

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

2005

| Tsotsi

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

| Won - Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language
Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film

2007

| Rendition

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

2009

| X-Men Origins: Wolverine

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

2013

| Ender's Game

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

2015

| Eye in the Sky

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

2019

| Official Secrets

| {{yes}}

| {{yes|Executive}}

Acting roles

class="wikitable"
rowspan="2" \| Year ! rowspan="2" \| Title
Role ! Note
rowspan=3\| 1991 \| The Sheltering Desert \| Willi \|
American Kickboxer \| Ken Holligan \|
Curse III: Blood Sacrifice \| Robert \|
1993 \| The Game \| \| TV series 13 episodes
1994 \| Project Shadowchaser II \| Tieg \|
rowspan=2\| 1995 \| Kickboxer 5 \| German Champion \|rowspan=2\| Direct-to-video
Human Timebomb \| Mike
1996 \| Rhodes \| Frank Johnson \| 4 episodes
1997 \| Operation Delta Force 2: Mayday \| Sparks \|rowspan=3\| Direct-to-video
rowspan=2\| 1998 \| Beings \| US Doctor
Operation Delta Force 3: Clear Target \| Sparks
rowspan=2\| 1999 \| A Reasonable Man \| Sean Raine \|
Traitor's Heart \| John Roberts \|
rowspan=3\| 2004 \| In Enemy Hands \| Achilles Captain \|
Stargate SG-1 \| Colonel Alexi Vaselov \| 1 episode
King Solomon's Mines \| Bruce McNabb \| TV mini-series 2 episodes
2013 \| Ender's Game \| Giant \| Voice and motion-capture performance cameo
2015 \| Eye in the Sky \| Lieutenant Colonel Ed Walsh \|

class="wikitable"

rowspan="2" | Year

! rowspan="2" | Title

Role

! Note

rowspan=3| 1991

| The Sheltering Desert

| Willi

American Kickboxer

| Ken Holligan

Curse III: Blood Sacrifice

| Robert