In 2017, Woody Harrelson did something that no other Hollywood actor had dared to do before: he made a film about his most shameful act. And he didn’t just make it, he captured it in a way that no one had ever done before: in one take, live, on the streets of London. And that was the end of Harrelson’s directing career.
The film was called Lost in London and was broadcast live in 550 cinemas in the US and UK. The actor had only one chance – no takes, no pause for mistakes, everything was filmed on one camera in real time. And it wasn’t just a technical adventure: the film is based on the true story of betrayal, arrest, and moral decline of Woody himself.
Film based on real events
In 2002, Harrelson found himself at the center of a scandal: after a wild night with three girls (one of whom, as it later turned out, worked for the tabloids), he was arrested in London and spent the night in a police station. The scandalous photos were leaked to the press.
It would seem that the worst thing is the fact of betrayal itself. But Harrelson decided to confess 100%: he transferred the shameful episode from his life to the screen, playing himself and writing the script.
As Woody admitted in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, his wife Laura Louis found out everything first, but instead of rage and separation, she showed something more - compassion.
"She just said: "It must be very hard for you when all this dirt came out," "- he recalls.
This moment became the catalyst for the film, an attempt to confess and, perhaps, atone for the guilt before her and before himself.
Why he never directed anything else
Lost in London is not just an experiment. It is a personal confession, played out in real time, with enormous technical and emotional risk. The project was supported by a 325-person crew and more than 300 extras. Rehearsals lasted for weeks. All for the sake of 90 minutes of live cinema with no room for error.
Harrelson, in case of failure, promised to jump off Waterloo Bridge. It didn't come to that, everything went perfectly, although due to the delay of one actor, they had to improvise. After that, Woody did not return to directing, perhaps because he gave it his all. Or because once he honestly looked in the mirror and showed it to the world, there was simply nothing more to film.
