V for Vendetta Director Recalls Natalie Portman Shaving Her Head

James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta plays like it was ripped from yesterday’s headlines, not just those of twenty years ago. It’s a reminder of why the adage of “history repeats itself” is so prevalent. 

Of course, the efforts of Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman) and the Guy Fawkes-masked vigilante known as V (Hugo Weaving) to dismantle the totalitarian police state in a near-future United Kingdom were actually based on Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s serialized graphic novel from the 1980s. Thus, the historical echoes go well beyond the film’s creative springboard of the 2000s, specifically the Bush-Cheney administration.

As a student of history, McTeigue remains unsurprised by the relevance of his feature directorial debut.

“We just keep falling into the same political cycles, and that’s what makes the film timeless in a way. People can just look around and see that the parallels in the film are always present in different forms,” McTeigue tells The Hollywood Reporter. 

The Australian filmmaker served as first assistant director on the Wachowskis’ Matrix trilogy, and when the siblings needed a break after back-to-back sequels, they nominated McTeigue to direct an updated version of their long-standing V screenplay. McTeigue soon championed Portman for the lead role, having met each other when he AD’d Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. And when she decided to have her head shaved on camera, he made sure her own hair stylist was manning the clippers.

“Revenge of the Sith had its premiere at Cannes [in 2005], and she went straight from shaving her head to Cannes that weekend,” McTeigue recalls. “And everyone said, ‘Oh my God, you’ve got a bald head. What movie are you working on?’ So V got this amazing publicity, and free publicity, around it.”

Nothing is certain except death, taxes and Alan Moore disliking any screen adaptation of his work. So McTeigue is part of a small club of storytellers who’ve made well-regarded adaptations despite never receiving the celebrated comic book writer’s stamp of approval.

“We had a discussion with Alan Moore in pre-production. He was very forthright about how he thought Hollywood stinks and that we’d make a terrible adaptation of his graphic novel,” McTeigue shares. “He needs to Taylor Swift it up and get back the rights to his material. But, look, I can’t blame him. There were a couple of terrible adaptations that had been done previously, so I think he was feeling a little burnt. I still think he doesn’t like V because it’s not a page-by-page turn of his graphic novel.”

Below, during a conversation with THR celebrating its March 17 anniversary, McTeigue also discusses V‘s talk show host subplot that is one of many eerily familiar story points in his dystopian thriller. 

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It’s somehow been 20 years since the release of V for Vendetta. What day from filming your first movie do you still replay in your mind? 

I usually replay the first day in my mind. Evey [Portman] has been taken by V at the radio station, and he puts her in the shadow gallery. Then she comes out and doesn’t know where she is. So I think about Natalie coming out of that room.

Time and distance tend to allow for a new perspective versus when you’re in the thick of making something. When you revisit the movie nowadays, do you see it through a whole new lens than the one you did at the time? 

I don’t see it through a whole new lens. We just keep falling into the same political cycles that the film talks about. The film was based on Alan Moore and David Lloyd’s graphic novel, which was made during the Thatcherite period [of ‘79 to ‘90]. Then I made the film during the Bush administration [01’ to ‘09]. So we keep ending up in these political cycles that speak to what the film is about, and that’s what makes the film timeless in a way. People can just look around and see that the parallels in the film are always present in different forms. 

Yeah, the movie was relevant when it hit theaters in 2006, and it’s certainly relevant in 2026. It sounds like you’re rejecting the idea that it’s prescient and that it’s more a matter of recontextualizing history.

The film just has this timelessness to it. From the political themes to the social themes that run through it, the discussions remain the same. The film I made can be watched now, and you can see the direct parallels. If you watched it just after I made it, you could see the parallels. If you watched it during any subsequent administrations in this country, the themes and narratives that the film talks about are there.

For example, the comedian/talk show host subplot is among many story points that feel very familiar, but that’s also rooted in history. Comedians are usually the early targets of any authoritarian regime. 

Yeah, that’s what happens in these systems of government we have. The same things are always gone after first. It’s fear of immigration, fear of otherness and trying to control the narrative around political discussion through constant conflict with the press. Those things are all apparent, and they’re the first things that Hitler and Mussolini did. They also went after the comedians because comedians always hold up a mirror to society. Kimmel and Colbert and those guys are just going, “Hey, we’re just reporting what’s going on here. You can find it funny or not funny.” So that’s what’s happening at the moment, and we always end up in the same political societies. That’s what always happens.

You were the Wachowskis’ first AD on three Matrix movies. Did they float the idea of you making the leap to director? Or did you put it out there that you’d like to direct? 

If you have 275 days of shooting like we did on the second and third Matrix movies, you run the gamut. You talk about a lot of stuff and a lot of films. I always felt like I was on the creative side of being an AD. You can be a production AD, but I always thought you were called the assistant director because it was your responsibility to get their vision on the screen. 

So they presented it, saying, “Hey, we have a three-picture writing deal at Warner Brothers. We did Plastic Man, Carnivore and V for Vendetta. We think V is timely. Would you be up for directing? We want to have a break. We’d produce it for you.” They were exhausted after the Matrix films. And I said, “Yeah, I would love to.” 

It was a mutual agreement that we came to, and they did a great adaptation of it. Then the studio said yes, and we got to make the movie. Joel Silver, the producer, had shepherded it through the studio in a smart way because it had a lot of politic in it. But it was partially an economic decision too. We were coming off the back of three very successful films, so they were happy for us to go off and make another film for them. 

You met Natalie Portman as the first AD on Attack of the Clones. How much of a leg-up did that give you during casting? 

I did know Natalie from the Star Wars film we did together, and we had a relationship from that. I thought she’d be an amazing Evey. We did test a couple of other actresses, but Natalie is really bright, really intelligent and super well-read. Her acting ability is great, and I just thought she’d be a perfect fit. So the studio really got behind her after that, and she really owned the role. She was really excellent in it.

The head-shaving scene had quite a lot of rigmarole around it. Natalie wanted to go method there. Do you know if she faced any opposition from her camp at the time?

To tell you the truth, I don’t think we ever really had that discussion. I think that Natalie was game because she knew that’s what the character had to do and have. I did get Jeremy [Woodhead], her hairdresser, to be the character who shaved her head. I was mindful that I didn’t want it to go awry, and so I ran three cameras on that sequence. But the amazing thing about it was as soon as her head was shaved, you went, “Oh my gosh, she looks amazing.” 

Speaking of Star Wars, Revenge of the Sith had its premiere at Cannes [in 2005], and she went straight from shaving her head to Cannes that weekend. And everyone said, “Oh my God, you’ve got a bald head. What movie are you working on? ” So V got this amazing publicity, and free publicity, around it. 

I believe most, if not all, of Hugo Weaving’s dialogue as V had to be ADR’d. Perhaps his other disguised characters were the exception. 

Yeah.

Did the ADR performance frustrate him? Or did he relish the chance to refine how verbose V is? 

He loved it, and I also loved it, to tell you the truth. On set, we would always go for the take that had the best emotionality. Then we moved to the ADR stage, and Hugo revoiced the whole movie. We picked the take that we thought was good on the day and said, “Hey, this is what we really liked on the day. Let’s start with that emotional take.” Then we would refine it. You always go, “Oh God, I wish I had done that on the day.” But with this particular role, you could get this other performance if you needed it. So Hugo was an amazing partner in that. 

I was just talking with Jessica Henwick about Hugo. They worked together after she worked on The Matrix Resurrections, and as expected, they had a conversation about it. Was it a bummer to not reunite with him on Resurrections?

Yeah, but we started and stopped production because of COVID. That changed our schedule, and I think it changed Hugo’s schedule as well. Obviously, I love working with the guy. I’ve known him from the Australian film industry and the Matrix movies and V. We’ve kept friendly beyond that. So it was disappointing, but films have a life of their own. Sometimes, you connect, and sometimes you have to do your own thing. 

Alan Moore famously doesn’t like any of the adaptations based on his work, so you’re a part of very esteemed company. At the time, did you fully expect that to go the way it went? Or did you talk yourself into the idea that maybe you could be the exception? 

Well, we had a discussion with Alan Moore in pre-production. He was very forthright about how he thought Hollywood stinks and that we’d make a terrible adaptation of his graphic novel. I’m a little bit like, “Then you need to get with your reps and stop the selling of your material to Hollywood if you hate it so much.” (Laughs.) I think he hides a little bit behind, “Well, I made it for Warrior and the imprint that made the comic. Then they sold out to DC, and I had no control over it.” So he needs to Taylor Swift it up and get back the rights to his material. But, look, I can’t blame him. There were a couple of terrible adaptations that had been done previously, so I think he was feeling a little burnt. I still think he doesn’t like V because it’s not a page-by-page turn of his graphic novel. 

V also marked the last film of DP Adrian Biddle (Aliens, The Princess Bride, Thelma & Louise). Has anything from your time together lingered in your recent work?

Adrian was an amazing DP. It felt so natural to him. Sometimes, I would really put him through the paces, like Adam Sutler [John Hurt] talking to his cabinet. I was like, “I hardly want any light on those guys’ faces. It needs to be black behind them.” There were some real lighting challenges, but he’d done a lot of Ridley Scott movies. He’d come up through some really great films [e.g., Alien] as a focus puller and stuff like that. There was an ease to his manner, which I really loved, and he was great in the post-production period. Sometimes he would set up the lights and then read his Guardian. And he’d go, “Okay, I’m ready.” And I’d be like, “Wow, you’re ready? Okay, amazing.” So he was a great DP and a great human. 

V came out a couple years before the MCU started. We’ll get a darker comic book movie here and there, but they’re mostly action comedies now that are designed to play as wide as possible. Do you wish there was a more tonal variety in the genre? 

Yeah, I do. Nolan’s Batman films provided some relief to it. Some of it’s a little self-defeating — that comic book movie were everyone quips the whole time. It’s all about comic timing and this quip and that quip. But I feel like Marvel and DC are feeling that a little bit now. I think people are rejecting it a little bit at the moment, and so they’re recalibrating. They’ve realized that people do want some more variety, and what stood in place for 15 years in terms of how people viewed comic book adaptations, they’re now starting to get more variety into them. 

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V for Vendetta is currently streaming on HBO Max, before a theatrical rerelease this November.