“I’ve Always Been a Voyeur”: An Interview with Susan Seidelman

Via interviews completed with Susan Seidelman between 2020 and 2022, this chapter provides an in-depth look at Seidelman’s reflections on her career as a director, walking the reader through each of her short and feature films and television shows. Throughout this interview, Seidelman reflects on moving through independent filmmaking (shorts “And You Act Like One Too” and “Yours Truly, Andrea G. Stern” and feature Smithereens) into the Hollywood system (Desperately Seeking Susan, Making Mr. Right, Cookie, and She-Devil) before becoming a mother and making a documentary reflection on her early career, Confessions of a Suburban Girl. Seidelman’s career trajectory then shifts. She directs the Academy Award-nominated short “The Dutch Master” before moving into directing episodes of television series, notably Sex and the City, and made-for-cable movies. Simultaneously, she began directing independent films again, as Hollywood stopped financing the kinds of films she once made in that system. Seidelman candidly speaks about navigating Hollywood while building a loyal audience and pushing storytelling forward while remaining rooted in what initially drove her to filmmaking: creating space for people who aren’t always invited in.