Wright admits location jitters for 'The Soloist'

Joe Wright was “terrified” filming ‘The Soloist’.

The director shot the majority of the movie – which stars Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. – in Skid Row, a run-down area of Los Angeles and admits that although he was wary when they first arrived at the location, he soon realised his fears were unfounded.

He said: “It’s terrifying when you first go down there. We have an idea that people who are addicted to crack would sooner stab you than look at you. But what you realise is that it’s far less scary than Beverly Hills or Hollywood, and the people there are far less likely to do you any harm.”

The ‘Atonement’ filmmaker was particularly interested in the movie, which follows a schizophrenic musical prodigy, because he wanted to confront his own fears of being mentally ill.

He explained to Britain’s Time Out magazine: “I kind of lost my marbles a bit during the post-production of that film and scared myself. So I was interested in placing those fears. Mental illness has always been the thing that has scared me more than anything else and I’ve always made films to confront my fears.

“I think it was a general mounting of responsibility. With ‘Atonement’, I put a lot of pressure on myself and then I made an advert for Chanel which broke the camel’s back, emotionally.”