Charlie McDowell Says Working with Wife Lily Collins on Projects Is a ‘Really Special Experience’ (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Charlie McDowell and Lily Collins in October 2024.Photo:Dave Benett/WireImage

Dave Benett/WireImage

Charlie McDowellcan’t get enough of working with his wifeLily Collins.

On Sunday, Oct. 27, the filmmaker, 41, spoke exclusively with PEOPLE about his collaborations with Collins, 35, at the American Film Institute Fest premiere of his upcoming movieThe Summer Bookat TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles.

“Lily and I have an amazing relationship as a couple and then that always bleeds into a working relationship,” McDowell says, before mentioning their production companyCase Study Filmsand saying it was born out of them thinking, “We’re talking about this stuff anyway. Let’s do it together.”

“Whatever story we’re telling, it is really exciting to be able to work and be creative with your partner,” he adds. “It’s a really special experience.”

Lily Collins and Charlie McDowell in 2022.David Livingston/Getty

The two are collaborating on the Hulu limited seriesRazzlekhan: The Infamous Crocodile of Wall Streetabout cybercrime coupleIlya “Dutch” Lichtenstein and Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan, according toDeadline. TheEmily in Parisactress will star and co-produce the film with Alex Orlovsky, while McDowell will direct it.

The couple previously worked together on the2022 crime thrillerWindfall,which McDowell directed, Collins starred in and they both co-produced.

Recalling those early days of collaborating, the director says, “I think we just jumped in and figured it out as we went along, and it was great.”

As for how working together has impacted their personal relationship, McDowell adds, “People were warning [us] and all these things, and we didn’t know what to expect. It ended up being a really great experience and brought us closer together.”

Charlie McDowell the AFI Fest premiere of ‘The Summer Book’ on Oct. 27, 2024.Leon Bennett/Getty

Leon Bennett/Getty

McDowell and Collinsfirst sparked dating rumors in July 2019before getting engaged in 2020. Theytied the knot a yearlater.

McDowell says that he was inspired to adapt the work during the COVID-19 pandemic after he revisited the novel and it helped him connect “to my love of people and relationships, as well as my connection to this planet and to nature.”

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He continues, “I felt like it did that in a really profound way and not an overly sentimental way, and so it just kept living somewhere in my brain.”

The filmmaker notes that “They’d been trying to make the film” for a long time and credits Close for helping them “really get it off the ground.”

The Summer Bookis currently playing in theaters.

source: people.com