SAMUEL D. HUNTER

“The Whale”

Hunter’s interest in cinema and the stage took shape when he was in high school, and in 2014, he received a Macarthur Genius Grant for his work as a playwright. “I started making short movies with my parents’ camcorder when I was a teenager growing up in the ’90s in north Idaho. I would enlist my friends as actors and edit the movies by hooking together two VCRS. Eventually, I got frustrated with the technology, and I started writing plays. Then I just completely fell in love with the theater.”

He recently adapted his awardwinning play, “The Whale,” with Darren Aronofsky at the helm and Brendan Fraser starring, for the big-screen. It hits theaters in December. “In the last 10 years, I’ve been expanding my work, writing for television and film. I’ll always write for the theater, but it feels so right that I’m now getting to write more stories for the screen.

My favorite films put character at the forefront, aren’t too interested in plot gymnastics, and take their time.”

Hunter, who was also a writer-producer on four seasons of FX’S “Baskets,” has never allowed his work to be dictated by genre. “I need to focus on character and allow the world, plot, story and themes to grow organically. I’ve been really interested in some of the psychological thrillers/horror films that have been coming out recently. When it’s done well, and is character-based, thoughtful, and not humorless, it can be so gripping and rewarding.”

Reps: Agent:wme; Legal: Schreck Rose Dapello Adams Berlin & Dunham

Influences: Tony Kushner, William Faulkner, Annie Baker, Edward Albee

— Nick Clement