In 1989, following the abrupt departure of directorRobin Phillips, Mendes took over a production ofDion Boucicault'sLondon Assurance at Chichester.[23] Later that year, Mendes made his West End debut at theAldwych with a production of Chekhov'sThe Cherry Orchard, starringJudi Dench.[24]London Assurance then transferred to the West End following a six-month run at Chichester, opening at theTheatre Royal Haymarket.[23][24] The successes of the plays established Mendes as a theatre director of national renown.[25]
In 1990, Mendes was appointed artistic director of theDonmar Warehouse, aCovent Garden studio space previously used by theRoyal Shakespeare Company.[11] He spent two years overseeing the redesign of the theatre, which formally opened in 1992 with the British premiere ofStephen Sondheim'sAssassins.[26] Mendes's tenure at the Donmar saw its transformation into one of the most successful and fashionable playhouses in London.[5]
In 1993, Mendes staged an acclaimed revival ofJohn Kander andFred Ebb'sCabaret starringJane Horrocks asSally Bowles andAlan Cumming as Emcee.[26] The production was approached with a fresh concept, differing greatly from both the original 1966 production directed byHarold Prince and the famed film version, directed byBob Fosse. This production opened at the Donmar and received fourOlivier Award nominations including Best Musical Revival, before transferring promptly to Broadway where it played for several years at the Kit Kat Club (i.e. theStephen Sondheim Theater). The Broadway cast included Cumming once again as Emcee, withNatasha Richardson as Sally,Mary Louise Wilson as Fraulein Schneider,John Benjamin Hickey as Cliff, andRon Rifkin as Herr Schultz. Cumming, Richardson, and Rifkin all wonTony Awards for their performances.
1994 saw Mendes stage a new production ofLionel Bart'sOliver!, produced byCameron Mackintosh. Mendes, a longtime fan of the work, worked in close collaboration with Bart and other production team members, William David Brohn, Martin Koch and Anthony Ward, to create a fresh staging of the well-known classic. Bart added new musical material and Mendes updated the book slightly, while the orchestrations were radically rewritten to suit the show's cinematic feel. The cast includedJonathan Pryce (after much persuasion) as Fagin,Sally Dexter as Nancy, andMiles Anderson as Bill Sikes. Mendes, Pryce and Dexter receivedOlivier Award nominations for their work onOliver!.[27]
In 2003, Mendes directed a revival of the musicalGypsy. Originally, he planned to stage this production in London'sWest End with an eventual Broadway transfer, but when negotiations fell through, he brought it to New York. The cast includedBernadette Peters as Rose,Tammy Blanchard as Louise andJohn Dossett as Herbie.
Mendes's second film, in 2002, wasRoad to Perdition, which grossed US$181 million. As of October 2023, the aggregate review score onRotten Tomatoes is currently 81%; critics praisedPaul Newman for his performance. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Newman; it won for Best Cinematography.
In 2003, Mendes establishedNeal Street Productions, a film, television and theatre production company he would use to finance much of his later work. In 2005, Mendes directed the war filmJarhead, in association with his production company Neal Street Productions. The film received mixed reviews, with a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 61%, and a gross revenue of US$96.9 million worldwide. The film focused on the boredom and other psychological challenges of wartime.
In 2008, Mendes directedRevolutionary Road, starring his then-wife,Kate Winslet, along withLeonardo DiCaprio andKathy Bates. In a January 2009 interview, Mendes commented, about directing his wife for the first time: "I would open my eyes in the morning and there Kate would be, going, 'Great! You're awake! Now let's talk about the second scene.'"[36] Mendes's comedy-dramaAway We Go opened the 2009Edinburgh International Film Festival. The film follows a couple (John Krasinski,Maya Rudolph) searching North America for the perfect community in which to settle down and start a family. The film was well received by critics but performed poorly at the box office.
In 2010, Mendes co-produced a critically acclaimed documentary filmOut of the Ashes that deals with cricket in Afghanistan.[37][38] On 5 January 2010, news broke that Mendes was employed to direct the 23rdEon Productions instalment of theJames Bond franchise.[39] The film,Skyfall, was subsequently released on 26 October 2012, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Bond films. Mendes had been employed as a consultant on the film when it was in pre-production, and had remained attached to the project during the financial troubles of MGM. The film was a major critical and commercial success, becoming the 14th film to gross over $1 billion worldwide.[40][41]
In 2012, Mendes's Neal Street Productions produced the first series of theBBC One drama series,Call the Midwife, following it with a second season which began transmission in early 2013.[42]
Skyfall,Empire of Light, and The Beatles biopic film series (2013–present)
After the success ofSkyfall, Mendes was asked if he was returning to direct the next Bond film. He responded, "I felt I put everything I possibly could into this film and it was the Bond film I wanted to make. And if I felt I could do the same again, then absolutely I would consider doing another one. But it is a big task and I wouldn't do it unless I knew I could."[43] It was reported that one reason Mendes was reluctant to commit was that one proposal involved making two films back-to-back, based on an idea bySkyfall writerJohn Logan, which would have resulted in Mendes and other creative personnel being tied up with filming for around four years. It was reported in February 2013 that this idea had since been shelved and that the next two films would be stand-alone. Mendes said in an interview with film magazineEmpire in March 2013 that "it has been a very difficult decision not to accept Michael and Barbara's very generous offer to direct the next Bond movie." He cited, amongst other reasons, his commitments to the stage version ofCharlie and the Chocolate Factory andKing Lear.[44]
However, on 29 May 2013, it was reported that Mendes was back in negotiations with producersMichael G. Wilson andBarbara Broccoli to direct the next Bond film,[45] going back on his previous comments.[34][46] Wilson and Broccoli were willing to postpone production of the film to ensure Mendes's participation. On 11 July 2013, it was announced that Mendes would direct the 24th James Bond film,Spectre; it was released in October 2015.[47] This made him the first filmmaker sinceJohn Glen to direct two Bond films consecutively. In April 2016, Mendes was named as the president of the jury for the73rd Venice International Film Festival.[48]
In April 2025, Mendes's televisiondocumentary filmWhat They Found was aired on the BBC. It features footage and first-hand accounts of the 1945 liberation of the Nazi concentration campBergen-Belsen.[61]
Much of his film directing techniques were informed by his background in theatre, which consisted of meticulous attention to detail, slow pacing,pictorialist composition, close collaborations with actors, use of tranquil atmosphere, periods of wordlessvisual storytelling, and long takes. Even though he was widely known for his use of long takes inSpectre and1917, he has used them sinceAmerican Beauty.[62] His first two films established a reputation for him of utilising a visual style that was considered formalist and classical, preferring to shoot and stage scenes with theatrical-stylemise-en-scene and use ofchiaroscuro. His third film,Jarhead, which would mark the first of a long-time collaboration between him and cinematographer Roger Deakins, served as a stylistic departure from the former two films as it relied heavily on a grittier feel with improvised dialogue and looser handheld close-ups. Despite this, it shared a similar attention to detail and flawed characters.[63]
Although he has tackled a variety of genres over the course of his career, Mendes has frequently explored themes of family and isolation in his work. The protagonists in his films are realistically flawed and struggle to fit in a world that is hostile towards them, a theme that was initially established inAmerican Beauty and would be further explored in his subsequent films, includingSkyfall andSpectre, and1917. The exploration of such themes are owed to his early childhood experiences, particularly with his parents, with the most direct being his grandfather and his mother serving as inspirations for the characters of Schofield and Hilary Small in1917 andEmpire of Light, respectively.[64][65][66]
In an interview in 2014, Mendes explained his reasoning for exploring such themes: "If you are doing a play or a film, you have to have a secret way in if you are directing it. Sometimes it’s big things.American Beauty, for me, was about my adolescence.Road to Perdition was about my childhood.Skyfall was about middle-age and mortality."[67]
Mendes has been married to British Classical musicianAlison Balsom since 5 January 2017. Their daughter was born in September 2017.[11] Mendes has a son, actorJoe Anders, born on 22 December 2003, from his first marriage to actressKate Winslet, and a stepson born in March 2010 from Balsom's previous relationship with conductorEdward Gardner. Mendes had a stepdaughter,Mia Threapleton, from Winslet's first marriage to filmmakerJim Threapleton.[68]
In 2009, Mendes signed a petition in support of film directorRoman Polanski, calling for his release after Polanski was arrested in Switzerland in relation to his1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.[70]
Mendes is an opponent ofBrexit. In 2017, he stated: "I'm afraid that the winds that were blowing before theFirst World War are blowing again. There was this generation of men fighting then for a free andunified Europe, which we would do well to remember."[71]
In 2012, Mendes participated in theSight & Sound film polls of that year. Held every ten years to select thegreatest films of all time, contemporary directors were asked to select ten films of their choice.[72]
Directed Academy Award performances Under Mendes' direction, these actors have receivedAcademy Award nominations (and wins) for their performances in their respective roles.
