Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi has been a man of many talents for over a decade, but now he's adding "director" to his ever-growing resume. The multi-hyphenate artist, who first appeared on screen in the HBO series How to Make It in America, has been quietly building an impressive acting career with roles in Ti West's X and Adam McKay's Don't Look Up. But his latest move is behind the camera, and he's not holding back.
Mescudi's directorial debut, Doe, is set to hit screens next year, and he's already deep into production on his second feature, Wrong Number, a horror film that pairs him with Euphoria star Barbie Ferreira. While he's no stranger to the filmmaking process—having executive-produced the X trilogy and directed his own music videos—this is his first time writing and directing a feature from scratch. And he's loving every minute of it.
Speaking with Collider at Fantastic Fest, where his new film Pathetic Fallacy premiered, Mescudi opened up about the confidence boost that came from seeing his vision come to life. "I've directed music videos before, right? And I've written treatments," he said. "But the fact that this is the first script that I wrote, that I actually made. So for me, it was like, 'Holy shit, I can do this. I can conceive something in my mind, and I can make it so.'"
That realization has sparked a creative fire. Mescudi is already writing scripts at a rapid pace, with two more projects in the works, one of which he plans to shoot in March. "I want to be as prolific with directing and writing as I am with movies or with music," he said. His ambition is clear: he's not just dipping his toes into directing; he's diving in headfirst.
Part of that drive comes from the support system around him. His Pathetic Fallacy co-star Jessica Rothe praised his work ethic, saying, "This man puts the reps in. That's all I can say. He really puts the reps in." Mescudi also credits his friend Mark Webber, who directed The Ever After, for encouraging him to pursue his filmmaking dreams. "He helped me put it together, and he was the first one that was like, 'Dude, these are really good scripts. We can make these for a price. We can find people.'"
For Doe, Mescudi and his manager financed the film themselves, keeping the budget at a lean $300,000 and shooting guerrilla-style in Los Angeles over nine days. It was a raw, hands-on experience that proved to him that he could make movies on his own terms. And with Karina Manashil, president of his production company Mad Solar, reading every script he writes, he's got a trusted voice telling him when something's worth pursuing. "For her to tell me, 'No, there's something here. You have to make this,' it just gives me something and lets me know that I have something here," he said.
While Mescudi isn't ready to hang up his music hat just yet, he's clear that directing and writing are where his future lies. "I do want to start shifting as I'm getting older now to doing other things, and I really want writing and directing to be that thing," he said. For now, he's starring in his own projects to explore the acting roles he's always wanted to play, but he knows that won't last forever. "It's going to get to a point where I'm not going to want to star in my shit," he admitted.
With Wrong Number now in production and a packed slate of projects on the horizon, Kid Cudi is proving that he's not just a musician dabbling in film—he's a filmmaker in the making. And if his track record is any indication, we're in for something special.
