Actress turned writer-director Joey Lauren Adams describes the five-year process of cobbling together financing for her feature-length debut, Come Early Morning, as death by papercut. But she stuck with it, and is happy with the result.

Perhaps still best known for her Golden Globe-nominated turn as Alyssa Jones in Kevin Smith’s Chasing Amy, the unusually-voiced Adams isn’t the most likely candidate to make the leap behind the camera, that’s for certain. But then again, neither was Todd Field, who had a somewhat comparable litany of indie-friendly and television acting credits to his name before adapting and directing the Oscar-nominated In the Bedroom and this fall’s well regarded Little Children.

Similarly, Adams has retreated from Hollywood for the relative anonymity of Mississippi, and says — her small supporting role in this past summer's The Break-Up notwithstanding — she now has her eye on remaining behind the camera. For the full interview, from FilmStew, click here.