All the better to scare you with

CATHERINE Hardwicke knows something about getting teenage girlsinto trouble. In her first film, Thirteen, Evan Rachel Wood grew uptoo fast. In The Nativity Story the focus was on the Virgin Mary.Most recently of course there was Twilight, where Kristin Stewartfell for Robert Pattinson's brooding vampire.No wonder she'senthusing about Red Riding Hood, starring Amanda Seyfried, whichupdates and sensualises the cautionary tale of girl meets wolf, girlchats to wolf, girl loses grandmother."We ran with the older versionof the story," says Hardwicke. "Way back before the Brothers Grimm,it had a werewolf in the story, which I found fascinating. In BrunoBettelheim's book The Uses of Enchantment, he helps you understandthat when Red Riding Hood tells the wolf where she's going, shepretty much invites the darkness into her life. These wolves arescarier than anything you've seen in Twilight."The sharp teeth hereare the grown-up themes of sex and death - again, hardly new topicsfor Hardwicke, who gave Twilight its pantheistic energy and broodyvisuals. Added to the mix, however, is a dash of The Crucible's masshysteria when Gary Oldman stirs up suspicion in the village that thewolf may be someone living amongst them.Besides Oldman, JulieChristie has a supporting role as an elegantly bohemian Grandma, butalthough Seyfried has been recognisable since Mamma Mia!, her youngromantic suitors are relative unknowns. Shiloh Fernandez playsPeter, a moody hunk du jour version of the woodcutter, while JeremyIrons' son Max completes the love triangle as a blacksmith with thehots for Red."I like making discoveries on all my movies," saysHardwicke, a rangy, handsome 55-year-old with blonde hair and a verydirect, hands-on approach to everything."Leading actors need to havespark and chemistry, so I've always involved the leading actresswith the choices. With Kristin and Rob for Twilight, I got them toaudition on my bed. And for Red Riding Hood, I wanted to see ifAmanda liked or sparked with any of the eight guys we were lookingat. The funny thing is that she didn't like Shiloh immediately. Ithink she'd met him before at a dinner and didn't take to him, but Isaid "why not give it a chance?" She said okay, and at the auditionyou could see she was surprised by what he brought. They had thatspark.""She made me have eight haircuts before we even startedfilming," reports Shiloh ruefully. "He had this sort of long stylethat just sort of hung over one side of his face," retortsHardwicke. "We needed to see both of his eyes."It was Hardwicke whomade Pattinson pluck back his eyebrows for Twilight, and tried toput Emile Hirsch on a fitness regime for Lords Of Dogtown, which heeventually circumvented by drawing abs on his stomach with mascara.Actors speak affectionately of Hardwicke as if she was their coolbig sister. "Catherine is crazy," Seyfried tells me. "She neverdrinks coffee, she never eats sugar. She's naturally energetic andshe makes other people excited too."Energy levels were at a premiumon Red Riding Hood, which was shot in 45 days in Vancouver, forGBP30m. To bring the film in on budget, Hardwicke admits, "I had tobe laser precise." Which begs the question - why did she have toscrabble for cash?A respected production designer who made thetransition to the director's chair in 2003 with Thirteen, she mighthave expected to have been inundated with a mailbox full of scriptsand bigger budget project offers after the mega-success of Twilight.But this didn't happen.Contrary to internet rumours, she wascertainly offered the second Twilight film New Moon, with anincreased salary. The sticking point was that she would have toprepare and shoot the film faster than she liked, so the reinspassed on to Christopher Weitz, who met the studio deadline with abroader, soapier flick. "No regrets," she says. "I liked the firstbook best anyway."For two years Hardwicke tried to get a number ofother projects off the ground, including a version of Hamlet whichslashed the Shakespeare play from four hours to 90 minutes withHirsch as the prince. She still hopes to make the film, butHollywood belt-tightening has dramatically cut the number of filmsbeing made."Every movie is a huge challenge to get made," she says."I had dinner with Ridley Scott last night, and even for him, it's achallenge."However, Hardwicke has an extra hurdle - the genderfactor. There was one film she fell in love with as soon as she readthe script. "I couldn't even get an interview for The Fighter." shesays. That film, an acting project developed for Mark Wahlberg,passed through the hands of Darren Aronofsky before David O Russellfinally picked up the biopic of a boxer and his domineering mother.The picture went on to receive seven Oscar nominations, includingBest Director for Russell, his first nomination.Hardwicke is frankabout her disappointment. "I love David O Russell. I worked with himon Three Kings, but I read the script before he was attached and Iknew the producer so I called them up."She starts to laugh: "Theysaid 'We're not going to meet you - we need a man for this movie.' Iwas like, Okay? I couldn't even get an interview to go in and pitchmy feelings. But that time they told me straight up. Many times theydon't put it that bluntly... but you know there's a reason why onlysix per cent of movies are directed by women." vRed Riding Hood ison general release from Friday. See review, opposite.