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John Thomas Sayles (born September 28, 1950) is an American independent film director, screenwriter, editor, actor, and novelist. He is known for writing and directing the films The Brother from Another Planet (1984), Matewan (1987), Eight Men Out (1988), Passion Fish (1992), The Secret of Roan Inish (1994), Lone Star (1996), and Men with Guns (1997).
For Eight Men Out, Sayles was nominated for the USC Scripter Award. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for Passion Fish and Lone Star. At the 56th Golden Globe Awards, Men with Guns was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. His directorial debut, Return of the Secaucus 7 (1980) as well as Matewan were added to the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1997 and 2023, respectively.
Sayles began his film career working with Roger Corman, along with Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Ron Howard who also had stints with Corman early in their careers. Sayles was discovered by Frances Doel, who worked in the script department for Corman's New World Pictures. Sayles has been called "the greatest screenwriter to ever work at New World."
In 1983, after the films Baby It's You (starring Rosanna Arquette) and Lianna (a story in which a married woman becomes discontented with her marriage and falls in love with another woman), Sayles received a MacArthur Fellowship. He put the money into the science fiction feature The Brother from Another Planet, a film about a three-toed humanoid who escapes bondage on another world and crash-lands in New York harbor; because he is Africanoid in appearance, he finds himself at home among the people of Harlem, being pursued by European-looking alien enslaver men in black.
In 1989, Sayles created and wrote the pilot episode for the short-lived television show Shannon's Deal about a down-and-out Philadelphia lawyer played by Jamey Sheridan. Sayles received a 1990 Edgar Award for his screenplay for the pilot. The show ran for 16 episodes before being cancelled in 1991.
Sayles has funded most of his films by writing genre scripts, such as Piranha, Alligator, The Howling, and The Challenge. Having collaborated with Joe Dante on Piranha and The Howling, Sayles acted in Dante's movie, Matinee. Sayles has earned much of his funding by working as a script doctor; he did rewrites for Apollo 13 and Mimic.
Sayles' genre script, called Night Skies, inspired what would eventually become the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. That film's director, Steven Spielberg, later commissioned Sayles to write a script (unused) for the fourth Jurassic Park film.
He has written and directed his own films, including Lone Star, Passion Fish, Eight Men Out, The Secret of Roan Inish, and Matewan. He serves on the advisory board for the Austin Film Society. Maggie Renzi has been John Sayles's long-time companion (and Collaboration), but they have not married. Renzi has produced most of his films since Lianna. They met as students at Williams College.
Sayles works with a regular repertory of actors, most notably Chris Cooper, David Strathairn, and Gordon Clapp, each of whom has appeared in at least four of his films.
In early 2003, Sayles signed the Not In Our Name "Statement of Conscience" (along with Noam Chomsky, Steve Earle, Brian Eno, Jesse Jackson, Viggo Mortensen, Bonnie Raitt, Oliver Stone, Marisa Tomei, Susan Sarandon and others) which opposed the invasion of Iraq.
In February 2009, Sayles was reported to be writing an HBO series based on the early life of Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The drama, tentatively titled Scar Tissue, would center on Kiedis's early years living in West Hollywood with his father. At that time, Kiedis's father, known as Spider, sold drugs (according to legend, his clients included The Who and Led Zeppelin) and mingled with rock stars on the Sunset Strip, all while aspiring to get into show business. Sayles red hot for HBO's 'Scar' from Variety
In February 2010, Sayles began shooting his 17th feature film, the historical war drama Amigo, in the Philippines. The film is a fictional account of events during the Philippine–American War, with a cast that includes Joel Torre, Chris Cooper, and Garret Dillahunt. Joel Torre believes 'Baryo' may stir controversy from www.mb.com.ph
His novel A Moment in the Sun, set during the same period as Amigo, in the Philippines, Cuba, and the U.S., was released in 2011 by McSweeney's. It includes an account of the Wilmington Insurrection of 1898 in North Carolina, the only coup d'état in United States history in which a duly elected government was overthrown.
| 1978 | Piranha | |||
| 1979 | The Lady in Red | |||
| 1980 | Return of the Secaucus 7 | |||
| Battle Beyond the Stars | ||||
| Alligator | ||||
| 1981 | The Howling | |||
| 1982 | The Challenge | |||
| 1983 | Lianna | |||
| Baby It's You | ||||
| Enormous Changes at the Last Minute | ||||
| 1984 | The Brother from Another Planet | |||
| 1986 | The Clan of the Cave Bear | |||
| 1987 | Wild Thing | |||
| Matewan | ||||
| 1988 | Eight Men Out | |||
| 1989 | Breaking In | |||
| 1991 | City of Hope | |||
| 1992 | Passion Fish | |||
| 1994 | The Secret of Roan Inish | |||
| Men of War | ||||
| 1995 | Apollo 13 | |||
| 1996 | Lone Star | |||
| 1997 | Men with Guns | |||
| 1999 | Limbo | |||
| 2002 | Sunshine State | |||
| 2003 | Casa de los babys | |||
| 2004 | Silver City | |||
| 2007 | Honeydripper | |||
| 2008 | The Spiderwick Chronicles | |||
| 2010 | Amigo | |||
| 2013 | Go for Sisters | |||
| 2018 | The Devil's Highway |
| 1980 | A Perfect Match | Television film; writer |
| 1986 | Unnatural Causes | Television film; writer |
| 1989–1991 | Shannon's Deal | Television series; creator, writer, and producer |
| 2018 | The Alienist | Television series; writer and consulting producer |
| TBA | The Gray House | Television series; writer |
| 1978 | Piranha | Soldier | Uncredited |
| 1980 | Return of the Secaucus 7 | Howie | |
| 1981 | The Howling | Morgue Attendant | Uncredited |
| 1983 | Lianna | Jerry | |
| 1984 | The Brother from Another Planet | Man in Black #2 | |
| 1984 | Hard Choices | Don | |
| 1986 | Something Wild | Motorcycle Cop | |
| 1986 | Unnatural Causes | Lloyd | Television film |
| 1987 | Matewan | Hardshell Preacher | |
| 1988 | Eight Men Out | Ring Lardner | |
| 1989 | Untamagiru | US High Commmisioner | |
| 1989 | The End of the Night | Wayne | |
| 1990 | Shannon's Deal | Ronny Nash | 2 episodes |
| 1990 | Little Vegas | Mike | |
| 1991 | City of Hope | Carl | |
| 1991 | Square One Television | Roy "Lefty" Combs | 4 episodes |
| 1992 | Straight Talk | Guy Girardi | |
| 1992 | Passion Fish | Soap Doctor | Uncredited |
| 1992 | Malcolm X | FBI Agent | |
| 1993 | Matinee | Bob | |
| 1997 | Gridlock'd | Cop | |
| 2000 | Girlfight | Science Teacher | |
| 2002 | Sunshine State | Man who almost got hit by a golf ball | Uncredited |
| 2007 | Honeydripper | Zeke | |
| 2009 | In the Electric Mist | Michael Goldman | |
| 2012 | The Normals | Dr. Marx | |
| 2025 | Poker Face | Chief Hal | Episode: "The Taste of Human Blood" |
Awards for Matewan:
Awards for Shannon's Deal:
Awards for City of Hope:
Awards for Passion Fish:
Awards for The Secret of Roan Inish:
Awards for Lone Star:
Awards for Men with Guns/Hombres armados:
Awards for Limbo:
Awards for Sunshine State:
Award for Silver City:
Awards for Honeydripper:
In 1983, Sayles received the John D. MacArthur Award, given to 20 Americans in diverse fields each year for their innovative work. He has also been the recipient of the Eugene V. Debs Award, the John Steinbeck Award and the John Cassavetes Award. He was honored with the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Writers Guild of America (1999).
In June 2014, Sayles donated his non-film archive to the University of Michigan. It will be accessible at the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library. Sayles's film archive is held by the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
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