Writer-director Meyers knows what she wants, is not shy about getting it

HOLLYWOOD -- Inside her home -- just like on the sets of her films -- writer-director Nancy Meyers rules the roost.

On a recent December afternoon, Meyers welcomed a camera crew and a couple of journalists and photographers into her expansive Pacific Palisades residence to discuss her new film, It's Complicated. One photographer asked her if he could take her picture outside in her courtyard. She declined, saying that the lawn furniture did not have any pillows.

Instead, she opted to pose in a chair in her living room. Just as she sat down, her assistant let her know that Jack Nicholson was on the phone, calling to apologize for missing an industry screening of the movie the previous night. "I have to take this," she said, bouncing out of the chair. She returned 10 minutes later, and a makeup artist dusted some light rouge across her cheekbones while a stylist combed a wayward lock of hair back into place.

"Should I smile? Look serious? Give me some direction," she said, readjusting her button-down shirt so it wouldn't crease. She peered up at a light, questioning if it would cast a shadow underneath her chin. "You know, on a film set, if I had one of my lighting guys trying to light that high, I would kill him."

Meyers, 60, knows what she likes, and her willingness to go after it, coupled with a rigorous attention to detail, has helped her to claim a spot as one of the leading female directors in Hollywood today.

She's one of the few filmmakers who consistently crafts movies that appeal to adults, especially women, an underserved audience. Her films tend to be about women as well -- mature, typically affluent professionals who are concerned with their families and greatly desired by multiple suitors.

What Women Want (2000), which starred Mel Gibson as a man trying to understand the female psyche, became the most successful film ever directed by a woman, grossing upward of $370 million worldwide. Meyers' follow-up, 2003's Something's Gotta Give, chronicled an unlikely relationship between a couple played by Nicholson and Diane Keaton. That film, and her 2006 feature The Holiday, featuring Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz, both pulled in more than $200 million worldwide.

Her latest, which opened Christmas Day, stays right in Meyers' sweet spot. Meryl Streep's Jane is a divorced mother of three with her own bakery who is surprised to find herself entangled in a messy affair with her ex-husband, Jake (Alec Baldwin). She also has eyes for Adam (Steve Martin), the endearing architect helping her remodel her kitchen.

It's Complicated earned a dubious distinction earlier this month when the Motion Picture Association of America gave it an R rating because of a scene in which Streep and Martin's characters smoke marijuana, which Meyers feels is "absurd."

"To put us in the same category as a Saw IV is just not accurate," she said. "These people smoke pot, and what do they do? They giggle a little bit and then they bake. I remember thinking this after I was writing, once (Barack) Obama told everyone he had smoked pot and tried cocaine, everyone thought it was OK. It just seems out of touch."

The rating will likely do little to limit the movie's appeal to Meyers' core constituency. Donna Langley, a co-chairman of Universal Pictures, said that the studio "courted Nancy pretty heavily" for nearly a year before Meyers pitched the script, which she had been writing for about seven months in her home office.

"I'm quite diligent about the work process," Meyers said, curling into one of her couches. "I think a day's work is a real day's work. Three hours isn't real to me. My friends make fun of me, because I really think I have to sit there all day and get up for lunch and come right back. This is my job."

That work ethic is also evident on set, Langley said.

"One thing that is great about Nancy is that she is so clear-minded about the story she wants to tell and how she is going to tell it," Langley said. "She puts an extraordinary amount of effort and detail into the movie, from the set decoration to the production design. She's methodical about it. Pre-production is very laborious. She puts everybody through their paces. It's a very crucial part of her movie -- to know exactly what she's going to do on the day she's shooting."