Mark Webber in The Hottest State Courtesy of THINKFilm

At only 27 years old, The Hottest State star Mark Webber has acted in about as many films, working with such esteemed auteurs as Woody Allen (Hollywood Ending), Todd Solondz (Storytelling), and Jim Jarmusch (Broken Flowers). Though it might seem stranger for a talk show legend to become a filmmaker, Webber finished writing a script last March that he ultimately wanted to helm, and with that came the fear: "Fear of sucking and fear of perfection," as he says in the director's statement for Explicit Ills, which just had its world premiere at SXSW. Warmhearted and strikingly shot, Webber's directorial debut is a sociopolitically charged drama about love, humanity and civil struggles in Philadelphia, with a seamlessly blended Altman-esque cast that includes Rosario Dawson, Paul Dano, Naomie Harris, Lou Taylor Pucci — and in the wild-card slot, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter, lead MC for hip-hop superstars The Roots. Although he had already left Austin, I spoke with Webber about the film, how Jim Jarmusch helped protect him and his thoughts behind the film's iconic, last-act march against poverty (in which Webber himself makes a cameo).

I'm often curious why actors become directors. What gave you the impetus to make films?
Really, it started with the fact that I've been acting for over 10 years now. I've been in a bunch of movies, and I've had a really great opportunity to work with a lot of amazing directors and actors. You only have limited control when you're an actor, and I've been through a bunch of stuff in my life, seen a lot, and I just felt I've had this story inside me that I've wanted to tell. I love filmmaking so much. I love the form of expression and the collaborative process. It's really a lot of fun for me. It gives me so much joy. I always knew that it was my natural progression; I wanted to write and direct. I produced a couple other films and I just felt the time was right. I'm so happy that I was able to pull it off.

And how did you pull it off? Even having a decade's worth of connections as an actor, it can still be a huge struggle for indie filmmakers to get their first projects done. Did Jim Jarmusch, who executive produced the film, help get your foot in this new door?
Well, not to take anything away from Jim's involvement; him coming on board was tremendous. He became the godfather of the project and really protected me from [potential investors] I was talking to, insisting that no one would have casting approval or consider taking away final cut. I had Jim in my corner willing to say, "If any of the money people want final cut, just tell them that I got it," which really means that I have it. Thank God that never became an issue. [Jarmusch] put his name on the line, protected me, and gave me a certain amount of credibility — that I was serious and knew what I was doing. That really helped when I was out there pounding the pavement, trying to secure funds.

And I was very fortunate in what I've been doing to befriend people like Paul Dano; I did a film with him. To be friends with Black Thought from The Roots, to have worked with Rosario Dawson and be friends with her. To be able to get them on the phone directly, bypassing any of their agents, to get them to read my script. Thankfully, they liked my script. It was pretty nerve-wracking, it was a crazy process, and it's something that I just seemed to do over and over and over again. It's a lot of hard work, but it's really rewarding. For me, what was most rewarding about this film was being able to give an opportunity to young kids who have never acted before to be in my film; kids who really want to be actors. It feels great because 10, 12 years ago [I was] in the same position. Just incredible.