Lynn Shelton, Acclaimed Indie Film Director, Dies at 54

Lynn Shelton, an acclaimed indie film director who has worked on Humpday, Laggies, and Little Fires Everywhere, is dead at 54. According to a spokesperson, the cause of death was a previously unidentified blood disorder.

Shelton, whose partner was the comedian Marc Maron, grew up in Seattle and later moved to New York to study at the School of Visual Arts. The filmmaker didn't begin her career until her mid-30s, but then went on to create a number of charming indie films over the years, many of which were largely improvised; the director regularly encouraged actors to freely explore their roles.

Shelton made her directorial debut in 2006 with We Go Way Back. Her follow-up film, My Effortless Brilliance, won her the “Someone to Watch Award” at the 2009 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Humpday, her 2009 film about two straight men who decide to make amateur gay porn, continues to be one of Shelton's most acclaimed works. The film won the “Special Jury Prize for Spirit of Independence” at the Sundance Film Festival and swiftly caught the attention of Hollywood.

In the 10 years that followed, large studios came calling. At one point, Shelton was even approached to direct Marvel’s Black Widow. In 2014, she directed one of her bigger films, Laggies, starring Keira Knightley and Chloë Grace Moretz. “I just thought it was so nice to see a woman explore this quarter-life crisis territory and be lost and be imperfect and be flawed,” she told Vogue of the film.

While Shelton dabbled in big Hollywood productions, the director still maintained a smaller, intimate feel to all of her films. Most recently, she directed four episodes of Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere, starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. “I’m in complete shock that this vibrant, talented, and soulful filmmaker is no longer with us,” Witherspoon wrote on Instagram. “Lynn was so passionate about our show, Little Fires Everywhere. She said the book truly spoke to her, and that she longed to direct a show that spoke meaningfully about motherhood, sexuality, race, and class in America. And she did.”

Below, Hollywood mourns the loss of Shelton.

Originally Appeared on Vogue