Not so nasty Neil

First he was a misogynist, then he was a misanthrope. After his first two films, the highly caustic In the Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbours, public opinion of writer/director Neil LaBute was on a par with that of "Nasty" Nick Bateman. His debut - one of the most revered and reviled films in living memory - saw two corporate has-beens destroy a woman's life for the hell of it; his sophomore effort was an equally pessimistic examination of the twisted inter-relationships of six men and women.

LaBute suffered by association. It was, he reflects, a case of "you write this, therefore you must be this". Or at least share that view. "People are very curious what your views are on men and women, if you write about men and women," says LaBute, who is part-bookworm, part-grizzly bear in appearance. "I wonder if they're as curious about Moon landings, if you write a script about Moon landings."

The predominantly sweet-natured Nurse Betty, 37-year-old LaBute's third film as director, which premiered in Cannes this year, may initially flummox supporters and detractors alike of his hitherto chillingly morose work. But upon closer inspection, that he was attracted to shoot John C Richards and James Flamberg's screenplay is not so surprising.

The story of a traumatised waitress (Renée Zellweger) who goes on the road in search of her lost love, the doctor from her favourite soap opera (played by Greg Kinnear), it allows LaBute to examine the fine line between reality and fantasy. His work has itself prompted reactions from viewers who confuse the two: one woman rounded on In the Company of Men star Aaron Eckhart after a screening for his portrayal of the beastly Chad, venomously spitting "I hate you" at him.

"I've had polarised reactions to the stuff I've done that I've written myself, both stage and screen, so [when I read the script] there was something that made me go 'I know what that is. To have something misread, or misrepresented.'" Aside from his films, LaBute's play Bash, produced in London earlier this year, initially riled Mormon churchgoers. They were concerned that this play in three acts, each depicting Mormon characters faced with horrific moral choices (and making less than admirable ones), represented them as "murderous Mormons".

"I've never really been interested in an audience liking a character," he counters. "All I'm interested in you doing is being interested. I want you to wonder what will happen next, and what will happen to these characters. Not, 'Gosh, I hope they make it to a sequel, or can I get an action figure of this person?' To me, it's really about the story being well told."

That said, LaBute has no qualms about drily playing up to public misconceptions. He freely admits that Nurse Betty, which also stars Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock as two hit men in pursuit of Betty, is, by the nature of its stars, more mainstream than its predecessors, which were "so sure of their ability to not really care what you thought". But ask him if he feels there's more hope in Nurse Betty's outcome than in his own material, and he can't resist agreeing, adding the aside: "But don't blame it on me." He thinks Betty is "lovely", but jokes that he felt comfortable with the fact that "she's surrounded by men trying to do her in".

Read too much into this flippancy, and LaBute will point you back to Nurse Betty's theme: the investment in celebrity. "We believe the hype," says LaBute. "We believe what is shown to us in a newspaper, and on television, when somebody comes on to the Letterman show. God they seem funny and nice, but you don't know that person. Just because a comedian seems funny, doesn't mean they are always funny."

LaBute was familiar with how "real" performers such as Kinnear's suave soap actor can become to viewers from his own upbringing in Washington State. "I remember, vividly, my mom watching The Young and the Restless. She'd be cooking or making the beds, and she'd just have the volume up in another room. She'd listen to their voices. It was almost as if they were over, having lunch. She would listen to their problems, and have that cathartic experience."

LaBute, who graduated in theatre and film at Utah's Brigham Young University before going on to direct plays, has meanwhile been pursuing his own obsession: the stage. Currently living in London (where his grandfather came from), he has been ducking out to West-End shows wherever possible. He has also found himself drawn into the nation's own ongoing fascination with real-life soap, Big Brother.