Chris Pine makes directorial debut in 'Poolman,' plays Angeleno trying to make LA a better place

HOLLYWOOD -- Chris Pine is adding something new to his resume.

The "Star Trek," "Wonder Woman" and "Into The Woods" star is making his directorial debut in a movie he calls "Poolman." Pine also co-wrote the comedy/mystery movie. He's one of the producers and he's the leading man.

Pine plays the title role in this movie about a native Angeleno trying to make L.A. a better place to call home.

"I think what was in the script was a story about essentially, you know, joy, and about an earnest hero that is trying to do right," Pine said. "And it's, like, an archetype in cinema history that goes back to Buster Keaton of, like, the true innocent that walks into his crazy, effed up world and comes out the other side, still the same exact human being while having changed the world."

Pine assembled an impressive cast to get this film shot in 21 days. Among his stars: Danny DeVito.

"I was pleased, very, very pleased to get the job," DeVito said. "I wanted to work with him but then when I heard Annette Bening was going to be in it, ha! How are you going to turn that down? Forget this guy! No, I'm only kidding."

Jennifer Jason Leigh plays Pine's girlfriend in the film.

"I grew up in Los Angeles," she said. "I'm an Angeleno. And I loved that the script is a love letter to L.A. It really is. And the characters are so endearing and unusual."

Fellow co-star DeWanda Wise agrees, adding this thought:"It's very, you know, 'Chinatown' and it's just really refreshing," she said.

It's a film that Pine has been thinking about, in one way or another, as a lifelong movie fan.

"This is very much through the prism of my 9-year-old boy, like, growing up," he said. "So it's an ode to the most important parts of my life watching cinema at a very young age. That really is the whys and wherefores and the feel and the vibe of the texture of the film."

"Poolman" will be in theaters on Friday.