Josh Lawson returns to Australia for directorial debut in The Little Death Josh Lawson. DESPITE being one of our most promising names internationally, Josh Lawson says it was important to him to make his directorial debut on home soil. The Australian actor is in pre-production on The Little Death, a relatively small-budget movie he is directing and will star in, with production to begin later this month. "This has been a long time coming for me," Lawson told Confidential. I have wanted to direct for a long time and it made sense for me to come back here because it just felt like the right place to direct the first one. Lawson, who is a NIDA graduate and will attend the school's annual gala ball at its Kensington headquarters on July 20, is one of Australia's top young stars in Hollywood. He will next be seen alongside Will Ferrell and Steve Carell in the much anticipated upcoming sequel, Anchorman: The Legend Continues. Josh Lawson's new job no dream His other US credits include the movie The Campaign and TV series House Of Lies and Romantically Challenged. In Australia, he's best known for his film Any Questions For Ben? and TV shows Underbelly, The Librarians and Sea Patrol. Casting details are yet to be announced for The Little Death, which Lawson has also written and which will be distributed by Icon Films. "The Little Death explores the five different lives of five different couples and the five different fetishes that make them ... different," the film's synopsis reads. At its core, The Little Death is about desire, specifically sexual desire and the lengths to which people will go to satisfy it. Of the project, Lawson, 31, said: "I've brought the movie back here and I'm right in the middle of pre-production at the moment. It is terrifying and hard work but this is it. We start principle photography on July 29.