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Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
When Actors Direct: What TV Can Teach You About Career Evolution
An actor who decides to direct may inspire an eyeroll: Well, of course they can. After leading a hit show, what producer will say no? A powerful actor who wants to direct has an advantage others won't. At the same time, to become directors Tyler James Williams, Ayo Edebiri, Jason Bateman, and Rhea Seehorn had to be willing to step away from the comfort zone of their expertise and see themselves as beginners. More from IndieWire Sarah Michelle Gellar Says Chloé Zhao's Passion for 'Buffy' Changed Her Mind About a Reboot: 'OK, There's a Reason' Gillian Anderson: Ryan Coogler Is the 'Perfect Person' to Direct the 'X-Files' Reboot They also took advantage of a Hollywood truism: People work with people they know, and the only way to make yourself known is to be excellent around the people who can hire you to do the work. It's the same logic that creates a script supervisor-director (Karyn Kusama), a PA-producer (Kevin Feige), or an art coordinator-Oscar-winning production designer (Hannah Beachler). Here's what these actors say they learned while making the transition. Back when he was the lead in 'Everybody Hates Chris,' Williams began peppering 'Everybody' producer-director Jerry Levine with questions. As he told IndieWire's Proma Khosla in February 2025, he fell in love not just with being on TV but with the prospect of making it. The dream came true in Season 4 of 'Abbott Elementary' with episode 13, 'The Science Fair,' but Williams realized that his dream was considerably larger than anticipated. The mockumentary style meant a single scene could demand crossing three sets at one time. 'We had a lot of conversation about not just where the camera could be for the shot, but does that make sense for the documentarian on the other side of that camera?' he said. 'Playing with these camera operators and cameras as characters in this world, what are their opinions on everything? Why are they getting this shot the way they are? It influenced a lot of the decisions I made.' Williams' prep began months in advance. He sat in on production meetings, tone meetings, concept meetings. He talked with the crew, with the camera department, with executive producer Randall Einhorn. And he began breaking down the episode outline even before he had dialogue or characters. 'Because I know the space, and I know kind of the language of our show and how it works, I can start understanding how this needs to move and what this needs to look like,' he said. 'It's really hard to explain, and I guess that's where the the vision part of it comes in, where I just start to see it as I'm reading. I can kind of see it moving in real time.' By the time Edebiri joined 'The Bear,' she had dozens of acting credits, she'd been a story editor on 'Sunnyside,' a staff writer on 'Dickinson,' and a writer and consulting producer on 'What We Do in the Shadows' and 'Big Mouth.' However, she'd never gotten to direct. Before she directed 'The Bear' (Season 3, episode 6, 'Napkins'), she got a crash course on TV directing from the Directors Guild of America's First-Time Episodic Director Orientation Program. (It's a DGA requirement for a series that 'employs a 'first-time Director' to direct an episode of a dramatic television, High Budget SVOD series, or High Budget AVOD series.') She said it was 'probably one of the coolest, greatest things I've ever done.' 'The thing that I walked away with the most was that the only wrong way to direct — well, there's probably a lot of wrong ways, but beyond not communicating and not being open — is not finding your way,' said Edebiri. 'If you try to do somebody else's way, it's not going to work. Our instructors were so helpful with really illustrating their differences — and that they were successful with their differences — and so encouraging us to find our our ways of communicating, stressing the fact that you always have to be communicating.' Her instructors included legends such as Paris Barclay, Keith Powell, and Dr. Valerie Weiss, but Edebiri had to rely on her own instincts and the readiness of her cast and crew. 'You have to have a certain amount of ego and a certain amount of assuredness in your decisions, but there needs to be space for collaboration, and to also be wrong, or to not have the answer,' she said. 'It's this really miraculous amount of collaboration … It's like making a Venn diagram, but out of a thousand circles. That's why those moments when you get something, or you get it right, it does feel so special — because it's like, that's insane. That's insane that there's a thousand circles but found the one overlapping point.' The actress who portrayed Kim Wexler across six seasons of 'Better Call Saul' became the first performer to direct an episode of the show with Season 6 installment 'Hit and Run.' Bryan Cranston also directed episodes of 'Saul' predecessor 'Breaking Bad'; like Cranston, she played a major role that required she frequently 'hoof it to the monitor.' Relying on the producing team was vital. 'Michael Morris, our producing director, was kind of my right-hand person,' said Seehorn. 'I could watch playback when I needed it. And then I wanted to make sure that I was just available as Kim, once I was in the scene. I would never want a scene partner to feel like their director is observing them.' For her episode, Seehorn was initially anxious about working with Giancarlo Esposito as Gus Fring; they'd never shot a scene together. However, Seehorn soon realized her way in with him. 'He's from theater, as am I. So we had a good shorthand from the beginning,' she said. 'I just simply asked him, 'Do like talk about the scene or beats or do you just only want adjustments after the fact?' And he said, 'I'd love to talk about the scene. Thank you very much.' I said, 'Fantastic! Because here's my six binders.'' (Esposito would shoot his own episode later that season.) On Season 1 of 'Ozark,' Bateman directed four episodes while producing and starring in all 10. (He originally intended to direct all of them.) He believes a director's role hinges on making sure everyone is 'feeling good' — something he learned this from another actor-director, Michael Langdon, who Bateman worked as a child on 'Little House on the Prairie.' 'It was very helpful for me to see that a call sheet can get shot without yelling,' he said. 'It can be done well without being precious, but just by simply encouraging and being supportive and staying out of the way of something that might be better than what you thought.' Understanding actors also helped him be an effective director. 'One of the easy tricks is to go up and if you want an actor to do something, compliment on them having just done it and you want them to do a little more of it,' he said. 'You gotta think of what's the positive way to say this as opposed to 'Stop doing that,' because that's gonna make them nervous.' As IndieWire's Ben Travers noted back in 2020, Bateman would 'rather talk about the look, pace, feel, sound, and tone of his show — all of which form individual 'magic tricks' that help shape 'Ozark' — than his performance in front of the camera, and he's eager to steer the conversation toward his collaborators.' 'I mean, I'm a crew dork,' Bateman told Travers. 'I study who the gaffer or the best boy or the location manager is, let alone production designer [or] cinematographer. When I see a trailer, I'm immediately going over to IMDB Pro and just scouring the crew of that movie, because I'm noticing things that they're doing. I want to see who those people are so that maybe in the future, if I'm lucky enough to build a crew, I'm going to remember those names and see if they're interested in joining the team.' It worked: Bateman won the 2019 Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. Best of IndieWire Martin Scorsese's Favorite Movies: 86 Films the Director Wants You to See Christopher Nolan's Favorite Movies: 44 Films the Director Wants You to See The 25 Saddest TV Character Deaths of This Century
See - Sada Elbalad
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
Ryan Coogler Teases "X-Files" Series Reboot
Yara Sameh With 'Sinners' now in theaters, Ryan Coogler is turning his attention back to his 'X-Files' series reboot. 'I've been excited about that for a long time and I'm fired up to get back to it,' Coogler said during a recent interview with ' Last Podcast on the Left ,' confirming that that project is 'immediately next' on his slate. 'Some of those episodes, if we do our jobs right, will be really fucking scary.' Coogler was first reported to be developing an 'X-Files' series back in 2023, when series creator and showrunner Chris Carter confirmed that the two have had conversations about remounting the supernatural detecivde drama, which starred David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, who were assigned to investigate reports of paranormal activity. 'The X-Files,' originally produced by 20th Century Fox Television, aired on Fox for nine seasons from 1993 to 2001, before being revived at the network for two more rounds in 2016 and 2018. Coogler is developing the revival idea through his overall deal with Walt Disney Television. Asked if he's touched base with Anderson, Coogler confirms the two have spoken. 'She's incredible and fingers crossed there,' he said, explaining that Anderson was finishing up work on 'Tron: Ares' the last time they talked. 'We're going to try to make something really great, bro, and make something for the real 'X-Files' fans and maybe find some new ones.' Over the past dozen years, Coogler has proven to be a master of breathing new life into established IP. First, he rebooted the 'Rocky' franchise with 2015's 'Creed.' Then, he adapted Marvel's 'Black Panther' comics into one of the MCU's most critically-acclaimed franchises, with both the 2018 original and its 2022 sequel, 'Wakanda Forever,' earning multiple Academy Award nominations. 'Sinners' is Coogler's first wholly original premise. The R-rated vampire thriller has proven to be an early hit with critics and audiences, earning $4.7 million in previews on the way to a projected $40 million to $50 million opening weekend. read more New Tourism Route To Launch in Old Cairo Ahmed El Sakka-Led Play 'Sayidati Al Jamila' to Be Staged in KSA on Dec. 6 Mandy Moore Joins Season 2 of "Dr. Death" Anthology Series Don't Miss These Movies at 44th Cairo Int'l Film Festival Today Amr Diab to Headline KSA's MDLBEAST Soundstorm 2022 Festival Arts & Culture Mai Omar Stuns in Latest Instagram Photos Arts & Culture "The Flash" to End with Season 9 Arts & Culture Ministry of Culture Organizes four day Children's Film Festival Arts & Culture Canadian PM wishes Muslims Eid-al-Adha News Egypt confirms denial of airspace access to US B-52 bombers News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia Lifestyle Pistachio and Raspberry Cheesecake Domes Recipe News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Arts & Culture Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's $4.7M LA Home Burglarized Videos & Features Bouchra Dahlab Crowned Miss Arab World 2025 .. Reem Ganzoury Wins Miss Arab Africa Title (VIDEO) Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple Arts & Culture Arwa Gouda Gets Married (Photos)
Los Angeles Times
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
From ‘Infinite Jest' to Oprah's Book Club, 1996 changed the (literary) world
Computers were ugly hulking gray or beige boxes then, taking up so much desk space. In 1996 I worked at Disney Interactive, my Windows 95 operating system skinned with an 'X-Files' theme; when I arrived early, the TV show's eerie chimes echoed across the empty office. Work was a lot like now, doing things using the computer and answering and sending emails. Important people flexed by doing none of that — they showed off by not having computers on their desks at all. At the end of the day, those of us with computers waited for them to shut down, slowly, before leaving. And then work was behind you. Maybe you'd meet somebody out, remotely checking the answering machine plugged into your landline for messages. Maybe you'd go home to make dinner and catch the news on TV or NPR. Then, if you were into computers, you might turn on the one you had at home and dial in to the baby internet via modem and read funny things or post on message boards, waiting, always waiting, for the pages to load, line by line. Did we have more time to read books then, or does it just seem that way? More time to consume news on a slower timetable, for sure. 1996 was an election year; Bill Clinton was running for his second term as president, and much of the conversation was dominated by political books. Colin Powell had fanned the flames about a possible run with his 1995 memoir, 'My American Journey,' putting him on bestseller lists and the 1996 interview circuit. 'There were some days I wished I had never started it,' he told C-SPAN, the universal writer's lament. But he didn't join the race. That was just the preamble. The scores of others that followed included Newt Gingrich's 'To Renew America' and, from Republican nominee Bob Dole, 'Unlimited Partners,' written with his wife, Elizabeth. 'Jesse: The Life and Pilgrimage' by Marshall Frady burnished the reputation of Jesse Jackson, a potential Democratic challenger who decided not to run. A popular incumbent, Clinton published a book to accompany his campaign, 'Between Hope and History: Meeting America's Challenges for the 21st Century.' He wasn't the only one writing at the White House; Hillary Clinton released 'It Takes a Village,' which topped bestseller lists. The first couple also had bestselling detractors. 'Blood Sport: The President and His Adversaries' by James B. Stewart was a salacious Whitewater exposé, while former FBI agent Gary Aldrich's 'Unlimited Access' was a vitriolic take on the Clintons' failings in the White House. But the biggest political book of them all was a novel. Technically. Roman-à-clef 'Primary Colors' hit shelves in January, clearly based on Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. It was authored by 'Anonymous' — and the question of who might have written it set off a feeding frenzy of speculation. The book topped bestseller lists and the Anonymous pursuit stayed in the headlines for months. People were obsessed. In February, New York Magazine published a cover story saying Newsweek columnist and CBS News contributor Joe Klein was the author, but he denied it so vehemently that speculation about others continued for months. In July, the Washington Post reported that, based on a handwriting analysis, it believed it was Klein after all. He called a press conference to admit it, facing down a crew of angry journalists. But his publisher was delighted, saying, ''Primary Colors' has become once again a media event.' While all this political reading was in overdrive, people were still buying other books. The usual suspects (Michael Crichton, John le Carré and Tom Clancy) all published bestselling thrillers in 1996. Dean Koontz hit the bestseller list with 'Ticktock,' a horror-comedy. That year, Danielle Steel published not one but two bestselling books. Terry McMillan scored a second bestseller with 'How Stella Got Her Groove Back,' just as the film adaptation of her first, 'Waiting to Exhale,' hit movie screens. Bestselling mysteries came from Scott Turow and Sue Grafton, whose 'M Is for Malice' marked the midpoint of her alphabet series. It's remarkable that many of these authors are still writing, still hitting bestseller lists, 30 years later. Even those who have died are still publishing — Le Carré's son Nick Harkaway, a novelist in his own right, continued his father's George Smiley legacy with a new novel last year. Crichton, who died in 2008, has published four books posthumously, most often with credited co-authors. And although Clancy died in 2013, the Tom Clancy brand has continued, with his name prominently displayed on the book or two a year that have been published ever since. One of the reasons these authors have such staying power may be the way the market was shaped in 1996. If you wanted to buy a book, it was easy to get to one of five huge national chain stores: B. Dalton, Barnes & Noble, Crown Books, Waldenbooks and Borders Books & Music. Their market dominance was so complete that publishing business watchers cautioned that they might have too much power. And if you were a real book lover in Los Angeles, you'd go to one of the independents — Vroman's, Skylight (which opened that fall, after Chatterton's closure in 1994) and Book Soup (albeit with different ownership) are still selling books today. 1996 bookstores that are no longer with us include Dutton's, Eso Won, A Different Light, Sisterhood Bookstore, Brentano's, Village Books, the Bohdi Tree and Midnight Special. The extinction event looming on the horizon was Amazon, of course, which launched its website in 1995 and would grab the public's attention in 1997 with its wildly successful initial public offering. In 1996, many retailers remained skeptical of online shopping and didn't have full-fledged websites; customers were concerned about the security of online purchases. While that was soon to change, it meant that for books especially, 1996 was an eddy of calm before the meteor storm arrived. And first, a dazzling ship arrived: Oprah's Book Club. Announced in September, Oprah Winfrey had just two book-club sessions in 1996, but they were a genuine indicator of her power. After being selected by Oprah, Jacquelyn Mitchard's 'The Deep End of the Ocean' reached bestseller lists months after its debut. Toni Morrison's 'Song of Solomon,' published 19 years earlier, got a new paperback release that was an overnight bestseller. 'I want to get the country reading,' the popular television host said, and she did. In later years, her choices would become instant bestsellers. Some literary types worried that TV and books were somehow at odds, that her tastes weren't highbrow enough. But readers who wanted highbrow had other places to turn. Wisława Szymborska, the Polish poet, won the 1996 Nobel Prize in literature 'for poetry that with ironic precision allows the historical and biological context to come to light in fragments of human reality.' The Pulitzer Prize for poetry went to Jorie Graham for her collection 'The Dream of the Unified Field.' The Times' Jack Miles won the Pulitzer in biography for his weighty book 'GOD: A Biography.' On the fiction side, the winner of the Pulitzer was Richard Ford for 'Independence Day.' The winner of the National Book Award was Andrea Barrett's 'Ship Fever and Other Stories,' beating out finalists 'Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer' by Steven Millhauser, 'Atticus' by Ron Hansen, 'The Giant's House' by Elizabeth McCracken and 'The River Beyond the World' by Janet Peery. Puzzlingly absent from those lists was what we can now see was one of the most important novels of 1996. 'Infinite Jest' by David Foster Wallace is a work of generational genius. The novel is more than 1,000 pages long, funny and brilliant; despite its annoying fanboys, the book's reputation gets ever brighter. 'David Foster Wallace's 1996 opus now looks like the central American novel of the past thirty years, a dense star for lesser work to orbit,' Chad Harbach wrote in n+1 in 2004. Though some critics at the time were exasperated by having to read such a big, wordy book, The Times selected it as one of the best books of the year. Reviewer David Kipen celebrated Wallace's 'stupendously high-toned vocabulary and gleeful low-comedy diction, coupled with a sense of syntax so elongated that he can seem to go for days without surfacing.' At the time, Wallace was living and teaching in Illinois, and instead of finding an agent in New York, he'd connected with Bonnie Nadell in Los Angeles. That westward shift was one of those quiet things that happened in 1996 whose repercussions would be felt in unexpected ways far into the future. Like the first L.A. Times Festival of Books.
