Could this year’s Emmys see an equivalent to Lady Bird in its nomination pool? Like Greta Gerwig’s 2017 multiple-Oscar nominee, several Emmy-eligible episodes from acclaimed shows were directed by actors — take Tracee Ellis Ross, who directed an episode of her show Blackish, Jodie Foster (Black Mirror), Jason Bateman (Ozark) and Matt Bomer (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story). Even if these actor-directors don’t end up vying for winged women in September, they’re demonstrating that acting remains a unique pipeline to directing on television.
[…] Actors often say their experience gives them insight into working with other actors — in terms of giving both advice and space. “Knowing when to step back because [the actors] were already doing their thing, that came very naturally to me. I’ve been doing that for most of my life,” says Bomer, 40. Still, directing demands that actors understand a set in a more “holistic” way than they customarily need to, Bomer adds. The former Suits actor, who had never directed before Versace, read directing books, asked former directors for advice and went to the Directors Guild of America’s First-Time Episodic Director Orientation Program to pick up technical skills like how to set up a shot, in order to prepare.
How Actors Become Directors: “It’s Like the Greatest Film School Ever”
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