How Elisabeth Moss Found A Second Love Directing The Handmaid's Tale
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With the fifth and second to final season of The Handmaid's Tale recently released, lovers are noticing some large adjustments. Most particularly, Alexis Bledel's absence from the show. But as early as the first episode of season five, some issues have proven to be a constant. Most significantly, the presence of Elisabeth Moss.
The outlandishly successful actor is basically the face of a display that's gone through an collection of major evolutions. But that is a excellent thing as it's provided the talent to do the same. This includes Elisabeth who took on the position of director for three episodes of season four ("Progress", "Testimony", and "The Crossing").
This used to be her very first time at the back of the digicam and she or he briefly proved herself to be a natural. In an interview with Vulture, the otherwise private actor shed some light on her transition from actor to director.
Why Elisabeth Moss Became A Director
In her interview with Vulture, Elisabeth admitted that her want to grow to be a director has been a "slow burn". Unlike the likes of Steven Spielberg (who's with regards to to release a film about the origin of his profession -- Meet The Fabelmans), Elisabeth took a while to discover her different passion.
"It was something that I thought maybe eventually I would try in my career because I’ve been acting for a long time, and at a certain point, you want to find ways to deepen your experience and deepen your knowledge of filmmaking as well," Elisabeth defined to Vulture.
The thought started to turn out to be a reality when she began filming the second season of The Handmaid's Tale.
"It was like, Maybe next year. Then it didn’t work for our schedule to do it in season three. I was the one who made the call to [executive producers] Bruce [Miller] and Warren [Littlefield] and said, 'I’m going to pull the plug on trying to make this work, because it just doesn’t make sense for our schedule, and as an EP, I can’t endorse this'," Elisabeth mentioned.
"Then in season four, we were like, 'Okay, we should definitely try to make it work this year.' It just worked out really beautifully. And I thought, Well, if I’m going to try my hand at this for the first time, what a gift to be able to do it on something that I know so well, that I’ve been prepping for for three seasons in a way."
Which Episodes Of Handmaid's Tale Has Elisabeth Moss Directed?
Aside from the 3 episodes in season 4, "Progress", "Testimony", and "The Crossing", Elisabeth has also directed the first two episodes of season 5. This can be the recently released "Morning" and "Ballet".
At the time of this writing, it is unknown if she might be directing more than the first two. Given her success directing on the display, it would not be sudden if she earned a few more episodes.
But throughout an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Elisabeth mentioned that she has also directed a couple of episodes of AppleTV+'s Shining Girls. But her first revel in as a director ever was the episode "Progress".
Elisabeth Moss Thinks This Is The Hardest Part Of Directing
In her interview with Vulture, Elisabeth said that the absolute best part of directing an episode of Handmaid's Tale is directing herself.
"It’s actually the easiest part for me, because that’s the part I’ve done for over 30 years, is acting and being conscious and aware of my performance, and being aware of where the camera is and aware of what’s going on around me. That I’ve done for the longest amount of time. I’m just not an actor who is completely unaware of what I see or of the effects that I’m creating," Elisabeth mentioned.
She went on to say that the explanation why she selected season four's "Progress" as her first episode was as a result of her character (June) was in it such a lot.
"I thought, 'Well, okay, there’s this one element of it, the acting of June, that I really know how to do. Let me give myself a leg up here and know that there’s a huge part of this episode that I know how to do.' The hardest thing is not directing yourself in the scene when you’re acting; it’s directing the other actors in the scene when you’re acting."
"We all have a lot of respect for each other, and they really wanted me to do well. They gave me everything they had. They pushed themselves — I think a bit more in a way — because I was there on the other side of the camera. But you do have to compartmentalize in a way that’s very interesting, because you’re in a scene and you want to give them the performance that they need from you as June so that they can react against that in their performances. But you’re watching them in a way that you’re remembering something that you want to tell them when you say 'Cut!' Which is a very funny part of it, by the way, that no one will ever see and no one will ever get to experience: the very strange thing of me being in a scene, playing June and being very, very, very dramatic and then saying, 'Okay, cut.'"
Elisabeth's ability to modify her directing mind on and off whilst appearing in a scene clearly gave her a main leg up as a amateur. In her interview with Vulture, she claimed that it is because she thrives when she has a lot to take into accounts. But additionally because she feels she has discovered to think like a director.
"I discovered after doing three episodes that I never realized how much I think like a director. I think there are actors that are brilliant, that are in their lane and they come in and they give everything, just to their job and that scene that day. And that’s a wonderful thing. I’ve always been a different kind of actor, who is aware of where the camera is. I edit in my head while I’m acting in a very clinical way. I know when we’re going to use that shot. I’ve always thought, in a way, that is actually the way a director thinks. I just never realized it."
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