“I always direct the first episode of the season and the last episode of the season,” reveals director Ken Olin about the NBC drama “This is Us.” The show created by Dan Fogelman recently wrapped its sixth and final season. “Usually episodes with a little bit more pressure on them, I would do,” he continues. “It’s a discussion of where Dan really felt it important that I direct and also, what could I handle?” We talked to Olin as part of our “Meet the Experts” TV directors panel. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
“This is Us” has earned 38 Emmy nominations with four wins to date, including four bids for Olin as an executive producer. The series follows the lives and families of two parents, and their three children, in several different time frames. Olin notes that this season a number of cast members had opportunities to direct as well, including Jon Huertas (Miguel), Chris Sullivan (Toby), Milo Ventimiglia (Jack), Mandy Moore (Rebecca) and Justin Hartley (Kevin). “It was a puzzle to figure out where people fit the best.”
Olin began his TV directing career in a similar way. As a star of “Thirtysomething,” he started directing episodes and fell in love with it. “I directed once in college,” he explains. “I had never experienced anything that was that consuming to me. I was completely passionate and consumed by directing. It exhausted me in a way that was a little scary. I thought of myself as an actor and it wasn’t really until ‘Thirtysomething’ that I said, ‘I would like an opportunity to direct.’ I think that I knew right away that I felt more suited to being a director than an actor. I didn’t feel self-conscious in the same way. I don’t know that I love acting the same way that I love directing.”
“I’ve never been on a number one show before,” he recalls as his “wildest moment.” “I was coming from a place where your shows have to make a lot of noise. They sent me the show and, did I want to do it? I was like, ‘Yeah, this is really, really good.’ It was sort of sensational. It had an authentic voice and it came along at a time where people were so hungry for something that had, at its core, humanity, kindness and decency.”
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