[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Chicago P.D. Season 10 Episode 12, “I Can Let You Go.”]
For Gia-Rayne Harris’ TV directorial debut, she was given a Chicago P.D. episode that ended with two main scenes for Detective Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos).
First, Upton discovered that her husband, Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer, who exited earlier this season), requested for an extension on his work abroad. Then, she went to see intercourse trafficker Sean O’Neal (Jefferson White) in jail after his tip helped Intelligence rescue a kidnapped lady — she’s a part of a household hiding one thing and kicking off a brand new arc — and he hoped to proceed working as her informant.
“I’m not coming back. I can’t have you in my life, can’t do this, it’s not right, it’s not for me, so I won’t do it. I’m done,” she instructed him. But Sean knew what she may not be able to face: “It’s a good speech. You’re just giving it to the wrong person.”
Harris (whose brief Pens and Pencils has been nominated for an NAACP picture award and Before You, based mostly on her mom, who retired from legislation enforcement in 2022, is being developed right into a function movie) breaks down the episode.
How did this find yourself being your TV directorial debut? And what in regards to the episode made it excellent for you for that?
Gia-Rayne Harris: I’m past grateful to NBC for giving me [an] alternative. This episode and this present had been the right begin for me on this avenue of TV directing. My mom retired from being a police officer after 33 years, so attending to work on a present that reveals them in a light-weight just like how I do know her and her friends was a dream. She was in a position to go to me on set — having by no means seen me direct — and it was magic.
This was an attention-grabbing one as a result of it’s truly a sophisticated episode. It’s ending some storylines; it’s creating some new ones. For me, that’s a playground as a result of I get to have the tendrils of what existed, however I additionally get the shot at creating one thing fully new. So I used to be in a position to solid, [and] I used to be in a position to undergo that course of as an alternative of simply having solely those who had been already there. But yeah, I believe it was an enormous problem, they usually needed to throw me within the deep finish.
And additionally as a result of the episode ends with two heavy scenes for Upton. First, there’s the cellphone name the place she finds out about Jay’s extension and that he requested it. What was your method to directing that scene compared to the sooner scenes of her at house? Because we’ve been seeing her at house additionally alone since he left.
I used to be very damage; I’ve to be sincere. In the define and the studying of it, I used to be like, are we kidding? I used to be deeply dissatisfied. So I needed to recover from my very own fandom and my very own disappointment in males for a second, and I needed to refocus as a director.
George Burns Jr/NBC/2022 NBCUniversal Media, LLC
My method actually with working along with her was to present her area. She is aware of her character; she is aware of that relationship. We know and love that relationship as followers. But it was actually necessary to present her area to play and in addition to let the actual feelings come up. So when it comes to the cellphone name, all you needed to do was ensure that the digicam was in the appropriate place for her. And when it comes to the ultimate scene that you just introduced up, Upton has not gotten an opportunity to say her piece. She’s not gotten an opportunity to say precisely how she feels both actually to Sean about Sean, but in addition to Jay. So the concept was to lastly give her some closure and to let her do it the way in which she needed to.
Speaking of the scene with Sean, there have been a couple of scenes in that room. What was your method to directing Tracy and Jefferson for these? It’s virtually like directing a two-person play, proper?
You’re precisely proper. The two of them are heavy hitters in 1,000,000 methods, however they bring about out the perfect in one another when it comes to performing. It’s terrifying to see how variety and candy and delightful they’re as folks, they usually have this mode the place they’re able to go. So directing them in these scenes, my reference for that was Hannibal. The relationship between Hannibal and Clarice has at all times been one which’s creeped me out and gotten me intrigued. So this concept of him technically being trapped however at all times having the facility was one thing I needed to play with, however by the tip I needed her to reclaim that energy.
Yeah. It form of felt like Sean needed that dynamic to be like Hannibal and Clarice.
He was so sickening with it, and he knew what he was doing. He was form of the puppet grasp, form of like he had been doing to her this complete season, however now he may do it from inside [prison]. Yeah, it was a wild factor to play with.
What was your method to all the episode as an entire, realizing you’d be ending on these two scenes?
My method was the identical all through. It was necessary that I not put an excessive amount of weight on the scenes. They might be weighty as a result of they’re, proper? They might be weighty as a result of the phrases are there and since the actors are good. So I trusted that, and I gave the entire script consideration and readability, and I targeted my prep on every ingredient. But I knew what was coming. The different plus although is that the cellphone name you noticed was shot on the primary day, so I didn’t get to be valuable about it or overthink it. And then, when it comes to the Upton and Sean scenes you noticed, these had been all shot on my final day. So fortunately, the schedule makes you’re employed arduous. You don’t get to form of go within the arc of the story. You go along with what’s obtainable to you. So every little thing bought equally weighted.
Lori Allen/NBC
Also, the Sean and Upton scenes, after they’re not in that room, had been nonetheless in a small area.
Thankfully the manufacturing designer of the present is genius, Gregory Van Horn, and I used to be in a position to create areas with him. I talked to him rather a lot about once I needed it to really feel like a strained intimacy, as Gwen Sigan, the showrunner, put it, and the way do you set folks in an area that don’t wish to be collectively, like smack dab proper in entrance of one another? So he designed these areas to present me that feeling. You can’t ask for higher than that.
What was your favourite scene to direct?
I don’t know reply that. It’s like being like, “this child’s better than this child.” [Laughs] One of the most important challenges was the stunt work as a result of I had not accomplished a ton of stunt work. So the automotive crash scene, I needed to ask numerous questions on how on earth can we pull this off and the way can we preserve everyone secure? I was an assistant director and so my coronary heart round security won’t ever go away, however the stunt staff on Chicago P.D. is only a household, they usually’re unbelievable, so that they had been in a position to give me my solutions, and I used to be in a position to get eight cameras to verify we had all the appropriate angles on pull this factor off as soon as. I form of felt this like — electrical factor the entire time as a result of I used to be like, “what would possibly occur? We don’t know. We get one probability.
Is there something particular you’d prefer to direct extra going ahead? Because this episode had every little thing — motion scenes, interrogation-like scenes, emotional scenes…
It actually did. I’m open to something with coronary heart, proper? Anything that makes certain the center is there. I really like motion. I’m only a weirdo for motion, so I’d like to try this extra. But I at all times need this emotional factor on the core of it. I’d additionally like to preserve working with youngsters. They’re a blast. The child that was on this episode was a dream to work with, and he challenged me in several methods as a result of I had to make use of completely different instruments to work with him. I’d like to preserve being challenged. Whatever comes my manner, I wish to be challenged.
You talked in regards to the tendrils of what’s developing since you launched that new household. What are you able to say about what you understand about that storyline that knowledgeable your method to that?
They had been actually cautious to guard each the actors and me from realizing an excessive amount of, and I believe that was good as a result of it meant that I bought to allow us to all be current within the story. I’ll say all three of these actors are unbelievable. Caitlin — who performs the mother — got here to only play.
This household, I believe, is gonna be a problem for our complete staff, and I’m curious to see how they problem every member of that staff. I believe it’s gonna prolong previous the connection we’ve now seen with Upton and Voight [Jason Beghe]. We want that shiny factor that our staff form of attaches to, and I’d be actually, actually stunned if this isn’t that.
Chicago P.D., Wednesdays, 10/9c, NBC