GOTHAM: Ben McKenzie on Directing (Again)

After more than 15 years working in television, Ben McKenzie made his directorial debut with a 2017 GOTHAM episode. (The May 1 hour, “These Delicate and Dark Obsessions.”)

Now, McKenzie—who also stars on the series as Captain Jim Gordon—steps behind the camera again with Thursday’s deliciously twisted installment, “One Of My Three Soups.” In the episode, notable inmates from Arkham Asylum—including Jerome (Cameron Monaghan) and Tetch/the Mad Hatter (Benedict Samuel)—break free and cause deadly mayhem in Gotham.

The first time McKenzie directed, “I was worried about screwing it up,” he told reporters. “I was very conservative. My goal was to be able to do it again. And look, if you’re the lead of the show and you’re directing, they tend to give you a lot of rope there. They’re probably going to bring you back—but you didn’t want to mess it up.”

The first hour “was a more introverted story, much more of a slow burn,” he continued. “This one was much bigger.”

As the villains inflict their mischief and destruction upon Gotham, McKenzie navigated the best way to get what he wanted. “There’s a lot of action, a lot of green screen work, a lot of big set pieces,” he pointed out. “We had several [dozen] background performers…and you have to shoot that. You get to shoot that. I was less afraid of that this time.”

His second go-round also allowed him to freedom to be open about his needs and what he simply didn’t know. “I relied on our visual effects team quite a lot to let me know what they needed for post production work, for the roof top sequences, for example,” McKenzie explained of an effects-heavy sequence. “They can always fix a lot of it, but your goal is to make it as easy as possible for them. That level of comfort helped.”

Are you excited to see McKenzie’s episode?

GOTHAM, Thursdays, 8/7c, Fox

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