LUCIFER’s D.B. Woodside on His Directorial Debut and the Show Tackling BLM

LUCIFER star D.B. Woodside got to partake in a notable first during the show’s final season: directing an episode of the series.

“It was definitely the most challenging, most difficult job that I’ve ever had,” Woodside admits in the video below. “But it was also the most rewarding job that I’ve ever had; I’ve never been happier. I’ve never been filled with more pleasure. It was an amazing experience.”

Adding to the complexities was the fact the hour, “Save the Devil, Save the World,” was filmed in the midst of COVID-19 protocols. “Stepping into that chair during a once in a lifetime pandemic where the hours are cut down, there are so many restrictions,” Woodside acknowledges. “You have to be highly imaginative. You have to move as quickly as humanly possible. And that’s challenging. So you have to come in really prepared.”

With production shut down for a bit during the pandemic, the actor-director got the script months ahead of time, which allowed extra time for him to formulate how he would tackle the hour.

“I got a chance to work with the writer [Aiyana White] months before we even shot,” he says. “I got a chance to shadow three incredible directors in the world of LUCIFER: Nathan Hope, Claudia Yarmy, Lisa Demaine. All very different, all brilliant. So I was more than prepared. And that’s a good thing, because it was a wild ride. But it was incredible and I’m opening up to this kind of new phase, this new chapter of my life.”

And with the show on the cusp of ending when he stepped behind the camera, Woodside also made sure to put in his own special farewell in the hour.

“I said, ‘You know what guys, this is the last time that we’re going to see the exterior of LUX,'” he recalls. “‘So why don’t we take that scene that’s in a car and put it in the exterior of LUX? It will be something that the fans get a chance to see for the last time. All those lights, the outside downtown Los Angeles.’ We get to frame it nice, and there’s a little something that I do…as the scene ends, it’s my way of saying goodbye, as if we’re kind of turning off the lights of the show.”

Outside of Woodside’s BTS milestone, the final season had a storyline touching on Black Lives Matter, as his character, Amenadiel struggled with corruption in the police force.

“That kind of stuff is very important to me, personally, as a Black man growing up in this country and being affected by that stuff from [the age of] seven to about 27-28 years old, so many times that I’ve lost count,” he says. “They were more than willing to run with those issues, run with those storylines, embrace those issues and storylines, in ways that I think make a lot of people nervous. I will forever be grateful to that. ”

“Some of the issues that matter the most to me as an artist, as a Black man, we are definitely dipping into in a very strong way,” he continues. “And I think that makes a lot of people nervous. So the fact that they decided to take that on—and to take it on with sensitivity and honesty—means the world to me.”

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• LUCIFER: Netflix Sets Final Season Release Date
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• LUCIFER: D.B. Woodside Previews How God Shakes Things Up in Season 5B
• LUCIFER: God and Lucifer Have a Hilariously Awkward Reunion in 5B Trailer
• LUCIFER: Warner Bros. Releases Season 1-5 Soundtrack
• LUCIFER Season 5 Photos
• LUCIFER: Season 5A Trailer Introduces Lucifer 2.0
• LUCIFER Renewed for Sixth and Final Season
• LUCIFER: Netflix Reveals August Return with Steamy New Promo
• LUCIFER Season 5 Hosts Another Fun Ladies’ Night
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