Jessica Lee Gagné
Appearances
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Yeah.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
It looks like it's lit by me.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
It's very... It's like mole beams.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Oh, molebeam, it's a type of light we use in film for lighting. It's tungsten, so it's very warm. And to me, it's the light that most looks like the real sun. So I love using it because it looks real.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Thanks, Ben.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
I think it's at least seven. We're at seven.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
I see everything in cycles of seven years, though.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
You know, I don't know if I ever told you this, but I, you know, you speak about fate and I definitely believe in certain things being timed and faithful. But when I got the email from the producer about this, I cried because I knew it was going to happen. And I like the moment I read the email, it's like my life kind of like flashed before me. And I was like, this is going to be amazing.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And it's weird because it relates to Seven a little bit. And, you know, people ask me why Seven. And to me right now, I think it's like Seven found me in a way. And I feel like that about Severance. Like, I think Severance found you and it found Dan and it found the right people to make it. And this weird, like, it's this weird force that moves at its own pace.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
I watched so many different things. And like I, I did work for my father in his video stores, plural, he had many of them. And you know, I used to actually work with him sometimes in the summers and travel with him in his truck because he was also a distributor. So he would, you know, bring movies to like small grocery stores or little stores in little towns.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
And we would go in there and switch up their VHSs, bring them the new stuff. And Crazy, interesting little life journey there.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
I saw the transition from VHS to DVD. I really lived that. And I saw, you know, how that impacted that industry. But, you know, one thing that's really interesting that I see intergenerationally in my family and between my father and I is that here I am now shooting for Apple and Netflix or whatever, you know, all of these streaming services.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
And my father doesn't have any of these services and is still, I think, you know, feels how they impacted his business. And I'm kind of like going into that next generation, which is interesting that always has stayed with me.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
It survived because of the culture of Quebec in a way. And I started a documentary that I never finished, but maybe one day I'll finish it about these last video stores, because I believe they were probably some of the last video stores in the world, or at least in North America. And they survived because they were in regional areas.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
And in Quebec, it took a long time before like Netflix really introduced French content, or those streaming services did that. And there's also regions that internet is actually really expensive. And It is the way that people get together is going to the video store and watching movies together.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
So for a long time in those regions, it was I mean, I think the stores closed like one or two years ago now, the last one, really, but they were still functioning.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Yeah.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
All the time. I always had like a box of VHSs at my house and some mornings before school I would start a movie and then I'd come back after school and I'd finish the movie because I wouldn't have time in the morning to watch the whole thing. And like my dad would bring us to the movies several times a week when we were kids. And we're watching American movies mostly.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Like I grew up watching American films. even more than French Canadian films. And it's when I started going to school in film production, that's where I really got into more international filmmaking. And my mom kind of also pushed me into that because she introduced me to like foreign language films and things like that.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Well, the first film that made me realize what filmmaking could be, I think, was City of God by Fernando Meirelles. That movie, it blew my mind. I loved American films growing up and was watching things like Little Shop of Horrors and all those things. But when I saw City of God, I was like, okay. This is like you can create something on a whole other level. And that really fascinated me.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
But then I went through several phases. And I think the films that brought us together are the ones that really kind of define the aesthetic that I gravitate to the most. And those are those like American 70s pictures, you know, that we bonded over Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon. And for me, Clute is always a big one. I think any cinematographer knows.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Tends to gravitate towards that film because to me, it's almost like cinematography perfection. For me, like I gravitate towards a heightened realism style. And I think that's what spoke to you a little bit. It's a very gritty style, but at the same time, it's really aesthetic and it's really specific, which I think, you know, resonated with you. It's like it's intentional.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
That was fun because I feel like when you see these things for the first time, it's magical. You know, the experience of seeing like something like Stalker. And, you know, I do work with a lot of images. So my intention usually with directors is to just make sure we're speaking the same language. So the easiest way to do that is photography and references.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
And photography is very fast and I can just make sure. Okay.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
this we like we're okay great this you like this okay great i know i can go there and to me the most important thing is that when we're on set you don't have to stress about the cinematography that you can like let go and you know i always say that you kind of could be your own cinematographer so i but i'm very very serious about that and i heard that in 60 you're talking about you and the camera well i fell over yeah that was your fault because you encouraged me to operate the camera
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
I just think you're a great operator. Not when you have to do like really complicated camera operating, but maybe the air mattress threw you off.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Here's the thing. We can also talk about how focused I am on set. And I'm so curious to hear like an actor's perspective also about how I get really in a flow state and in tunnel vision. And sometimes it kind of gets the best of me. But I learned a lot throughout this process.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
So I DP'd any part of the episode.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Yeah. I think I have to just go back to the decision of shooting my own episode. Why did I allow myself to do that? A lot of people asked me, are you sure you can handle this? It's the first time you're directing. Do you actually really want to shoot it? I knew where it would become a problem and that was going to be these flashbacks. I needed someone else. And it was also interesting to work.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
with someone who had a new eye as well because it's a new world so all of that I thought made a lot of sense and working with Max was great but working with myself was very weird I did not understand what it really meant but there was this one moment on set and I had this feeling of everything's moving so fast everything's happening really really fast and I don't feel like I can breathe and
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
I realized at that moment I was standing in Gemma's suite and I realized that conversation that happens between a cinematographer and a director wasn't happening for me. And that kind of was giving me anxiety. At one point I looked at Sam Evoy, our script supervisor, and I'm like, Sam, I'm going to talk to you like you're my cinematographer. I'm sorry.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
I just, I need that time because I needed to breathe and I needed to know that like, that it was okay. Right. You know, because that relationship is important.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Yeah. And those shots came in handy. Like they say it does.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Well, the thought about shooting it on film to me, it's funny because originally I am the cinematographer of this show. And, you know, when it comes to like choosing cameras and lenses, I'm like a huge, I mean, I'm a huge part of that process. You know, I'll show you different things and then I'll see how you react from them. And then ultimately we're like making this decision.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
But we had chosen not to shoot on film. And I don't know if you remember, I was always adamant that I never thought Severance should be shot on film.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Yeah. I mean, so many directors want to shoot on film. I understand that. And so many DPs do as well. But then when this idea of flashbacks came up, I was like, oh, crap. I'm the one who has to bring up the fact that I think this should be shot on film. Now I get to be like that person. But there's, you know, I don't like in post adding a look to something to make it look like a flashback.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
I was like, what's the most natural and simple way to do this? And basically shooting on film evokes nostalgia right away now for us and for where we are in society now. So I was like, well, this is the simple answer. Let's try and do this. And then we ended up doing it.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Doing what people say you never, you know, any filmmaker will say no one will ever get to shoot in my house. You don't let anyone touch your house.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
But this house was made for it. And I say, do you know about how it happened originally? Like I was describing what I thought this place, I thought it was an apartment at first. I was like, oh, I think they should live like in an apartment with moldings and there's libraries and that's an old place. And it has like the time is like on the walls. And I'm talking about this space.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
And Jeremy had been to the house I was living in, which is an amazing, beautiful home. I was renting it. And he was like, you realize, Jessica, we're going to be shooting this in your house. And I was like, oh, I had never thought about it. I just was speechless for like a minute. I'm like, oh my God, he's right. We're shooting this in this house.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Yeah, and the show, I feel, I mean, you tell me if you feel this way, but I feel like we are seeing this show through the perspective or the way Mark's character views life is like the visual tone of this show. And in the timeline where we are when we're in this story, we're living it with him in a way. Now we're in season two.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
What's amazing is we get to go out broader and we see other people's perspective, but it does kind of taint the whole show. And this was a moment where it's like, okay, this is before the decision to sever. So this is life before. What did life feel like? How do we evoke that? There were so many things.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Every department brought something special where it's like just the plants, the colors, the lighting, everything was tweaked in a different world. And we introduced things that we had never really done in severance, but that was intentional. And the meaning was just to evoke a completely different feeling.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Yeah, the transitions were to kind of evoke sometimes like transitioning from an emotional state to another. Sometimes the emotional states match and sometimes they don't, you know, depending on the transition.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
But this specifically for both of them, there's this like heart dropping knowingness that happens for both of them in different, they're in different timelines, but they're shown at the same time.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
There's a lot to say about that and about how we view life depending on the things that happen to us and how we choose to see things. And I think that this episode, for me, one of the reasons it found me is because I love all of these crazy things about consciousness and time and space. I'm a sucker for this stuff. And I was like, oh, I get to explore this in a cinematic language.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
And that to me was like, I was like a kid in a candy store being able to do that. Because we have these three different timelines and there was this idea of a whirlwind of things just all happening all at once. And I don't actually believe in the concept of time. I use it as a word in the English language, but to me, it's not really...
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
It's relevant in my personal experience and your personal experience, but you can see above it in this episode, it showcases that, that everything is happening kind of all at once. So we are constantly affected by everything. And in this moment, they join at the end of the episode in that emotion, in that vibration.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
And you see them move through space in this like opposite way, but they're feeling the same feeling of having lost each other.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
like I sometimes would know things like that but then also some of this was like purely intuitive and I feel like as filmmakers that's what happens right you just try and follow your intuition and what feels right yeah um because it got really technical and that was always one of my fears as a director that I would not be a good director because I would be the technical one you know it was something that was in my head for a long time and I feared this but then doing this
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
episode, at first, I didn't think it was going to be as emotional as it was. And the writing kept getting more and more sensitive and more and more emotional. And I just stuck with it, you know, even though I was really afraid of it. But I was actually able to go there, which surprised me. And I feel like that technical and emotional aspect together is also what makes seven strong.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Side projects, as you call them. Yeah, it was like Scott McGuire's side project.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Yeah. And I mean, everyone in the camera department participated in this shot in their own way. You know, Mike Guthrie was always a big part of like technical development stuff with us as well. He was the AC on the other camera.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
I mean, shout out to Adam for that though, because like we were talking about like really technical things and emotional things at the same time. Those two scenes were very strange to put back to back.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
you know the very sensitive scene about this miscarriage and then going into this scene in mdr and i remember there was like questioning about that like is that the right thing to do but in my mind it's like that's life you are sometimes living a moment in your life and there's a part of you that's reliving a very traumatic experience at the same time
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
I had to explain that to Adam. And I think there's probably like a point where Adam's like, I'm okay. Like he had to let go of the technical thing and do his own thing, I think, because it was so... I'm like, at the beginning of the shot, you are in MDR and then you have to imagine that you end up in the shower with Gemma, but we're going to play it back in reverse in the edit.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
And then there's like rain and a bolt arm and all these things.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Yeah, I felt bad almost asking Adam to do that. There was a part of me that was like, why are we doing this? This is horrible to ask this.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Well, thank God for him for that because I feel like... Both of them were like amazing technical actors, Deetchan and Adam. And I feel like for this episode, you needed that. You needed people who were like, I'm in it. Let's do it. I've got this. I can hit that. I can be there and then still perform at the same time. So it was quite challenging, but they both, I think, showed up brilliantly.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
And then. Being able to do these flashbacks, these memories, to me, I just want it to be as simple as possible to just like let the story, the story tells itself. You just didn't want the technicality to get in the way of that part of the filmmaking. So we really stripped it down. Honestly, if you look at it, it's shot, counter shot.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
I wanted it to be really simple because of all the technical stuff we were doing.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Yeah.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
So we were questioning a lot at the beginning, should we do something very new, something very different, or should it still be in the aesthetic of Lumen? And we were going down the route of keeping it in the Lumen aesthetic.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
And I think the only thing I knew very clearly, which was very much like a cinematographer thing, I knew I wanted it to be lit because the end sequence of her running away, I knew that I wanted it to be lit by these this type of lighting.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Yeah, so that kind of like inched it in a direction. But then we wanted to do a set that was very confusing in its own way and we had a very new kind of language. And we went with these diagonals and triangles, which is interesting, you know, the triangle of Heli, Gemma, and Mark.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
But one thing that was a total synchronicity that we found out later with this set, and I think Jeremy and I, our minds were blown with this. And Severance is a show that has been blessed with many, many synchronicities. But when we went back to that college... Gans College, which is Nassau Community College in New York. And when we went back there, we had to find an office.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
And then when we went to look at the offices that were available there in this big tower, we take the elevator and the doors open to this floor. And this was after we knew we wanted to do a triangular set. But as soon as the doors open, Jeremy and I walk in and we have this moment where we look at each other and we're speechless again. All the angles were triangular in this building.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
So Gemma's office, you know, you'd have to, I tried to show it in that one-er shot of him coming out of the elevator, but it was very, very challenging optically to see it. But those hallways are all based on a triangle form. That's when you kind of know like things are done right, you know, and I think Jeremy's great at following his intuition and just seeing where things go.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
He's very open, kind of like you, you guys both have a very similar process with that where you're just open-minded, right? For me, it's been a big lesson on severance and working with you in general is your open mindedness to seeing how things can move with their own force.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
I guess I'm not afraid of doing bold, bold, bold things for sure. But when I don't have to own them, it's a lot easier, you know? And like the biggest fear of directing is like, well, you have to own these choices. So it's very easy to like comment on other directors as a cinematographer, as a critic, you know?
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
But like the act of directing and putting something out in the world that you're signing is,
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
is very courageous I find and it's I think is like the most stressful thing about it I have to learn to be okay with the fact that not everyone likes everything and that's fine but it definitely had been blocking me for a long time and I feel like to get to that level of craftsmanship you do have to be open to go there right so how is the experience of directing for you coming out of it and will you ever be a cinematographer again or you know just a director
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Um, the experience was very scary. I didn't really want to do it at first. You know, it's funny because you had asked me years ago, like, Hey, you know, would you ever direct? And I was like, no, I would not do that. And then in my mind, I was like, but I feel like I'd be interested in like something kind of like Nolan-esque, you know, I don't know why like that if I were to direct.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
And then this came around and I realized that there would be no better opportunity for me to try this. And I went through a lot of personal experiences and personal growth. And I realized that I needed to face this fear of mine. And there was just not a better place. Being supported by you in this environment, having a crew that knew me on a show that I knew and understood, knew the writers,
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
There was just never going to be this. This was not going to happen again. So I'm like, okay, we're going to do it. And we're going to, we're going to see what happens. But I, um, I felt very sick the first couple of weeks. I didn't feel good at all. Um, I just kind of moved through that feeling and I tried to be as present as I could. And you really helped me with actors.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
And I feel like you were slowly coaching me like throughout the season, you know, kind of like sometimes saying, you know, you know, with actors like this, this and that. And I'm like, okay, I'm holding onto that. Cause I feel like he's trying to tell me something I need to, cause
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Not really, no. I feel like you helped me understand that it doesn't need to be complicated, you know? And it's really just about being present and accompanying them because they're going to find it, you know? Antonize is just a little push in one way or another and exploring. And, like, I think what the beauty of Severance as a show is there's room for exploration and there's room for intuition.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
And I think it's what makes Severance Severance.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
I do not remember that.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
You know, I've learned in my life to never say never, but I fell in love again with directing because I guess I had done it in film school, you know, but it brought a new happiness for me that I had kind of lost and it brought kind of light to my life again, ironically.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
I think being a cinematographer is definitely part of my journey and will affect the type of director I'm becoming, but I'm just in love with it. And I feel I have to just keep going. I'm afraid I have no idea what's next, but I just want to move in this darkness and see what happens.
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S2E7: Chikhai Bardo (with Dichen Lachman and Jessica Lee Gagné)
Yeah.