Steven Prusakowski
I had the chills for about 30 seconds straight… literally. This is not hyperbole. Georgi Banks-Davies, the director of season two of Prime Video’s The Night Manager season director shared with me some of the direction she whispered to one of her actors and it sent chills down my spine.
The director started with the setup, “Actually, I’ll tell you something that I never really ever share trade secrets but I’ll tell you something…” What she revealed next tapped into something inside of me I did not expect. Her carefully chosen direction took me somewhere else, it had me in the shoes of a person whose life completely differs from mine, but shares a thread of humanity that connects us. The words were simple but completely effective.
They made me instantly realize the power of good direction and how the right director can take a performance that could have been surface level and instead plant the seeds inside the actor that grow into much more. The proof was my body’s involuntary reaction – the chills hit and hit hard, but Banks-Davies words also transported my mind and heart into a place I did not expect to go during our conversation.
What did Banks-Davies share that had such an effect? You can find out in the video because her spoken words are going to have more impact than reading them. (Though, I did read them and they hit me again.) What is vital with Banks-Davies’ work are not those words specifically, it is something bigger. As a director, she must find the humanity in a character and help the actors connect with it as well.
The Night Manager is a series which may feel like a a spy thriller full of betrayals, lies, violence, and heart racing moments that will literally have you holding your breath. If that is what you are looking for it succeeds on all counts. But, where it really hits differently is the underlying qualities the characters carry with them, allowing them to drive their actions – not just words, but real human moments.
I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with all three of the stars of the series, Tom Hiddleston, Camila Morrone and Diego Calva and all three praised Banks-Davies (or as they call her, Georgi) with providing the direction and the space to allow them to really find their characters, combining what is seen and heard on screen with what their characters are feeling in their heads and hearts, even if they are quite conscious of it. It turns every line of dialogue into a glimpse into the character’s soul, every gun shot an action that carries real repercussions. The results speak for themselves.
When mentioning the director’s ability to inject humanity into her actors and how the violence does not feel like just shoot-em-up action, but decisions that can be quite consequential, Banks-Davies responded: “That is my intention. I think that violence, it’s not pleasant. We it’s not something that ultimately I like. It shouldn’t feel fun to watch. Like because in life like it goes back to that mantra like this is authentic. This is real. This has real consequences for all of the characters involved. Like real consequences.”
“Violence in particular, every part of it needs to have a consequence and because otherwise it’s just it’s too throw away and it’s too big a thing. Like guns are really scary. You don’t want a gun, nobody wants a gun in their face. It’s a horrible thing and the truth of that needs to be represented in the work… It’s my intention to put you only in the subjectivity of how they live and the choices they’ve made and why they’ve made it.”
This dive deep into the psyche of characters extends well beyond action and violence. The most talked about scene of the season was a three-way Tango between the trio. On the surface it is intimate and sensual, full of so much sexual tension you can almost cut it with a knife. Underneath it all, there are unspoken motives, lies and deceit, seduction and a silent power struggle that gets lost in the tango of hedonism and desire.
Banks-Davies shared some insight to that spicy and complex scene: “The point of the scene that really matters is about power and is about who has the power and is and is about pushing and pulling one another to see where the boundaries are… That confusion, that shade of gray is what makes the show is so special. Very, very occasionally the shield slips and something honest comes out and it projects itself on the other and if the other shield slips at the same point and projects itself then something very very special happens in the middle that’s confusing for all characters.”
This is just the tip of the iceberg – and after that scene you may need an iceberg to cool off. My conversation with Georgi Banks-Davies is one of the most insightful looks at the power of a great director and made my second viewing of The Night Manager even richer than the previous.
After watching Georgi’s interview, I highly recommend after watching you also watch the my conversations with the cast – a short interview with Hiddleston and Calva, and also full length, in-depth (and fun) conversations with Morrone and Calva as my guest on TV TOPICS. We explored than Tango scene and so much more. What they share about working with Georgi increased my appreciation for her word even more. It even brought back some of those chills.
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