‘This is Us’ Emmy FYC featurette touts directors John Requa, Glenn Ficarra and Ken Olin [WATCH] May 26th 2017, 22:00, by Daniel Montgomery
“As actors we are extremely fortunate and so proud to be a part of ‘This is Us.’ Each week the show comes together because of the extraordinary work of many people behind the camera that you never see,” says Milo Ventimiglia, introducing a special Emmy FYC featurette highlighting the work of the show’s directors John Requa, Glenn Ficarra and Ken Olin. “Let’s take a peek at what they do to help make ‘This is Us’ so special and give it that unique look week to week.” Watch it above.
“I have a lot of favorite moment from the show,” says Ficarra, “but my most recent favorite is the montage of William and Randall arriving in Memphis. You’ll pop into these locations and improv a scene. [Series creator] Dan Fogelman is very open to rewriting as we go, and we would get the first take every time.” Ficarra and Requa directed the highly touted episode “Memphis” in which a cancer stricken William (Ron Cephas Jones) and his biological son Randall (Sterling K. Brown) travel back to his hometown, where William succumbs to his illness. They also helmed three other episodes, including the pilot. Requa adds, “The show allows for you to explore and find those moments of authenticity, those little teeny moments of human connection and uniqueness.”
Olin explains, “What distinguishes the style of ‘This is Us’ from any other show I’ve done is to have that sense of discovery, that it isn’t all planned any more than life is. It isn’t all contrived. For me a lot of that sense of discovery is with the actors.” Olin also directed four episodes of the series, including the emotional season finale, “Moonshadow,” which focuses on a major, potentially marriage-ending conflict between Jack and Rebecca (Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore). Olin has a way with actors, and it’s no wonder: he’s a TV veteran on both sides of the camera, having acted in shows including “Thirtysomething” and “Brothers and Sisters” and directed just as many including “The West Wing” and “Alias.”
In addition to Best Drama Directing, Requa, Ficarra and Olin are also contenders for Best Drama Series as executive producers of the NBC family drama.
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