Post by Jean on Feb 9, 2018 1:53:00 GMT -5
What’s More Elusive Than the Cigarette Smoking Man on ‘The X-Files’? A Female Director
When news outlets reported last summer that “The X-Files” appeared to have an all-male writing staff, it provoked criticism on social media that was spurred on by none other than Scully herself, Gillian Anderson. The actress noted on Twitter that only two of more than 200 episodes had been directed by women — one by Ms. Anderson and another by Michelle MacLaren — and even tweet-championed four female candidates: Ms. MacLaren, Lesli Linka Glatter, Philippa Lowthorpe and Carol Banker.
“The funny thing is,” Ms. Banker said this week, “I had already been hired at that point. She just didn’t know.” (Two female directors and three female writers were brought on, additions not announced until after the criticism became public. Fox has said the hirings were not a response to the controversy.)
With Wednesday night’s episode, which explored the classified military history of the stalwart Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi), assistant F.B.I. director, Ms. Banker became the third female director in the history of “The X-Files.” (Holly Dale directed an episode for later this season.) Ms. Banker has been a fixture of the franchise for years, working as a script supervisor, an actress and as a director for the short-lived spinoff, “The Lone Gunmen” (her TV directing debut). But she never got to direct the original show, something the creator Chris Carter later told her he regretted. (“That meant a lot to me,” Ms. Banker said.)
In a phone call, she chatted about Skinner’s war and how Harvey Weinstein almost made her lose hope in the business. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
Walter Skinner’s history has been elusive, but your episode reflects something he said in the second season about how he had to shoot a 10-year-old North Vietnamese boy during the war. Now we’re seeing this incident more fully.
Right! I had to be reminded of that. [Laughs] You don’t know that much about Skinner, so that was really exciting. In fact, when I had dinner with Mitch Pileggi, I wanted him to remind me what Skinner’s deal was. Was he married or whatever? And Pileggi said, “Well … I’ve been wearing a wedding ring because I forgot to take it off.” I was like: “I’m pretty sure you’re not married. But if you want to wear your ring, I’m O.K. with that.”
What sort of input did you have on the episode? What did you add to it, stylistically?
One thing was when Haley Joel Osment goes crazy and slaughters the villagers, I wanted to add a baby, add a baby crying. When Mulder is flipping through the photo album, I put some of my family photos in there. My mom just died last year, so it was very fresh, and I wanted to give her something. And when we were shooting Vietnam, I see this period beer that the props department has made called Orville. Orville is my dad’s name, so I was like, “What?” Turns out, they had done it as a surprise for me.
Haley Joel Osment gets to play essentially two characters, both of whom seem softer at first, then turn creepy.
It’s tough to do that quickly, to make him be the scared kid and then creepy, because of the horror of what was happening in Vietnam. My one regret was, we wanted to shoot the scenes in order, to have his longer mane of hair and big beard for the present day, and then cut it off for the Vietnam flashbacks. But because the leaves were coming off the trees in Vancouver, we had to shoot Vietnam first.
Was it fun to direct someone who had directed you before?
Who’s that? Who directed me before?
Gillian Anderson. She cast you in Season 7, in the first episode she directed, “All Things.”
Holy cow! [Laughs] Well, I’m not really an actress, so of course I totally forgot about that. When that script came out, she just kept describing the character, “someone who looks like Carol Banker, someone who speaks like Carol Banker.” And Rick Millikan, the casting director, was like, “Who’s Carol Banker?!” I’m sure he was real proud that I was taking a job away from a real actor.
You joined “The X-Files” as a script supervisor in Season 6, after turning down the job multiple times. Was it empowering to feel that wanted?
I’m not sure I thought about it back then. There’s a combination of guilt and freedom when you turn down a job.
I just thought it was interesting that you had this potentially empowering moment right when you might have needed it the most. On a podcast, you and Kevin Smith discussed a dispiriting encounter you had with Harvey Weinstein while you were working on “Dogma.”
Yeah, it was horrible. It was a Monday morning, the day after the Oscars. There were some weird vibes, because Matt Damon and Ben Affleck won for “Good Will Hunting,” and they had forgotten to thank Kevin [who helped them score a deal with Miramax]. So I’m sitting in this room with Kevin, and Ben and Matt arrive, all euphoric from winning but also filled with mea culpas. And then Harvey comes in. He has a lit cigar, and he was knocking the ash from his cigar on the carpet. Then — and I’m just going to say two actresses, because I don’t feel great saying who, they should be allowed to tell it themselves — two actresses come in the room. They were playing like they were fawning all over Harvey, and Harvey pulls out these hundred dollar bills and tosses the bills at these actresses. They leave, and he immediately starts talking about them like they’re whores. Harvey wasn’t even aware that I was in the room.
He didn’t look at you, talk to you, or acknowledge you?
No. I was completely invisible to him. And I start to cry. Finally, Harvey leaves, and I’m doing that weird little sniffling thing you do when you’re trying not to cry. And Matt and Ben were like, “Carol, what’s wrong?” I just lost it. “Are you kidding me?! This is the guy who is the gatekeeper to quality independent film, and he’s the most horrific person I’ve ever witnessed in my life! I’ve got no chance in hell of making it in this business.” It really sucked. Maybe you’re right. Maybe getting offered “The X-Files” did feel empowering after that encounter. Thank you. This is like therapy!
This session’s free! After you made your debut directing the “X-Files” spinoff, was it easier to get other directing gigs?
I got some jobs directing “N.Y.P.D. Blue” and other Steven Bochco-created shows, but after that, it was a big struggle. And when I was just about to give up, the work kicked in. In 2015, I was hired for multiple shows on multiple channels, where I wasn’t just getting one episode a season from someone who had worked with me before. I was now being trusted.
Being a script supervisor has meant that I sat next to some really good directors, and some incredibly bad ones — the only reason they’re in there is because of nepotism, their gender and their race. That was really disheartening.
But I have the funniest story: I met with Warner Bros. to do an episode of “Supergirl,” and it seemed like everything was great. Then I emailed my manager, “What’s going on with ‘Supergirl’?” He said, “Ah, they gave the episode away to a white guy.” “Who was it?” He said, “Kevin Smith.” That’s literally the only white guy where it makes me happy that he got the job over me. He totally should be doing that show! Technically, he’s my competition. But I love him so much, hopefully there’s enough work to go around.
Walter Skinner’s history has been elusive, but your episode reflects something he said in the second season about how he had to shoot a 10-year-old North Vietnamese boy during the war. Now we’re seeing this incident more fully.
Right! I had to be reminded of that. [Laughs] You don’t know that much about Skinner, so that was really exciting. In fact, when I had dinner with Mitch Pileggi, I wanted him to remind me what Skinner’s deal was. Was he married or whatever? And Pileggi said, “Well … I’ve been wearing a wedding ring because I forgot to take it off.” I was like: “I’m pretty sure you’re not married. But if you want to wear your ring, I’m O.K. with that.”
What sort of input did you have on the episode? What did you add to it, stylistically?
One thing was when Haley Joel Osment goes crazy and slaughters the villagers, I wanted to add a baby, add a baby crying. When Mulder is flipping through the photo album, I put some of my family photos in there. My mom just died last year, so it was very fresh, and I wanted to give her something. And when we were shooting Vietnam, I see this period beer that the props department has made called Orville. Orville is my dad’s name, so I was like, “What?” Turns out, they had done it as a surprise for me.
Haley Joel Osment gets to play essentially two characters, both of whom seem softer at first, then turn creepy.
It’s tough to do that quickly, to make him be the scared kid and then creepy, because of the horror of what was happening in Vietnam. My one regret was, we wanted to shoot the scenes in order, to have his longer mane of hair and big beard for the present day, and then cut it off for the Vietnam flashbacks. But because the leaves were coming off the trees in Vancouver, we had to shoot Vietnam first.
Was it fun to direct someone who had directed you before?
Who’s that? Who directed me before?
Gillian Anderson. She cast you in Season 7, in the first episode she directed, “All Things.”
Holy cow! [Laughs] Well, I’m not really an actress, so of course I totally forgot about that. When that script came out, she just kept describing the character, “someone who looks like Carol Banker, someone who speaks like Carol Banker.” And Rick Millikan, the casting director, was like, “Who’s Carol Banker?!” I’m sure he was real proud that I was taking a job away from a real actor.
You joined “The X-Files” as a script supervisor in Season 6, after turning down the job multiple times. Was it empowering to feel that wanted?
I’m not sure I thought about it back then. There’s a combination of guilt and freedom when you turn down a job.
I just thought it was interesting that you had this potentially empowering moment right when you might have needed it the most. On a podcast, you and Kevin Smith discussed a dispiriting encounter you had with Harvey Weinstein while you were working on “Dogma.”
Yeah, it was horrible. It was a Monday morning, the day after the Oscars. There were some weird vibes, because Matt Damon and Ben Affleck won for “Good Will Hunting,” and they had forgotten to thank Kevin [who helped them score a deal with Miramax]. So I’m sitting in this room with Kevin, and Ben and Matt arrive, all euphoric from winning but also filled with mea culpas. And then Harvey comes in. He has a lit cigar, and he was knocking the ash from his cigar on the carpet. Then — and I’m just going to say two actresses, because I don’t feel great saying who, they should be allowed to tell it themselves — two actresses come in the room. They were playing like they were fawning all over Harvey, and Harvey pulls out these hundred dollar bills and tosses the bills at these actresses. They leave, and he immediately starts talking about them like they’re whores. Harvey wasn’t even aware that I was in the room.
He didn’t look at you, talk to you, or acknowledge you?
No. I was completely invisible to him. And I start to cry. Finally, Harvey leaves, and I’m doing that weird little sniffling thing you do when you’re trying not to cry. And Matt and Ben were like, “Carol, what’s wrong?” I just lost it. “Are you kidding me?! This is the guy who is the gatekeeper to quality independent film, and he’s the most horrific person I’ve ever witnessed in my life! I’ve got no chance in hell of making it in this business.” It really sucked. Maybe you’re right. Maybe getting offered “The X-Files” did feel empowering after that encounter. Thank you. This is like therapy!
This session’s free! After you made your debut directing the “X-Files” spinoff, was it easier to get other directing gigs?
I got some jobs directing “N.Y.P.D. Blue” and other Steven Bochco-created shows, but after that, it was a big struggle. And when I was just about to give up, the work kicked in. In 2015, I was hired for multiple shows on multiple channels, where I wasn’t just getting one episode a season from someone who had worked with me before. I was now being trusted.
Being a script supervisor has meant that I sat next to some really good directors, and some incredibly bad ones — the only reason they’re in there is because of nepotism, their gender and their race. That was really disheartening.
But I have the funniest story: I met with Warner Bros. to do an episode of “Supergirl,” and it seemed like everything was great. Then I emailed my manager, “What’s going on with ‘Supergirl’?” He said, “Ah, they gave the episode away to a white guy.” “Who was it?” He said, “Kevin Smith.” That’s literally the only white guy where it makes me happy that he got the job over me. He totally should be doing that show! Technically, he’s my competition. But I love him so much, hopefully there’s enough work to go around.
