Nicole Kassell may not be the first director you’d think of to helm the first two episodes of the HBO series “Watchmen,” but that’s probably why she was the right choice. Best known on the film side for her directorial debut, 2004’s “The Woodsman,” she has a long list of impressive television credits since including “The Americans,” “Rectify,” “Westworld” and “The Leftovers.” The latter forged a creative bond with Damon Lindelof, who is the maestro behind this contemporary sequel to the highly acclaimed Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons graphic novel. And, make no mistake, this isn’t a contemporary adaptation of the comic book or a sequel to the underrated 2009 Warner Bros. theatrical release. And, as we discuss in our interview, Kassell was right there determining the look and tone of the series.
From a broad perspective, “Watchmen” is set in 2019 Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the police force wears masks to protect their identity, and a few officers, have been given vigilante identities such as Sister Night (Regina King) and Looking Glass (Tim Blake Nelson) to assist in keeping the peace. When a horrifying murder occurs it sparks concern in Washington, D.C. Sister Night is then thrown into an investigation with Laura Blake (Jean Smart), formerly known as the Silk Spectre in her youth, a toughminded Senior FBI Agent who isn’t nostalgic for a costumed hero comeback. Oh, and despite being well over 100 years old, Adrian Veidt (Jeremy Irons), aka the scheming Ozymandias in the original source material, appears to still be alive…somewhere. Dr. Manhattan? Nite Owl? Who knows.
Please note: There are some spoilers in this interview about a real-life historical event that kicks off the first episode.
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The Playlist: How did you get involved in the show, specifically?
Nicole Kassell: I knew Damon from working on “Leftovers” and I also knew after “Leftovers” that this was what he was going to do. I was aware that he had finished the pilot and would start looking for a director soon. And I sent him an email saying I wanted him to know “I would be very, very interested.” I just, kind of, put myself right out there because I had never connected with him about the content or as a fan. And just really wanted him to know, if he didn’t, that I would be very interested.
Were you a fan of the original graphic novel? Had you read it?
I had not. I knew nothing. I just knew that if Damon was doing it, I would be interested. I had not read it and I decided to kind of preserve that point of view. So when I did regain a script that it would be truly fresh eyes with no previous expectations or a lot of allegiances. And, it was wonderful to be able to be just that knowing that he was entirely in his DNA. I could be fresh eyes and I knew that he would honor it. That was essential to him. And as soon as I came on board, I then did a deep dive into all things, “Watchmen.” I studied the book and watched the motion graphic version that Warner Brothers did. And yeah, just studied it in depth.
Knowing you were going to direct the first two episodes, what sort of conversations did you have in terms of how are we going to differentiate this incarnation from the movie or the comic book visually?
I had not seen the movie and I never did just because I knew that it had been very loyal to the book, except in the end. And I just wanted to keep my vision truly mine, and all respect to that, [Zack Snyder is] an extraordinary director. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t adapting his movie. That was first and foremost, Damon’s scripts and then paying homage to the book. And in setting the look, honestly, it was in response to the script that I saw it a certain way. You know, just off of reading the words, I immediately said to Damon, “I see ‘The Conformist.’ Isee ‘Children of Men.’ I see every Rihanna music video. All of those were kind of firing off in my head and I did an elaborate look book for the whole pilot, just to make sure that we were thinking the same visual language. I didn’t want to use words and then go make something that is not what was in the mind [everyone else]. So, my inspiration totally came from the script. And every director sees things differently, so that was a very subjective choice on Damon’s part to sign onto my vision of it;
I can’t remember which episode it is. It’s definitely not in the first two episodes. But there is a moment where Sister Night goes through a large glass window. Tell me if I’m wrong, but the image stops the camera pans around her in a little “Matrix” sort of way.
Yeah.
That felt like a slight homage to the original graphic novel. Was he idea to sort of spatter in here and there, things that sort of were an homage?
Absolutely. So that was episode six directed also by Stephen Williams and that moment is very much scripted. And I’d say that in the writing there were some specific references to the source as a way to pay homage. And then in directing it, one of the things I did and asked all department heads to do and visiting directors and the DP’s was looking for ways to pay homage to the source. It’s such a stunning piece of art and the shock designs are amazing. We constantly had the book with us [when we were on] set. And some of my favorite moments is when, you know, I’d set a frame and set dresser would come running over with a comic and show me the panel that had inspired that shot. Beyond the story that Damon was weaving, I wanted to create a whole other layer of visual Easter eggs for the fans. For first-timers to this material, they won’t know what we’re referencing or paying homage too. But for the fans, it’s just a treat. it’s kind of my way of saying thank you for being such a fan, you know? And to honor Dave Gibbon’s work. The visuals are just extraordinary. And being that we are not telling that story we used it constantly for reference.
Are there any Easter egg after they watched the first episode that someone should look for or watch the episode again and try to find?
There are definitely visual ones all over the place that I think people get right away. Like, when Angela walks into Greenwood for the first time and she passes a guy spinning a sign, and he has red dreadlocks like that’s our little nod to Roarsarch swinging a sign in the comic. There’s the dirigible, even just the way I stage the egg, the bowl that’s she’s cracking the eggs into in the classroom, making those look like owl eyes. I was thrilled to see that just from the trailer, somebody had pulled the screengrab from the trailer and from the book and said, “Look at this.” They’re getting it and that’s so exciting. She’s drinking from an owl mug in the precinct and it’s the kind of place that would never have a mug like that. But it’s fun. It’s tongue in cheek to say, “This is ‘Watchmen’ world and in this world, the owl ship was a real thing.” All of the book is true history.
Did you and Damon create a reference or rule book for everyone working on the show? mean, it’s such amazing world-building. I’m just curious how you guys kept everybody on task.
Exactly. I did exactly that. I assembled with help from the writer’s room and we called it the world book and it’s the rules of this universe. Every department had it. The whole crew had it, as well, as the main directors. It says, “why we have a neat flag, why there are only electric cars, how the world would be different if Redford had been president for 30 years.” And everything included history from the black and white film to the 1921 [Tulsa massacre] but most importantly it did exactly that, define the alternate universe of 2019.
Having already watched six episodes, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about a bunch of recurring characters. Will all the obvious questions answered by the end of the series?
I think Damon’s extremely adept at keeping people guessing to the very edge of frustration, and very sensitive to not pushing it past that point. And he’s a master storyteller. The trick with a series is that you’re spreading information over nine episodes, and you want people coming back. So the questions you’re asking them are most surely to be answered unless it’s meant to just be a delightful, kind of, tongue in cheek layer.
The one question I think you’ll consistently hear from anyone watching is why this world has electric cars, but no internet or cell phones. How did you justify that choice?
I’m trying to think if it gets answered in the last three. I know exactly why. After the big squid drops in 85 [at the end of the original comic] and due to fear that the squid came via cellular wave no one knows how it teleported.
Oh.
So, there’s this fear of it [having arrived] via cellular waves. And so the technology surely existed, but it was repressed and restricted. Yet at the same time, it was not that technology wasn’t thriving at all. It just boomed in other sectors. We have, for example, different television technology and all cars are adapted to battery use now. I was very inspired by the idea of Cuba where there is a real effort and emphasis on reusing and repurposing items with different power sources. But that is why we don’t have cell phones. I just can’t remember right now if it’s clearly spelled out or if that’s one of the things…
Hey, it’s 10 hours. It’s a lot. One of the other things that I really took away from the show is the 1921 massacre in Tulsa which I’m embarrassed to say and I had no idea about. And I think a majority of Americans have no idea about. Did Damon talk about where that idea came from? And, can you talk about what it means to you guys to sort of bring that story to the forefront in this context?
Absolutely. Like you, I did not know about the Tulsa massacre until seeing the script. And I similarly felt a huge level of shame. But, that’s on our education system. I think what’s really exciting in this moment of history is that a lot of history that’s not been told, whether it’s from the 1619 project or [sources], it feels like Tulsa 21 it’s really growing on people’s radars, especially with the Centennial coming. Just this week the Washington Post reported that they are finally investigating the potential mass graves and the cemeteries there. People have known since the event that these graves exist, but the city had not let them be exhumed. So a lot is happening. And Damon, I know, learned about it through reading an article in The Atlantic by Ta-Nehisi Coates about the case for reparations. And in that article, Black Wall Street and the massacre was mentioned. And I’d say that article is clearly pivotal to the whole concept, this kind of inciting incident. It lit a launch point for this series.
How much responsibility did you feel to stage it as accurately as you could, knowing what happened? Were there any materials you could find that even let you had photo reference to understand how it unfolded
There are a couple of photographs, but there’s also a book called The Burning by Tim Madigan, Massacre Destruction and the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. And that was really our Bible for staging the events. Damon told me about the book. I read the book, and then I had my assistant director and her team read it. From the book, these are the elements we pulled into the world’s history. We, kind of, wrote a beat sheet of all those vignettes that you witness as the family runs from within the Dreamland [Theater] to the garage. And the Dreamland was a real theater and the way you see it destroyed is a reference to, if you Google “The Dreamland Theater Tulsa,” you’ll see the photograph that is a real icon in the traumatic incident. The book is based on the research the author did and a lot of oral history. In terms of taking creative license, nothing I did was fabricated from my mind, other than, kind of, compressing time.
One of the other things that I love about the series is it has such a stellar cast. And I believe I’d read that Damon said he wrote the Sister Night character with Regina in mind. Is that correct?
I think so, and that he has a history with her and she’s extraordinary. But I also know he was afraid she would say no. [Laughs.]
My favorite performance so far, however, is Jean Smart as Laurie Blake. Do you know where the idea came to sort of have her play the role? Was it her work on “Legion” or was it something else?
I think Damon was a long time fan of hers, so I think it would go back even before “Legion.” It’s like you couldn’t cast her more perfectly. It’s just amazing to me. It’s so fun to watch her and her tone. And when you think of Laurie Blake from the book, it’s just perfect. You know, 30 years later, Jean just embodies her perfectly.
Most of Jeremy Iron’s storyline was shot in Wales. Is that correct?
Most of it, yes.
Knowing how television production on series like this works, did each director go to Wales and work with him on each scene or was that all shot by either you or one other director?
No, almost all of us went. Steph Green was not able to go because she was on another show. So, Stephen Williams and I, Stephen Williams works as a producer and came on as the Producing Director to partner with me. Anything that the visiting directors couldn’t do, one of the two of us did. A lot of Steph’s portion was shot in Atlanta. So it’ a mix.
One last question. Damon was just at New York Comic Con and he gave a quote that made it sound like you guys had only planned on one season for the show which would make it a limited series. Had you thought of it that way when you worked on it or was it always a continuing series in your mind?
I think it was definitely always discussed as a series. I was at Comic-Con with him, and the way I heard that is that he’s waiting to really see how the audience received it. To me, he said, “It could stand alone as a limited series or not.”
O.K.
I would say as a fan and not as an insider from behind the curtain, but as a fan of the story and what we’ve done, even if you just go back to the source or what he’s done in this season, there are so many different incredible stories to tell. And if I didn’t know Damon or anything about this but had just watched it, I would hope for more. But I would also be satisfied by season one as a story as a whole.
“Watchmen” airs Sunday nights beginning Oct. 20 on HBO.