Q&A: Director Mairzee Almas on Shadow and Bone’s Darklina kiss, female gaze, more

Director Mairzee Almas has created moments on some of your favorite series, like 12 Monkeys, Outlander, Batwoman, and Jessica Jones. That’s just to name a few.

That brings us to Netflix’s latest hit, Shadow and Bone. Almas directed Episodes 5 and 6, “Show Me Who You Are” and “The Heart Is an Arrow.” Both have pivotal moments in them, which wouldn’t have been as good without just the right vision.

Hidden Remote spoke exclusively with Mairzee Almas about working on Shadow and Bone Season 1. Our conversation ranged from the collaborative atmosphere on set, to what it was like creating that Darklina moment, and how the female gaze affected Nina and Inej.

How did it all come together? Read more to find out!

Director Mairzee Almas on directing Darklina’s shadow kiss in Shadow and Bone

Hidden Remote: Congratulations on being a part of Shadow and Bone, which has been wildly successful. How was working on this either similar to, or different from, other shows you’ve done?

Mairzee Almas: One really fun thing about it was we were on location, and much of the crew was from other places. So, there was a little bit of a summer camp feel. We had the ability to focus on this show and this show only.

My DP and I spent a lot of time together, and we’d hash through ideas. We’d go on walks, sit over a glass of wine and talk. Same thing with the production designer, and Eric [Heisserer], Shelley Meals who was my writer—we hung out quite a lot. There was a lot of creative sinew that was happening in that bubble.

I had a similar experience on Outlander. It was the same sort of deal, where we could spend a lot of time creatively bouncing ideas around and being completely infused in the environment.

HR: Your episodes got into some of the more vulnerable moments for Ben Barnes’s character. Readers asked if there was any collaboration with him. I’d like to expand that to the other actors.

Mairzee Almas: Oh. My. God. Absolutely!

I would speak to all of our actors, of course. But with Ben, he’s a very excellent actor. And he’s a very nuanced actor.

We did discuss, at length, the character’s journey. There are moments that are in the script, but you can choose where you want to play that moment. Ben and I would chat about that.

He would bring so much to it: so much thought, research, consideration…We would discuss it, and he’d say, “I think [the moment is] on this line,” and I’d say, “great! I just want to be able to point the camera at that moment.”

These actors have to fill the character; they have a lot of heavy lifting to do. They become the author of the character, eventually.

With all of the support from the writers, from the source material, from costuming and everything else…Ultimately, it is the actors’ courage. It’s their humanity, their emotion that they have to connect to the character so that they can be honest and grounded and can take us, the audience, on a visceral rollercoaster ride.

That only works if the actor is invested and present. Ben Barnes is an exceptionally present actor. He listens beautifully. He knows what he wants, and he’s constantly checked in to the other character in his scene. He’s playing close attention to whether or not he’s achieving his objectives.

Hidden Remote: One moment everyone is talking about from Shadow and Bone Episode 5 is where you can actually see his shadow kissing Jessie’s. Could you talk a little about setting that up and where the idea came from?

Mairzee Almas: I’m not entirely sure who was the exact brain behind the idea, but it was in my script.

There’s a little bit of metaphor in the scene. We have a lens flare at the beginning. To me, that was representing Alina, who’s the Sun Summoner and is someone who’s infused with light. Then, we also have Ben Barnes’s Kirigan character with a massive shadow, showing what his intention—his hope—was against the wall.

The DP and I staged it. He put the lights in a way, and I put the actors in a way, that we would get that effect on the wall.

I didn’t know that very many people caught that, honestly. I thought it was pretty subtle. But it was a really fun piece to put in the scene.

It was a physical metaphor for what was happening for Kirigan. And I think it’s really important to note that the Kirigan character is not a villain, per se. How Ben Barnes perceived his character, and he was filling this character, is this is a man who has been waiting for hundreds of years for a partner—for someone who could match him.

And she’s finally here. So, [the Darkling] is full of optimism and hope, and he believes that everything he’s doing is for the good of the Grisha, for the Ravkans. He believes that he’s doing the right thing.

He’s filled with hope about where this intimacy with Alina will go, and you can see it in the scene. You can see it starting with the shadow, with his hope and dream, and then having the kiss with Alina and her accepting and wanting to go further. He becomes somewhat giddy…beautifully played by both of the actors—Jessie and Ben. They do a fabulous job.

They’re really connected to each other, and I think that’s why the scene works so well.

HR: Were there any other hidden moments or messages in your episodes that people should look out for?

Mairzee Almas: We have a small Easter egg with Jesper and a book.

Usually, when I was shooting, the DP and I would try to find a way to support the subtext of the scene with the camera. You can look out for that and see what emotion I was trying to evoke.

That’s all over the episodes, whether it was Kaz walking down a hallway or Inej throwing a knife. It’s designed to try and elicit a response from the audience, create an emotional experience.

HR: That’s very interesting and brings me to the Crows…You got lucky with your episodes because there were some big moments…

Mairzee Almas: So lucky.

HR: Kaz’s gloves and cane were highlighted when he was in the carriage making plans. Later, there’s a big moment where his ruthless, darker side comes alive. Could you talk a little bit about setting that up?

Mairzee Almas: Kaz has an injury that he refuses to have repaired. In our Grisha world, we know that there are Healers who can fix any ailment. But he chooses to keep this injury so it’s a constant reminder for him.

He’s a really interesting, layered character. Of course, Freddy Carter does a magnificent job filling that character with humanity, pathos, and desire. He will not allow himself to let loose. He’s very measured. He’s responsible for people he loves, and he takes his responsibilities extraordinarily seriously.

For that moment, when he gets the better of the Grisha, it’s a moment of release for him. The character gets to vent at the stalker and crushes his hand, knowing that the Grisha need two hands.

He doesn’t want to kill people unnecessarily. He was hoping that would be enough to get away, but he didn’t fully understand that that particular Fire Summoner needed just the candle flame and one hand.

That’s why Inej had to save him. Because there’s a wonderful relationship between the two of them that we can see blossoming here.

Mairzee Almas on how the female gaze affected Nina and Inej’s scenes

HR: Between Inej in the bodysuit and Nina undressing when she’s with Matthias, shamelessly flirting without actually being hypersexual…A lot of people, myself included, were impressed with how respectful those scenes were, and it was pretty obvious that it was a female gaze. How does that balance get worked out?

Mairzee Almas: That is a fantastic question. Well done.

Absolutely. It is a female gaze, and at this point in my career, I’m still figuring out what exactly is a “female gaze.” But I do know it’s not the male gaze.

What I think it is—what I was endeavoring to do here—was: With Nina, I don’t think her intention was to flirt with him when she was undressing. Her first intention was to save her life, to get out of the wet clothing.

I think that the female gaze that I would apply to that scene would be that there is a function to what she’s doing. I don’t need to go into a close-up on the sweep of her hips or the small of her back. I don’t need to go into compartmentalizing and disembodying her.

She has to disrobe, and she recognizes that it’s like sticking Matthias with a hot poker—it’s upsetting him. So, she leans into that because that’s entertaining for her; she likes to poke at him because she wants to see what he’s made of.

During the process of that, while she watches him take off his shirt, she is struck by how beautiful he is. It’s a completely natural response. She’s not looking to make that response; it just happens. You see her hitch at that moment when she notices his sweep of his biceps, his chest. She notices how beautiful he is, and in spite of herself has a little awakened moment of noticing him in that way.

We just tried to ground it so it made sense for the character. Don’t betray the character in any way to overly titillate anything. I think that’s what we were looking for, and I think we did achieve that.

As far as Inej in the bodysuit, again, this is an athlete doing an athletic exhibition. In her totality, as a person, in her full shot, as an athlete—that’s how we shot it, as opposed to going into detailed shots of the sweep of her breasts.

It was to see her strength. And not to deny how beautiful she is. But not to deconstruct her to make her an object—to avoid that.

HR: That makes sense. Is there anything else that you wanted to make sure you were able to say about working on the series that maybe you haven’t been asked yet or haven’t been asked as much?

Mairzee Almas: What another great question!

You know, I could talk about Shadow and Bone for months on end. I really could. It has been a pivotal experience.

One of the things that was so exceptional was the degree of collaboration from Eric Heisserer and Shelley Meals, Daegan Fryklind…All of the writers, the whole writers’ room, all of the executive producers—Leigh, Pouya, all of those guys—they were so collaborative and inviting. It was respectful and giving.

They would actually say, “what would you like to do? Go do it! Have fun.” There was so much freedom as an artist that, oftentimes, you don’t have.

I’m a very collaborative artist—I love to work with the actors on their characters and find those mysterious moments in the script that maybe make that character, not a stereotype, that make that character-filled out.

I guess the bottom line would be: It was an incredibly collaborative process, from start to finish, with all of the creative teams—whether they were actors, writers, cinematographers—everybody came together to elevate the material that was already stellar and to contribute to their absolute maximum.

Everybody just worked together as a wonderful family. It was so much fun.

HR: That plays out on the screen because it turned out so well. 

Mairzee Almas: I think so, too.

HR: The only follow-up I have left is I’m assuming, if there were news on Shadow and Bone Season 2 and you were asked back, you’d absolutely do it?

MA: In. A. Heartbeat!

HR: I really hope that news comes soon.

MA: We don’t know a word—we don’t know anything yet. I hope that they do renew it, and I hope they renew it soon. I hope I’m available.

HR: I hope so, as well. Thank you for your time, for the wonderful conversation, and I’ll be on the lookout for more.

MA: Thank you so much! I really enjoyed it, and it’s going to be a lot of fun going forward, I hope!