Interview with Richard Speight, Jr. Part One: Directing and Acting

By Jadeen Mercado. Oct. 16, 2018

Richard Speight, Jr. is an incredibly talented and diverse actor, director, and musician. NerdAlertNews had the opportunity to sit down and speak with him about his latest work. Speight opened up about his directing process and the pressure he assumes when he puts on “the director’s hat”. He also gladly spoke about his upcoming endeavors such as directing outside of “Supernatural” on projects such as an episode of “Lucifer” and his starring role in the new film “Driven“.

Catch up with this SPN Family favorite and find out what Rich is up to.

Richard Speight, Jr. Photo courtesy of Chris Schmelke

Jadeen Mercado: Can you tell us about your process switching from an actor to a director on “Supernatural”?

Richard Speight Jr.: I think that acting has become a really great asset when it comes to becoming a director. Almost all TV directors come into that field from somewhere, meaning they were first AD’s or art department, they were maybe camera operators or directors of photography. I came at it through acting, so for me, that was a great asset to have.

When you finally get the director’s hat, there’s so much pressure. There’s so much that has to be done and be answered by you in a quick amount of time. There’s always one area–I don’t want to say expertise, but one area you’ve spent your adult professional life to lean on in your back pocket. For me it’s the acting side. I feel like I really enjoy the casting process–casting the guest stars and dealing with the actors both the new people and the veterans of Jared, Jensen, and Misha, and the Mark Sheppard’s and Pellegrino’s; the people who are intrinsically part of the fabric of the show. The hardest part of the transition might have been redefining myself from guest star to director, and having the perception of guy goofing around between takes, to guy making decisions all week long.

The “Supernatural” family was very quick to accept me in that role, but I was very hard on myself because I knew how great the opportunity was that I’d been handed and I didn’t want to screw it up. There’s a balance in that. You don’t want to suddenly become super serious and terse and let the stress get to you. Leader, but you can’t be everybody’s best friend and joke around the whole time. It’s striking a balance between the two in order to get the work done and get it done on a high level, so that transition to me was the most difficult. It wasn’t made over one episode, the relationship with me directing and the people of that show is continually evolving.

I just finished my seventh episode as a director and so that’s seven episodes of growth that I’ve experienced in that process and it continues to grow. I’m working with a crew that’s created almost 300 episodes of television. I’m never going to catch up, so I have to lean on the fact that there are going to be things that they’re going to do better than I do. Part of being a good director is knowing when to lead and when to step down and let somebody else who does what they do very well, do what they do, and get out of the way so they can do it.

JM: So speaking of the episodes that you’ve directed, how many will you be directing this season and what are the chances of Gabriel coming back?

RSJ: Ah hah, well I will direct two this season 14, and I directed two last season so it’s kind of the pattern to do two. I directed episode two which is called ‘Gods and Monsters‘ and the most recent one is called ‘Optimism’ which is episode 14.06. I literally just turned in my director’s cut last night.

In terms of Gabriel coming back, if I had a say, he’d never have left, but I don’t get to make that call. That’s up to the powers that be. I hope that he comes back, but I don’t anticipate it, and I’m not saying that in a negative way. I feel like they did a great way of finding an organic way of bringing him back this year that didn’t violate the story he’d been involved in years ago, I thought they did a great job. I thought the Meredith Glynn script ‘Unfinished Business’ with Gabriel and Loki settling their score was fantastic a watermark for both the characters and myself as an actor, and myself as a director, I just don’t know what they’d do with the character anymor: Especially since he once again sacrificed himself for the brothers–fighting his own brother. I kind of feel like his story is played out. But last year at this time, if you had asked me if Gabriel was coming back I would have said definitely not and I would have been wrong, so you never know.

Master of Ceremonies, Richard Speight, Jr. at SPN Denver Con. Photo courtesy of Brandi Walstrom.

JM: I want to switch gears a bit. I know you have a new movie coming out that you starred in called “Driven”. Can you tell us about it and when it will be out?

RSJ: Yes. “Driven” is a super fun script written by Casey Dillard and Glenn Payne directed it. They are a team out of Tallulah, MS and they make their own projects, and they have for years. I met them at the Oxford Film Festival when I was touring around with “America 101” the film I directed, and they’re great people–super clever–super creative, and they sent me the script that I thought was really fun. Really doable for the time and budget they had allotted for it.

It was fun working with them, and the entire crew they assembled. Casey plays the lead alongside me, and I very much look forward to seeing it myself. I thought it was a really clever idea that they did a great job of executing. In terms of when it will come out, I don’t know, but I imagine they’ll hit the festival circuit coming up pretty soon. From there try to find distribution, the indie film market is not a definitive world so you kind of have to make your project and shop it around. I feel very good that this will land somewhere.

JM: So “Driven” was crowdfunded. How do you think crowdfunding has changed the movie making industry?

RSJ: I think for smaller filmmakers like Glenn and Casey, it gives them the opportunity to tell the story they wouldn’t be able to tell otherwise. Crowdfunding is a new and emerging business model, but I think when used correctly it gives people an opportunity to contribute very little for a greater gain. If, for example, you are a Rich Speight fan and it’s worth it for $25 bucks for a picture of me on set, you get the benefit of that, and they get the benefit of adding that to the kitty to make the movie they want to make. I think it’s really great if used on a smaller scale. Rob and I used it for “Kings of Con” and it helped get the show off the ground in a huge way that we wouldn’t have been able to do without fan support and momentum and energy and fiscal support.

I’ve seen the benefits of it first hand as a filmmaker and I think the audience benefits as well. I happen to be a guy who loves indie films and I’ve gone to a million film festivals since I was a kid. I’ve watched movies that never ended up going to the theater and I only saw them at the film festival. It’s awesome to see artists do what artists do. Not everything that makes it to the local googleplex is a great movie. It’s awesome to have the opportunity to see smaller films with big goals. It’s great for the artist who gets to have an audience to tell their story to.

JM: Great, so what other projects that you’re able to name, do you have coming up for us?

RSJ: Well in October I’m going to direct a television program called “Lucifer”. October 10th I start prepping that episode, I’m super excited about that. It’s a show I really like, and it’ll be my first foray into TV directing outside of directing “Supernatural”. I’m really excited to tackle a new script with a new team. I already know Ildy, the showrunner and Joe the other showrunner and they’re fantastic, fun, engaging people. The star, Tom Ellis is an incredibly fun and friendly guy that I’ve been able to spend time with at conventions. They’re all really nice people. For me, it’s the perfect storm. I’m really looking forward to tackling that next challenge.

Stay tuned for part two where Richard speaks about his music and leaves us with some inspirational words.

Jadeen Mercado is a young, up to date lover of all things geek! She loves to pass her time singing at the top of her lungs and writing about the latest news. She’s happy to deliver the content that you are excited to read about!