One of the fortunes of working on a series is that you get to try different things over the course of shooting. After acting in the show, many actors try their hand at directing. For example, David Schwimmer, who we all love so dearly as Ross Geller. He directed ten episodes over the course of 10 seasons of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. And Ian Somerhalder also directed a few episodes of The Vampire Diaries. So following in the footsteps of David and Ian, Laura Linney too directed an episode of Ozark.

And now, since the show is ended, Laura has broken her silence about directing the episode. Let us see what the actress had to say.

Laura Linney on directing an episode of Ozark

The news of Laura Linney directing the eleventh episode of Ozark season 4 part 2 was released sooner than the season itself. Fans of the actress and the show were excited to see the actress in the director’s chair.

However, her journey from in front of the camera to behind it was not only her own.

In a new interview, Laura talks about how she ended up directing the show. She credits Jason Bateman, who has directed multiple episodes of Ozark, and producer Patrick Markey for encouraging her to do so.

She says, “I was completely forced into directing by Jason Bateman and Patrick Markey. The two of them had been on a mission from Season 1 to get me to direct, and I had always very politely said, “Thanks. No, thanks.” They pushed me very hard to do it.”

But Laura says that the final nail in the coffin was when her manager threatened to fire her if she did not direct the episode. Laura says that her manager felt this was the most opportune moment for the actress to direct.

She says, “You’ll never have this opportunity again, surrounded by people who support you as much as these people do.”

Her experience directing

Laura says that everyone who pushed her to direct was “absolutely right,”  has she loved the experience. According to her, the scene in the episode she was the proudest of was the final fight scene.

And she feels that the episode was only about Marty and directed it that way. Laura adds, “The episode for me is all about Jason, it’s his episode. So I focused the episode around him.”

If you have seen the episode, let us know if you liked it. If not, go stream it on Netflix.