Behind-the-Scenes of Directing Sophie Turner for GQ
X Men: Apocalypse was released this Memorial Day weekend with Sophie Turner playing Jean Grey. No matter the reviews, though, no matter the box-office numbers, people will still adore the actress. And for good reason. She’s delightful.
Sawhorse Productions needed a pinch-hitter to direct Sophie in her cover shoot for GQ. Blake and Gino were working on a Pepsi Halftime “rap-up” to air soon after the Superbowl, so they called me in. I’d directed an Improv Imagination episode with Katie Lowes from Scandal, but this was a bigger deal. A little more run-and-gun, a little more involved. The DP Casey doing A cam, and a B cam operator. We had a PA, who I asked to go to the grocery store and buy apples (unbeknownst to him, two hours later he’d be balancing those apples on his head while Sophie shot at him). We’d film b-roll of the photoshoot, then try to squeeze in a humorous little feature sometime afterwards or during lunch.
GQ came up with the creative a couple nights before. Bryan Singer posted an Instagram vid of teaching her archery in prep for X-Men, so we were going to have Sophie use a toy bow-and-arrow. Our first idea was some sort of archery challenge. Can you hit that target? No. What if it has Ramsay Bolton’s face on it? Yes. But that idea was “shot down” (cough) –instead, they wanted her running a-muck, shooting up the set. Fair enough.
My first and probably biggest decision was choosing the bow and arrow, which was upsetting, because you know, who am I to pick out a girl’s trusted weapon? Seems like a very personal decision, one that no man should have the right to determine or legislate. Even so, I had five options. I put myself in Sophie’s shoes: which one was the least embarrassing? They were all embarrassing. One was pink. New strategy: utility. I had the sound guy spend 45 minutes testing which ones worked, and which ones would worked too well. I didn’t want any deaths. No deaths on this set. In the end, we went with a Zelda/Robin Hood-esque arrow you see in the video. The ritualistic-looking bow stand, by the way, was one of my pillar candle holders I brought from my apartment. Yes, Pier 1 sells weapon stands for your weapon relic needs.
Sophie was great. She was down. She was totally go for all of this. The things I was asking her to do–shoot at her photographers, chase a goofy stampede of people running from her down a hall, hide behind clothing racks and look ULTRA-SERIOUS–should’ve made her want to tell me to go fuck myself. Instead, she went with it, smiling the entire time. It gave the shoot a feeling of some sort of high school project–we all knew we were making something goofy, rough around the edges and spontaneous. Instead of feeling insecure about that, she took it seriously, even after hours of being in front of the camera posing for the mag.
A few surprises made it into the cut. First of all: Look, I didn’t actually want her to shoot anybody in the head. Aim at them, I said, but you know, don’t really pull back all the way. Just kind of let the arrow out softly.
Nope. She had no interest in that. She had the bow, and suddenly she was out for blood. I highly doubt the photo assistant knew she was going to nail him right in his head. On the first take, she drew the string back, and… the arrow fell off. On the second, right in the head. The shock on his face was so real. The three guys cracked up at how absurd it was that she actually launched that thing. I said, “Great! But let’s not um, actually kill someone.” She was like whatevs I’m a boss ass bitch.
The next outtake that made it in the cut was when she hit the mirror with the arrow. After the first take where the arrow fell off the bow, I can’t say she felt super confident with it. So when she aimed at the mirror and the thing stuck right to it? A goddamn miracle. A feat of epic skill. So she stood up and pointed at the thing and cursed in utter awe of herself and we don’t have the best coverage of that but that was definitely an awesome honest reaction. She had overcome her doubts, become one with the arrow, and now was ready to face the final boss: Kyle, our PA.
The scene was to hit Kyle in the chest with it, then bite the apple. Get it? It’s a twist. Apple twist. First off, the apple kept falling off Kyle’s head. I knew Sophie was down to earth because she kept picking this dirty apple off of the ground and trying to reuse it, but I was like, “Listen, don’t even worry bout it. I got us a whole bushel of apple” and I took out a big produce bag and she was like oh ok it was so rad. So she pulls back, aims, fires, and it hits him… right in the face. It wasn’t my proudest moment. It looked painful. When a grown man says “Ow!” in front of a small crew of people and a well-known actress, you know that whatever’s happening to him, it’s painful. So, officially, publicly, I’d like to say that I’m sorry Kyle. But she did give you a hug, so that’s nice. You can see that blooper at the very end of the video.
If you’re interested in what I’m working on now, keep tabs on Cathedrals. It’s a short film based on a Raymond Carver story. There’s no bow and arrows, but there is going to be alcohol, so join the party.
