Zap2It: ‘One Tree Hill’ Austin Nichols takes to the director’s chair, reflects on final week of filming
When Zap2it visited the “One Tree Hill” set in September, Austin Nichols was working his final day as director on this week’s episode — an important one for fans not only because it marks the midpoint of the last season, but also because of the return of Chad Michael Murray’s character, Lucas.
We watched from behind the monitor as Nichols juggled the challenges of shooting an emotional airport scene with countless extras — not to mention the added issue of having two young babies on set to play Lydia Scott. But Austin never missed a beat, and took time out to welcome the press to the set and fill us in on the day’s scenes, which, for a busy director, is more rare than you might imagine. Nichols seemed at ease with cast and crew, even shooting in an unfamiliar location.
In fact, the next day, when we reconvened in Nathan and Haley’s “house” on the stages, Nichols told us that 907 was, at that point, his favorite episode of the series, which he joined in Season 5. Of course, since he plays a filmmaker, stepping behind the camera gives him an interesting opportunity to experience his character’s world as well.
This episode was his second shot at directing on the show. “This year I definitely felt more confident,” he says. “Every director does things differently and I kind of eased into how I like to do things. I like to move quickly, I like to keep the actors on a rhythm, and I like to keep rolling as much as possible. I’d love to be rolling constantly. I hate cutting and letting everything break down and letting everybody do [other] stuff. If I could, I’d just keep rolling and keep doing the scenes over and over. I think it keeps actors closer to everything and I think they like that and appreciate that. Directing’s been one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life. I’m really excited and lucky.”
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