Kit Harington in Gunpowder to Selena Gomez and 13 Reasons Why: A look at actors who turned to production

Actors are individuals who must, by virtue of their jobs, be able to portray a diverse number of characters and more than one role, because of busy filming schedules. Some actors go the extra mile for their characters, such as Matthew McConaughey and Daniel Day-Lewis, while others must do so because their roles demand it, such as Natalie Portman in Black Swan and Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant. Some actors step out of their comfort zone and take up responsibilities outside of the acting department, because they wish to invest in a particular movie or because they want to influence the progress of a story. From Kit Harington to Michael C Hall and even Selena Gomez, actors seem to be taking a larger interest in producing shows, some of which they also star in.

Gunpowder

Game of Thrones star Kit Harington who rose to fame with his portrayal of Jon Snow has embarked on another TV series titled Gunpowder which he has produced and starred in. It is a three-part drama about the Gunpowder Plot and the events that led up to Guy Fawkes Day in the 17th century. He plays Robert Catesby on the show, and is a direct  descendant of him; Catesby was the man responsible for planning the Gunpowder Plot and attempting to blow up the House of Lords, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that this project is close to the actor’s heart. The actors starring in the show alongside Harington are Liv Taylor, Mark Gatiss, Kevin Eldon and Peter Mullan.

He has mentioned that the show is a way for him to explore his family heritage. “It kind of came about in me knowing that as part of a strange quirk in my family history,” he told Radio Times. But the actor did not take up the part because he felt connected to Catesby. “I was very reticent to play [him>, for the very reason you might ask, ‘Were you playing your own ancestor?’ It’s not really about me wanting to play my own ancestor. I don’t feel connected to him in that way. I just think he ended up being the character that I was most suited to, and the one that I was most intrigued about, wanted to play," he said.

Mindhunter

This psychological drama has both David Fincher and Charlize Theron billed as producers. It traces two FBI detectives who interrogate real-life murderers in an attempt to understand the urge to kill in human beings, as well as attempt to prevent killings. Theron came across the author of the book this series is based on, John E Douglas, when she was studying serial killer Aileen Wuornos for the Oscar-winning role of a serial killer in Patty Jenkins’ film Monster. She was drawn to the book Mindhunter despite its disturbing content, and wanted to adapt it into five-season TV series.

She instantly took the story to David Fincher. “I just thought he [Fincher> must be somewhat obsessed with serial killers the way that I am, and I was happy to find out that he was,” she told LA Times. The duo spent several years develop scripts and a bible for the series, blending fact with fiction. “Selfishly, I just really forced David to make me my own TV show that I, as a viewer, would want to watch,” she confessed.

13 Reasons Why

Selena Gomez, who is an executive producer on this controversial show, was initially supposed to star as the lead in a film adaptation of Jay Asher’s book. She has spoken about how the plot had a resemblance to her own adolescent life as a public persona, and how she was going through a tough time when production on the Netflix show had begun. “I went away for 90 days and talked with a lot of kids. It definitely hit home, a very important part of me. Kids have to see something that’s frightening, I want them to understand I definitely relate to everything. I was a mess,” she said, as quoted by Deadline.

She has referred to it as her passion project, and has spoken about how she thinks the show’s treatment of suicide is appropriate and necessary, adding that she sees a lot of herself in Hannah, one of the characters. “The content is complicated, it’s dark and it has moments that are honestly really hard to swallow… I feel like if this is what we are going to talk about, we might as well do it in a way that’s going to be honest, it’s going to be real, and it stays true to the book,” she said to Rolling Stone. Her mother is an executive producer on the show too, and she has mentioned that they were looking for a director who would not make the content preachy.

Mad Men

Five seasons after this period drama about advertising executives first premiered, lead actor Jon Hamm’s name was added to the list of executive producers. He also directed an episode, and this appointment is significant because it marked the first time that AMC pronounced an actor as producer on a show.

House of Cards

Robin Wright may not be the face of the now controversial Netflix show, following the series of sexual harassment allegations against front runner Kevin Spacey, but she was one of the most important people both in front and behind the camera. Her stoic, nuanced portrayal of Claire Underwood, the scheming and intuitive First Lady who eventually rose to become President of the United States is commendable in itself and has won her several awards, but her contributions as a director and producer are significant too. “We’re all producers on it. There’s a team of us working and evolving the show. We didn’t know the arc and where it was going to end…but we are all equally important on the show,” she said to Deadline.

Serving as a director was not her first choice, and she took up the responsibility after Spacey turned down the offer. She directed seven episodes and described the experience so: “The principal difference is, when you direct, that’s a title. It’s an alpha position.” She has also spoken up about the lack of female directors in show business, as well as the pay parity. Citing the character’s popularity, she demanded the same pay as Spacey, but her pay was never increased. “I don’t think I’m getting paid the same amount… I really don’t like being duped. It’s such a male-dominant workforce still. There’s a conditioning. And changing the condition of men is what needs to happen,” she said , as quoted by Business Insider.

Dexter

Michael C Hall is the face of this gory, realistic and spine-chilling show about a blood spatter analyst with a ‘dark passenger’ alter ego who fulfills his need to kill by tracking down bad guys and finishing them off. Hall said that his contributions to the character arc were always welcomed by the producer since the show relied so heavily on his portrayal of Dexter, so the formal recognition as a producer did not come as a surprise. He found that apart from working on the plot, this new role required him to liaison between the other producers on the show and his fellow cast members. “I’m glad that I’m welcomed to have that sort of broader contribution in terms of the overall story and where things are headed… I like that it is a broader focus. I also directed this [third> season, and it’s nice to be in a position where you’re required to give people definitive answers so that they can all do their jobs,” he said to Variety.

Breaking Bad

From the third season onward, Bryan Cranston served as an executive producer and he says that he used the skills he picked up on Breaking Bad to helm his own shows later in his career. He felt that his character Walter White had an overwhelming, iconic presence in pop culture, and this made him want to take the back seat as an actor, preferring supporting roles to lead ones. But his interest in becoming a producer was not just to tell stories that he believed in. “I look forward to being able to find really creative writers and nurture them, protect them, fight for them, support them in the gauntlet that is the pitching process to the variety of different networks and just trying to be the overall guide to the big ship and how it’s moving,” he said to Variety.