Apple TV+'s 'The Changeling' Directors Interview

Moviefone speaks with directors Michael Francis Williams and Jonathan Van Tulleken about 'The Changeling.' "We get rare opportunities to work at this level,' Williams said.

Currently airing on Apple TV+ is the new horror fantasy series ‘The Changeling,’ which was created by Kelly Marcel (‘Venom’) and based on the novel of the same name by Victor LaValle.

The series was directed by Melina Matsoukas, Michael Francis Williams, Jonathan Van Tulleken, Dana Gonzales, and Slick Naim, and will premiere its final episode of the first season on October 13th.

What is the plot of ‘The Changeling’?

A man (LaKeith Stanfield) goes in search of his wife after she (Clark Backo) does something horrific in the aftermath of the birth of their first child.

Who is in the cast of ‘The Changeling’?

LaKeith Stanfield in 'The Changeling,' now streaming on Apple TV+.

LaKeith Stanfield ('Judas and the Black Messiah') as Apollo Kagwa
Adina Porter ('Outer Banks') as Lillian Kagwa
Alexis Louder ('The Tomorrow War') as young Lillian Kagwa
Clark Backo ('Designated Survivor') as Emma "Emmy" Valentine
Samuel T. Herring (from the band Future Islands) as William Wheeler
Jared Abrahamson ('Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days') as Brian West
Amirah Vann ('And So It Goes') as Kim Valentine
Malcolm Barrett ('Dear White People') as Patrice Green
Jane Kaczmarek ('Pleasantville') as Cal

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with directors Michael Francis Williams and Jonathan Van Tulleken about their work on ‘The Changeling,’ series creator Kelly Marcel’s original pitch, working with LaKeith Stanfield, and shooting the penultimate episode, ‘Stormy Weather.’

'The Changeling' directors Michael Francis Williams and Jonathan Van Tulleken.

You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews.

Moviefone: To begin with, when you both came on board as directors, what was the original pitch that series creator Kelly Marcel gave you about the show?

Jonathan van Tulleken: I came on it having read the novel, and thinking the novel's brilliant, and obviously was this wonderful piece of sophisticated genre that dealt with really interesting issues and was set in this world that you really don't normally see. Kelly really took it and expanded it. She really brought the idea of motherhood into it, and the perspective of a woman into it. Which, by Victor's own admittance, the book was much more father centric, because that was Victor's experience. So Kelly really expanded the world, and really necessarily, I think, for the TV side of it. She also just wrote these incredibly bold personal episodes, and brought a lot of her own personal experience into it. The episode Michael did, it's this incredible bottle episode that is really fantastic and full of magical realism. So she definitely pitched it to me as something bold, unusual, beautiful and haunting, it was all of those things.

Michael Francis Williams: Like Jonathan just mentioned, I read the whole series, but the episode I got to work on, I would be pitching at Kelly to direct that. It's such a phenomenal piece of writing and a phenomenal piece of bold TV, as is the whole series. So it was explained as a kind of adult fairytale that swept in magic realism, horror, suspense, and New York, and then you're looking at the range of caliber of talent attached to it as well. It's a really rare opportunity to do something elevated, premium and challenging, which, as a black director, we get rare opportunities to work at this level, sometimes in TV. So I was super excited to come on board and do it.

Related Article: ‘Venom’ Co-writer/producer Kelly Marcel to Direct ‘Venom 3’

LaKeith Stanfield in 'The Changeling,' now streaming on Apple TV+.

MF: Jonathan, can you talk about working with actor LaKeith Stanfield? What was he like to collaborate with on set?

JVT: He was fantastically involved. Certainly he was involved when I came aboard, and he was involved in all the pre-production. It is really rare, I would say, especially in TV, to see someone who is so immersed in the project, who is so absolutely part of it. It's really hard to bring yourself every day to a role. LaKeith absolutely did that. It was through pre-production, production and post-production, bringing his own experiences, his own thoughts to it, and just every day, a level of commitment that was sort of astounding. I would say it was also supported as well by all the other cast. Clark absolutely did as well, and Adina and Sam, and especially someone like Sam who had not acted before. LaKeith was incredible and took him under his wing, and they really worked together beautifully. Like I said, it is very rare to meet an actor who brings that level of thought and commitment, and also sensitivity. Just a real team player, and he really wanted to get the best out of everyone and the best out of the project.

Adina Porter in 'The Changeling,' now streaming on Apple TV+.

MF: Finally, without giving anything away, episode 7 - ‘Stormy Weather’ is very different than the previous episodes. Michael, can you talk about the challenges of crafting and directing the penultimate episode?

MFW: Yeah, it's a wild ride out of the brain of Kelly, courtesy of Victor. An amazing thing to read as a director and to get to shoot. For me, I wanted to examine Lillian's life in one episode, and so I wanted to take the audience on a journey into that interiority, and into her emotion. So we're making visual choices based on, how can I get an audience to feel where she's at emotionally? Not just cut to a flashback, not just do conventional TV things, but we pulled from theater and music videos and all sorts of tools and tricks to get an audience to feel where she's at. Kelly was such an amazing collaborator and showrunner to say yes to some crazy things that I suggested, and she supported that, and the studio as well, to just help me realize how we could elevate this. I think our producer at one point scribbled on his script in a table read, "The bottle episode has become a magnum." I stand on the shoulders of all the other directors, from Jonathan, Melina, Slick, everyone who's created the tone and the performances of the show that I got to then tinker and play with to take us on an extra special moment towards the end of the season.