Walking alone in the light

Help @ben_mckenzie find his pants with @missmorenab & enter for the chance to do an escape room with them! #Gotham http://bit.ly/2gDT6mi 

[comes in with two beer]

[turns around]

[walks back out]

[stretched out on Jim’s couch]

[turns around]

Alright, so bear with me while I meta a little: Harvey’s decision to not go along with Jim only further proves what a good team they are.

If they catch up with Scarecrow, they’ll lose the GCPD to Penguin.

If they stay with the GCPD to show “solidarity”, they’ll lose proving the GCPD has worth.

Combing both actions, although separately, they’ve actually won both scenarios, something that Penguin probably hadn’t planned on. And that is precisely what Harvey was trying to make happen in this scene. Doing that was the smartest thing of all, and I think Harvey knew it would happen like this, or at least had to happen.

Bullock’s known Jim for a long time, he knows what he’s most likely to do, and capable of. He also knows the lines that Jim draws and refuses to cross, but where Jim can’t go, Harvey is willing to, even if it tarnishes his reputation. His “Never” choice is made not because he doesn’t like or care about Jim or value their partnership, it’s only because he has no other choice to make if they are to win.

The duo is great because they work so well together, but also because of who they are as people, and how they differ. They fill out a complete spectrum of white, gray, and black when it comes to the law and “What is Right Vs. What Has to Be Done.” And I think that Bullock realizes this more than Jim at this point. That in order for this partnership to work, and for Gotham to survive, both are needed, to do what the other cannot.

Did this hurt to play out? Oh, yes. 

You can tell Gotham actor Ben McKenzie comes from a family that shares more than just a fondness or affinity for the English language. His turn of a phrase and vocabulary in casual talk are dead giveaways of a writer’s upbringing and tradition.

In fact, when we caught up with McKenzie at the Tribeca TV Festival he shared with us he’d be writing an episode for the first time this season.

That comes right after a season that featured his directorial debut. He’s a man of many talents, engulfed in the world of the arts but always willing to take a moment to pause and reflect. McKenzie described the early pioneering meetings of Gotham and the creative process both as an actor, director, and now, writer.

FS: You were born to a poet and an attorney, how do you feel that prepared you for this role?

McKenzie: *laughs* That’s a good question! Well, Jim is certainly an enforcer of the law. So perhaps knowing the law is an important thing, perhaps I got that from my father. My father and mother are both I would say, keenly interested in the English language and storytelling. That’s certainly what my mother does as a poet. I think being exposed to the arts and being around the arts, that permeated our family. That in some ways prepared me for the idea, that it was possible to do this as a profession.

FS: You finally got to have your directorial debut, to be a director on Gotham. First time for you, and you’ve certainly come a long way from your first starring role in Johnny Got a Gun. So I was wondering how it felt to be a director as opposed to an actor? The mental aspects of that.

McKenzie: It was really exhilarating! I try to pay attention when I’m acting to the directors who’ve been on the various shows that I’ve been on. Or films that I’ve been in. You try to pick up things work and things that don’t. Then you’re trying to find your own style and your own sort-of mythology. But it’s really sort of an all-encompassing thing.

At the end of the day, you are in charge of that episode. You have to deliver a decent cut. *Smiles* With everything that the writer intended to be there. I found that fascinating and wonderful. And I really, really loved that. So I’ll be doing that again this year.

FS: What kind of films or TV do you see yourself directing in the future? Do you see yourself continuing as more of a co-director/actor or maybe later on solely directing? Kind of like Clint Eastwood, you know?

McKenzie: If I could be so lucky! I certainly would like to add it to the repertoire and make it a more regular thing as much as I can. I don’t know if I would ever give up acting per se. But I think being able to do multiple different things, this year I wrote an episode. Being able to write and direct and understand storytelling from soup to nuts.

From the beginning stages, when there’s simply a blank page all the way through to the final product, is incredibly empowering as a creative person. You’re bringing more to the party. You are establishing yourself in a way that’ll hopefully bring people to you to collaborate more.

FS: What did it mean to you as an actor to get such a storied role? I mean there’s a lot of demands, a lot of expectations from the audience. You’ve managed to deliver, how did it feel?

McKenzie: It was pretty intimidating, I think for all of us when we first started. All of these roles are globally known, so iconic as you said. To be at the center of that was a little intimating. That being said, I had many meetings with Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon. Bruno who created the show, and Danny who directed the pilot and is our EP (executive producer) today.

I really went through with him what exactly we’re doing and what we weren’t doing. What the look of the show was going to be, what the feel was going to be, what the tone was going to be. After two or three fairly long meetings, I felt like … Okay, we’ve got a good thing here, I should do this. Then it’s just the nerves of actually getting it done.