Henry Ian Cusick On Directing ‘The 100’

Octavia was victorious in the conclave on “The
100,” but there was a twist in last week’s episode that cast a dark shadow
over her victory.

The bunker, which Octavia said would be shared equally by
all, to protect them when Praimfaya comes, is locked – from the inside. And,
judging by the previews, Bellamy, who firmly believes in his little sis, is the
only one who wants it open, setting up conflict between him and the two people
seemingly determined to keep it shut – Clarke and Jaha.

“It’s about the consequences of Clarke and Jaha’s
actions,” Henry Ian Cusick, who directed the episode, told
AccessHollywood.com of what Wednesday’s new episode is about. “Last week,
you saw Octavia win the conclave and now you’re seeing the other side of what
happened in the bunker and the repercussions of that – the consequences.”

Marie Avgeropoulos as Octavia and Henry Ian Cusick as Kane in ‘The 100’
(The CW)

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Cusick, who also plays Kane, said the episode
features some “high stakes.”

“It’s a very dramatic episode,” he added.

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Wednesday’s new episode, titled “The Other Side,”
saw Cusick step behind the lens for his first turn as a director of network
television. His directing opportunity came following conversations with
Executive Producer Jason Rothenberg over the last few seasons.

“I had been pestering Jason since Season 2, I
think,” Cusick told Access, who said Rothenberg said yes last season, to
taking him taking a turn behind the camera in Season 4.

“And I’m very, very grateful that Jason and Dean [White,
director and a ‘The 100’ executive producer] allowed me the opportunity,”
Cusick said. “That was such a great opportunity. So that’s how it came
about. I was pestering him the whole time.”

Sometimes actors are written out of the episode before the
one they direct so that they can prep for their director duties, but Cusick’s character Kane was
featured in last week’s “The 100.” Cusick explained that they shot
some of the episodes out of order, so the shooting schedule allowed him to
prep.

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“10 and 9 were mixed up so I did have the episode off
before, or if I wasn’t, I was very light in it,” he said.

While there weren’t many cold Vancouver night shoots for
Cusick to contend with while shooting “The Other Side,” he did have other challenges, including the bunker
scenes.

“It was a new space and not many people had filmed
there so just trying to work out camera angles and stuff,” he said when
Access asked about the challenges.

While the toughest challenge was the ticking clock, having spent so many seasons with The CW show’s cast and crew made things easier.

“[O]ne of the great things about being on a show this
long is I have shorthand with the people I work with and I know them and one of
the good things I had is fantastic support in Jason and Dean and all the
actors, and the fantastic crew and Michael [Blundell, the director of photography] and my first AD [Ian Samoil]
who had just directed his first episode, so he sort of knew what I was going
through, so he was in a way mentoring me and guiding me through it and I felt
very, very supported,” Cusick said.

“The 100” airs Wednesday at 9/8c on The CW.

Jolie Lash

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