Caity Lotz has been a key part of the Arrowverse since the second season of Arrow. For the past five seasons, however, her character, Sara Lance, has been traveling across time and space on Legends of Tomorrow. Now, she's stepping out her superhero suit and into the director's chair for the episode "Mortal Khanbat," which will see the Legends take on new Encore Genghis Khan in 1990s Hong Kong.
In a recent conversation with press, Lotz spoke about her experience as a director and provided a few hints of what fans can expect from her episode.
Stepping into the director's chair represented a new challenge for Lotz that she really enjoyed. "I loved [directing], I loved it so much. It was awesome," she said. "I find that acting is so creative and one side of your brain, and directing is creative but also very logistics, planning, timing, prepping, very practical. And so to be able to use both sides, I really liked."
Plus, directing provided an outlet for all of the ideas Lotz often has when acting in the show. "...It's just so many times on set where you're like, as an actor, you… stay in your lane of what you're doing, is your thing and… your one job. But all the time you're like, 'Oh, why aren't we doing this or this…' And then it was finally, I was in the director's chair, and… all the things that I wanted to do, I got to do, and it was like, ‘No, we're doing this….’ And so it was really fun."
Lotz was also enthusiastic about working with the actors. While Lotz and the other stars of the show are used to acting together, helming the episode enabled her to work with them in a different capacity.
"I think a lot of times directors don't work with the actors too terribly much because they have so much on their plate already," Lotz explained. "And actors, they know their characters better than the one director who's coming into direct one episode and doesn't really know the show maybe that well. But since I have been working with everybody for so long, to be able to work with the actors, especially Matt Ryan [who plays Constantine], …it was a big episode for Matt Ryan emotionally, and that was really fun to get to direct him. And [Astra actor] Olivia [Swann] too."
One actor who won't be seen in the episode too much is Lotz herself. For both the episode she directed and the previous episode where she was prepping for her directorial debut, Lotz didn't spend as much time acting as she usually does because she wanted to make sure she could dedicate herself to her new job.
"Now that I've [directed] once I'm like, 'Oh, okay, I could be in the episode more,' she noted. "…Being in the episode before, the prep episode, would suck. It would just mean everybody else is going to have to do some of the prep work for you. But the being in it… while actually directing I think I could do more of that now.
"[In "Mortal Khanbat," I was in] just one scene, but it is like… you've got so much to think about and so much work. And the idea of then having to do costume fittings and like hair and makeup… that part I think… pure timing-wise would be difficult. But during filming, when you're directing, you're just on all the time. It’s exhausting, but great."
As for what we can expect from the episode, Lotz teased, "Constantine is still on his own journey. Him and Astra have a really, really great storyline. And Shayan [Sobhian, who plays Behrad Tarazi], who's the newest Legend, he gets to really shine in this episode, which is kind of fun because we don't know him that well yet and he really gets to step up."
Since the episode takes place in 1990s Hong Kong, it will come as no surprise that the episode will reference John Woo's '90s action oeuvre. This begs the most important question: will there be doves?
"Of course, there’s doves," Lotz said. "You don’t do a John Woo-style episode without doves."
Airing Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow stars Caity Lotz, Dominic Purcell, Brandon Routh, Nick Zano, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Tala Ashe, Matt Ryan, Jes Macallan and Courtney Ford.