Melissa Benoist, the star of CW’s Supergirl series, got in the director’s seat for the most recent episode, one revolving around Lex Luthor. Scheduling conflicts prevented her from taking this challenge before, but there were other reasons for the task being intimidating.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Benoist described her experience of directing. “Considering it was the first time in the director's chair for me, I think I'd be remiss if I didn't say how terrified I was,” Benoist said. “That just went without saying that I was scared, but reading [the script] also had this thrilling aspect to it because I was going to get to be the one to visualize it and make sure the tone was coming across.”
In the episode, “Deus Lex Machina,” secrets are revealed regarding the activities of Lex Luthor. Filled with flashbacks of Luthor’s schemes and manipulations, the episode differs from the show's usual perspective. Benoist had to keep this in mind when directing the episode so that it would feel as though it were being told by the villain.
The most challenging part of Benoist’s task was handling the large amount of exposition. Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, “Deus Ex Machina” needed to set up Supergirl finding herself in Earth-Prime while jumping around the timeline to fill the audience in on Lex Luthor’s actions. Keeping a steady balance of information and entertainment was the most daunting task for Benoist.
Airing Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, Supergirl stars Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers, David Harewood as Martian Manhunter and Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers.