Executive produced and directed by Krysten Ritter, The Girl in the Woods tells the tale of a teenage runaway looking to break free from the world she knows -- even if it causes chaos along the way. Carrie (Insidious: Chapter 3's Stefanie Scott) grew up in a cult-like colony that operates like it exists in a different era than the modern world and tasks her with guarding a door. While what lies behind that door remains a mystery, the cult promises it leads to something more than monstrous. After suspecting that her world isn't what it seems, Carrie parts ways with her colony and teams up with local teens Nolan (Freaky's Misha Osherovich) and Tasha (Sofia Bryant) to become demon slayers and find out what's truly happening.
Ritter directs the horror series' first four episodes, while Come Play director Jacob Chase helms the series' latter four episodes. In an interview with CBR, Ritter discussed what drew her to direct the monster-hunting project, shared how her directorial debut on Jessica Jones influenced her approach to the series' action and teased what fans can expect from this show's final girl.
CBR: You direct the first four episodes of The Girl in the Woods, including its pilot -- which to me, seems like the hardest episode to direct. When you were approaching the pilot, what did you hope audiences would take away from Carrie and her monstrous world?
Krysten Ritter: The best part was that I got to direct the pilot because it meant [getting involved with] so many big creative decisions -- world-building, tone-setting, casting and hiring department heads. So for me, that was really the gig to get.
It was really important for me to fall in love with this main character from the beginning, so it felt like you were on this ride with her. There are always questions in the business, like, "How do you make sure this main character is likable?" As somebody who has a lot of experience playing characters who may or may not, on paper, seem unlikable, I felt like I was the perfect person to tell this kind of superhero origin story. That was something I really threw myself into and took a lot of pride in.
Also, setting a vibe and a tone. I have the characters dressing how I dressed when I was their age, and putting posters on their wall, little Easter eggs everywhere. Really infusing it with my vibe and my taste. It was like candy all day. You could not pull me away from the creative pre-production process and infusing it with all of my favorite things. A lot of my favorite references are deeply embedded into this show.
Speaking of superheroes, you directed an episode in Season 3 of Jessica Jones, "AKA You're Welcome," which also in its own way deals with monsters and trauma and what makes people do the things that they do. What from that experience informed how you approached directing The Girl in the Woods?
Yeah, so a lot of it. I feel like that episode that I did of Jessica Jones was just the perfect thing for me to first direct because it was my crew and my team and a show that I know so well. However, it was told from a totally different character's perspective. Telling Hellcat's origin story, shooting all of those stunts and action sequences, and getting in her head -- I think it was the perfect thing that teed me up to get this gig with The Girl in the Woods. It's all character first and finding ways to inject humor into the drama, and shooting some sexy stunt and fight choreography.
Carrie is very much the narrator of this world. What's something about Carrie's perspective that you loved? That when you read the script, you're just like, "I really love this about her. I can't wait to share this with everyone."
Yeah, what I love so much about this character is her true core and desire to help and do good. She finds herself in a situation where all of the things that she grew up learning are crumbling around her and wanting out and wanting to leave, and she gets pulled back in. She's a reluctant superhero, really, right?
She's a badass, and she is tough. She sees the world through a completely different lens because she is from this colony that has completely different belief systems than we do in the modern world. So that's what I love so much about her is how strong she is, how stripped down she is, how it's not about her sex appeal or her glamour. It's about her doing the right thing at the end of the day.
You recently starred in Nightbooks, which is also a film about monsters and trauma and breaking free from what people think about you. Why do you feel drawn to these metaphors, especially around monsters and breaking away from people expect of you?
That's exactly what it is! It's breaking away from what people expect and that is very exciting to me as an artist -- to not be put in a box. Nightbooks is a fantastic villainous over-the-top character in this wonderful horror movie for kids that has an amazing heart at its core and an amazing message that being different is actually what makes you awesome.
So I loved the opportunity of this delicious over-the-top witch, but I also really loved the heart and the message of that movie. With The Girl in the Woods, it's the opportunity to have a female lead that we don't see all the time and have a show about something completely different. So for me, it's all about changing it up. I've been so fortunate in my career to really do something wildly different each time I show up to work.
The Girl in the Woods debuts its first season on Peacock on Oct. 21.