‘The Afterparty’ Director on Filming Season 2’s Dance Episode: “We Needed the Romance to Be Actual and But Ridiculous”

[This story contains spoilers from Afterparty season two, episode seven, “Ulysses.”]

Peter Atencio’s Hollywood chops have primarily been planted within the backyard of comedy for his greater than 20-year profession — Key & Peele, the Jean-Claude Van Johnson sequence and this yr’s satirical mobster movie The Machine, to call just a few.

However when outdated associates Phil Lord and Christopher Miller invited the 40-year-old helmer to direct what he was instructed can be one of the vital advanced and difficult episodes of the second season of The Afterparty — Apple TV+’s whodunnit homicide thriller sequence — he tells The Hollywood Reporter {that a} extra dramatic method was wanted to get to the core of the humorous.

How severe can directing comedy get? Atencio breaks it down for The Hollywood Reporter in a current Zoom interview.

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How did you discover your approach to The Afterparty workforce?

I’ve recognized [creators] Phil [Lord] and Chris [Miller], for a while. I wish to say it’s been nearly 10 years. However I first met them once they have been doing Final Man on Earth, and I got here on very early in that course of as a result of the community was asking them for a sizzle reel to point out at Upfronts because the present was picked up straight to sequence. I additionally wish to say they have been ending up work on 21 or 22 Bounce Avenue. And so they didn’t have time to make this little five-minute presentation for the thought of that present. They’d seen my work on Key & Peele and stated, “Hey, you wish to do that factor?” I met with them and we simply had this tremendous enjoyable time working collectively.

And since then, I preserve begging them and saying, “Hey guys, I like working with you, let’s preserve discovering stuff to do.” And so they preserve saying sure! So, I really feel very fortunate to be among the many folks that they take pleasure in collaborating with. It’s a hell of lot of enjoyable working with these guys.

Your season two episode (“Ulysses“) concerned the characters Ulysses (John Cho) and his sister-in-law Vivian (Vivian Wu) changing into nationwide dance champions and getting into right into a forbidden affair that tragically breaks the guts of his loving half-brother, Feng (Ken Jeong), and almost tears their household aside. In contrast to the others, your manufacturing required intricate dance strikes and pictures of Cho’s character touring around the globe Indiana Jones-style. What movie genres influenced this episode?

Once they pitched it to me, they have been very forthcoming by saying this can be a actually large episode: “It’s very bold, we don’t fairly know the way we’re going to pull it off, however we expect you’d be excellent for it.” And so they pitched it to me genre-wise by saying, “It’s a giant awards-baby romantic epic! Now, do with that what you’ll.”

As soon as I learn the script — and Brenda [Hsueh] wrote a tremendous script — I feel due to the backstory of Ulysses and the very fact it was about John Cho and Vivian’s characters and this form of illicit love, I went instantly to [filmmaker] Wong Kar-Wai. I rewatched Within the Temper for Love, Chungking Specific and 2046. I simply wished to immerse myself in actually wealthy visible, luxurious romantic epics. And I watched some Service provider Ivory motion pictures and a few Anthony Minghella, like The Proficient Mr. Ripley, as a result of I feel the sort of globetrotting side of the story was one thing [the writers and showrunners] have been actually enthusiastic about. It’s that form of large epic sprawl. So, it positively performs in each of these genres.

So, did you keep in a single decade per say?

Yeah, they sort of wished it to. There was a bit little bit of a ‘90s affect, as a result of it takes place largely within the ‘90s, however it’s additionally large Oscar-y motion pictures, like sort of melodramatic appearing. However they wished it to be sort of actual. That was the enjoyable problem; it must be humorous, however there’s actually a love story we’re telling between Ulysses and Vivian. And forbidden love comes up and the ramifications of it. We wished the romance to be actual and but ridiculous on the identical time.

The dancing is such an intricate a part of the story. Did you might have the actors take formal classes?

Yeah, that was the opposite enjoyable half! A longtime buddy of mine, Kathryn Burns, was the choreographer for the entire present. And since this episode was so dance heavy, they began rehearsals with them actually early. So, Kathryn had a very enormous enter and affect on the episode as effectively, as a result of dancing is such a giant half. To the actors’ credit score, they took it tremendous significantly. They threw themselves into it and rehearsed a ton. And so they needed to learn to be credible ballroom dancers, after which learn to do tangos. After which John’s and Poppy [Liu]’s character had to do that superb dance scene on the marriage ceremony. They did a ton of labor with the dance.

As a director, is it more durable doing comedy than drama?

I feel so. Comedy is so subjective. We will sort of universally agree on what’s unhappy, what’s dramatic. However I feel to attempt to make one thing humorous universally is fairly difficult, and there are such a lot of opinions and tastes that come into that. The factor I like about The Afterparty, and the sort of stuff I discover myself engaged on, is when there’s additionally a actuality of the emotional story; when there’s additionally a want to inform the compelling story and make it humorous, it looks like there’s twice as a lot stress that goes into that. However on the identical time, it’s actually enjoyable when it pays off and works and catches folks abruptly.

If you’re straddling that line between severe drama and comedy, have been there considerations out of your leads on carry out their characters?

They got here into it like, “What’s the tone of this? How can we play this?” And I used to be like: The extra dedicated you’re, the extra actual you play it, that’s what will make it humorous. I imply, you might have these folks speaking about dancing prefer it’s a very powerful factor on this planet. As soon as they realized, “Oh, I simply have to completely lean into the drama, and that may make the comedy humorous,” then that they had a blast doing it.

How did you do the globetrotting scenes?

That’s one thing I’m actually happy with. Once I first got here in, they have been anticipating to do extra of that via visible results. However I used to be very adamant that there needed to be a approach we could be actually artistic with how we use places to place the viewer in and make it really feel as wealthy and actual as doable. And I’ve to present it as much as the places division who did a tremendous job. They have been like, “Hey, we discovered this Spanish home that might be nice for Spain, however it has this outdated pavilion within the again, possibly we will costume it as much as seem like an outdated Hindu temple.” So, it was actually a bunch effort the place folks would say, “Oh, that appears like an Irish pub, however it’s near the seaside the place we will do the dancing for Tampa.”

How has engaged on Afterparty influenced your future endeavors creating and directing on this trade?

Particularly in doing options, most of that work has moved abroad in the previous couple of years. And I’ve had a spell the place I labored in Europe fairly continuous. So, the chance to be again in L.A., working with an L.A. crew, working with a Cadillac crew that that they had on this present! It was like working with the very best of the very best. It was tremendous enjoyable to play of their sandbox and good to get house capturing.

Do you assume there might be a 3rd season of The Afterparty?

I’d like to be part of it. The present is only a blast to work on. I actually assume there might be. We’ve obtained to make a deal that will get the actors and writers what they richly deserve, and hopefully then all people is again at work and they’re engaged on season three.

And, who do you assume is the killer?

(Laughs.) I’m biased as a result of John [Cho] actually had all the heavy lifting to do. He actually put that episode on his again! And I feel the efficiency he offers is simply unbelievable to observe. There are simply so many layers to it. I’m actually excited for folks to see his efficiency. However everybody on the present is simply an murderer of comedy!

Interview edited for size and readability.

The Afterparty‘s second season finale releases Wednesday on Apple TV+.