Lessons in Chemistry director Millicent Shelton immediately connected to the adaptation of Bonnie Garmus’s novel thanks to her status as a female director working in a male-dominated industry. The novel’s heroine, Elizabeth Zott (played in the series by Emmy nominee Brie Larson), faces extraordinary obstacles as she tries to succeed within a similarly male-dominated industry — that of the early 1960s academic and scientific community. The parallels between Zott’s struggles and Shelton’s personal journey seemed all too apt to bypass.
“What made me fall in love with Lessons In Chemistry was Elizabeth’s drive to not give up despite obstacles and setbacks,” Shelton said. “In the end, she made a way for herself because she persisted and never gave up. Never giving up is one of my life mantras.”
Thanks to significant diversions from the novel, Apple TV+’s Lessons in Chemistry also features extensive sequences of Harriet Sloane (Emmy nominee Aja Naomi King) also struggling against not only gender-related biases but also racial biases inherent within the era. Shelton received an Emmy nomination for her direction of the powerful episode “Poirot” which culminates in an intense stand-off between Zott, Sloane, a collection of primarily Black protestors, and white LAPD officers. The protest sequence provided Shelton the opportunity to explore a massive cultural movement through these complex characters.
Her deft handling of the sensitive material kept the sequence from veering into melodrama and ensured that it felt as real and raw as possible. It is a bravura moment that elevates the thematic content of the limited series.
Here, in an interview with Awards Daily, Emmy nominee Millicent Shelton details the directorial choices she made for Lessons In Chemistry‘s “Poirot.” It’s an episode that, in addition to the sexual and racial politics of the early 1960s, also incorporates flashback sequences that deepen the audience’s understanding of the challenging persona of Elizabeth Zott. She talks about the choices she made in structuring the episode as well as how she captured her brilliant lead, Emmy nominee Larson.
Finally, she shares what it was like guiding young actor Alice Halsey through some of the most emotionally challenging moments of the entire series.
Awards Daily: Congratulations on your Emmy nomination! What did you find within the story of Lessons in Chemistry that you related to as a director?
Millicent Shelton: Well, firstly, I related to Lessons in Chemistry because I am a woman working in a male dominated industry. Similar to Elizabeth Zott, I have felt that there were moments in my directing career when my qualifications didn’t line up with what I was being offered. I’ve witnessed my male counterparts rise up much higher and faster than myself. That’s tough. It feels unfair because gender truly has no bearing on whether or not you are a good Director. The same can be said for being a Scientist, so I related to Elizabeth on that level. What made me fall in love with Lessons In Chemistry was Elizabeth’s drive to not give up despite obstacles and setbacks. In the end, she made a way for herself because she persisted and never gave up. Never giving up is one of my life mantras.
Awards Daily: Your nominated episode is “Poirot.” It begins with a flashback sequence to Elizabeth’s childhood in Alabama. How did you establish a different visual narrative for that sequence that set it apart from the California-based sequences?
Millicent Shelton: I wanted the 1930s to visually feel different from the opulence and ease of the 1950s without resorting to a post effect like desaturating the colors or doing a color wash. The 1930s was a time of the Great Depression in the US. It was a more desperate time for people. I wanted that to be reflected in the characters’ attitudes and environment. I chose a muted color palette for the 1930’s. The sets and wardrobe (Production Designer Cat Smith and Costume Designer Mirren Gordon-Crozier) reflected that same attention to the color palette. We stayed away from anything bright but didn’t limit ourselves to brown. Everything had to have a used and worn aesthetic. When the Head of the makeup department, Miho Suzuki, came to me to discuss the dirt level on the actors’ teeth because toothpaste would have been too expensive during that time period, I knew we were all on the same track! We even made the air in the 1930s feel heavier by the use of atmospheric smoke. All of these things combined created a setting that contrasted nicely and naturally with our 1950s world.
Awards Daily: The reveal of Elizabeth’s brother’s sexuality and eventual suicide happens throughout the episode as she struggles with harassment in the television studio workplace. How did those sequences evolve and how does their placement influence the overall narrative?
Millicent Shelton: Elizabeth’s brother’s sexuality and eventual suicide are part of the Lessons In Chemistry book. Elissa Karasik did a fantastic job weaving that storyline into the “Poirot” script to explain Elizabeth’s emotional distance from most people and to also illuminate the devastatingly destructive effect that prejudiced discrimination against one’s gender, sexual preference, or ethnicity can have. All of the flashback scenes with Elizabeth’s brother were approached with a focus on humanizing him. I wanted the audience to love this sweet young man as much as young Elizabeth did. Jackson Kelly brought this character to life with so much charm that you couldn’t help but want to hug him. If you look closely, however, there’s an ever-present sadness behind his eyes. Adult Elizabeth has a similar sadness, but she walls it off and fights through it. John Zott succumbs to it by suicide.
The choice to make his homosexuality subtly implied (with a touch under the table and some eye glances), and his suicide (only a sound effect and a quick glimpse of his body in the bathroom on the floor) was intentional. My goal was not to highlight the sexuality or horrific act but to focus on the unacceptance of someone different and the personal damage it creates. A father cannot accept his son. A male employer cannot accept a successful female employee. The outrageously prejudicial behavior against characters that we’ve grown to love is what I wanted to highlight. Elizabeth and her brother John’s negative treatment parallels each other in the two time periods. In the 1930s, the end result was tragic. However, because of this past experience, in the 1950s Elizabeth is stronger and able to triumph despite it.
Awards Daily: The episode establishes Aja Naomi King’s Harriet squarely within the broader context of the era’s Civil Rights Movement. How do you think this theme enhances the overall narratives of Lessons In Chemistry?
Millicent Shelton: I think that the choice to incorporate the Civil Rights Movement into the overall Lessons in Chemistry narrative was timely and genius. When you think of it, the sting of inequality hurts. It doesn’t hurt more or less because that discrimination is because you are a woman or Black or both. At a human level, hurt is hurt. Inequality is inequality. By making that connection, the showrunner, Lee Eisenberg, made a brave choice to make an even bigger statement about prejudicial behavior and society. As a filmmaker, I love to tell stories that comment on the human condition. The universality of this dynamic was fascinating to explore.
Awards Daily: How did you want this episode to evolve the friendship between Elizabeth and Harriet?
Millicent Shelton: I wanted Elizabeth and Harriet to become true friends, not just neighbors who hang out together. A true friend can see your faults and will tell you when you’re wrong so that you can better yourself. You laugh, but sometimes you cry together. A true friend will stand by your side despite adversity. The scene in the kitchen between Elizabeth and Harriet defined their friendship to me. Early in the episode, we see Elizabeth babbling about wearing pants when her friend is on the other line struggling with her marriage and identity. Elizabeth feels clueless. In the kitchen scene, Harriett lays into Elizabeth, calling her out for being blind to the Civil Rights injustices around her and wasting her power to effect change.
She wants Elizabeth to see her not as the neighbor that you laugh with but as the educated Black woman who has her basic rights compromised but is willing to stand up against the hatred. It is that argument that opens Elizabeth’s eyes. She recognizes the pain that someone she loves is experiencing and recalls how that same pain took the life of her beloved brother. She further sees the similarities between the discrimination of a White female and a person of color. Elizabeth could have continued with her show but she chooses to go to the protest instead because she is Harriett’s true friend.
Awards Daily: There are several moments throughout the episode where Elizabeth is lensed from a lower angle, almost ground-level camerawork, upward. What do those moments say about Elizabeth within the episode?
Millicent Shelton: I didn’t realize that I had a lot of lower angles on Elizabeth! Brie Larson has a spectacular face, so you can film her at any angle. As a Director, I service script so that’s what influences my shot angles. I like to read the scene, sit in the space, and just stare for a while, then I daydream. It’s weird, but I let the scene speak to me visually. Sometimes, I pick low angles to make someone feel more authoritative. Other times, I use it to make the audience feel more intimately connected to a character. It all depends on the tone of the scene and where the character and story arcs are going. I do feel Elizabeth is always moving up, so maybe I subconsciously used low angles to signify that.
Awards Daily: This episode features the difficult-to-watch protest sequence at the freeway. You render the sequence using a mixture of establishing shots and shots taken directly from within the protestors. Can you describe what you wanted to convey through the camerawork and shot choices about that moment?
Millicent Shelton: I wanted to make this protest feel real and for it to touch people in a way that could hopefully open their eyes to the injustice and hurt of discrimination. I didn’t want to just showcase another incident of Black pain. I wanted to make this moment feel personal to the character and the viewing audience as well. I wanted the audience to feel. I came up as a music video Director, so I think making things “pretty” is part of my DNA. I like big, moving, landscape-wide shots for that reason. We get into the scene, and it’s pretty. The cars are nice to look at. The people are well dressed. However, once the Police officers get out of the cars, that all changes. Cinematically it changed also. We went from smooth sweeping crane shots to handheld. I had three cameras and told the operators to feel the energy of the scene and follow the emotions of the characters.
Going handheld, I put the audience in the perspective of the protestors to intentionally elicit the emotion of being ‘inside’ the protest. With each new take, I would slightly change up things that the Police were doing, so it surprised the camera operators and the cast. The emotion was raw and the cameras discovering it felt just as alive. People tell me that this scene is triggering. I take that as a compliment. It’s supposed to be triggering. I want people to witness the ugliness of the moment and to feel the pain of an injustice to characters that they have grown to adore. I want people to fight to never let anything like that happen again.
Awards Daily: The sequence ends with the close-up of Elizabeth Zott. Why did you chose to end it that way?
Millicent Shelton: Elizabeth is the witness. In that moment, she is the most vulnerable and helpless that she appears in the entire series. That’s why Harriet grabs her arm. The emotional damn that Elizabeth has built up since the death of her brother finally bursts. It’s after this catalytic moment that she speaks openly with Mad about how much Calvin meant to her, how his loss affected her, and about her brother. Elizabeth is the heart of Lessons In Chemistry, so to me, all lessons in the human experience go through her character that’s basically why I chose to end the sequence with her close-up.
Awards Daily: The episode also features extensive work with young Alice Halsey as “Mad” Zott. How did you partner with her as a growing actress to help her convey those critical, highly emotional moments she has to perform within the episode?
Millicent Shelton: I love talking about working with Alice Halsey! She’s one of the most outstanding, talented young actresses that I have ever worked with. I intentionally do not talk down to young actors. I talk to them with the same regard as I would an adult actor; story and character. What is going on in this scene for your character, and how does this make him/her feel? I have a tremendous amount of respect for actors and their ability to transcend into characters. Their choices mean a great deal. Normally, young actors don’t have the tools to articulate their choices clearly. Alice does not have that problem. On one of our first days of filming, she sat beside me and discussed what her character was feeling in the scene and what choices she was going to make. It was different from how I thought the character would do it. While the crew was lighting, we discussed it. She made valid points that changed my mind, so we did the scene the way she envisioned. I knew from that moment that we were going to hit it off.
When she had an emotional scene, we would step off-set, and she would tell me her perspective. I would give her my insight, and then she would be quiet and think about everything before I called “action.” There’s a scene at the end of “Poirot” where Mad is sitting beside Elizabeth in a big chair and mother and daughter are both admitting to how they feel about the loss of Calvin. I shot Brie’s close-up first, and she was emotional, with tears streaming down her face. Much more than in the wide shots. When the crew was turning around to get Alice’s close-up, she came over to me and mentioned that Brie was crying for real. I explained to her what Elizabeth was emotionally going through at that moment and Brie just let it release. Again, Alice looked at me and was quiet. Once I called “action”, Alice began to act, and the tears flowed down Mad’s cheeks also. I really loved working with that kid. She’s a gift.
Awards Daily: What do you consider your favorite directorial touch within the episode?
Millicent Shelton: I wish that I knew how to answer this question. I honestly don’t know. I could say that I love this amazing crane shot, or that shot composition, or the camera movement, but that’s not it. I am proud of how this episode made people feel. I got a great script and successfully brought it to life. There are laughs and tears and a bunch of other emotions in between that feel nuanced and authentic. I’ve heard from a lot of people that this episode has moved them. In the end, as a Director, that’s the best compliment.
Lessons in Chemistry streams exclusively on Apple TV+.
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