Director reveals pressure behind 'The Night Manager' season two

The Night Manager season one was critically acclaimed. But as season two is set to drop nearly a decade later, its director, Georgi Banks-Davies, acknowledges there was pressure on her while helming the series.

This is because the previous season was directed by Suzanne Bier. Not only was it critically acclaimed, but she also won an Emmy for her work.

Now, Georgi is looking back on how she was offered the role to make season two and how much freedom she had in making it.

"It was actually two years ago today. I got an out of the blue phone call from my agent saying, ‘Guess what, they want to see you for The Night Manager,'" she tells Variety.

Her first reaction, Georgi recalls, was "'Oh my God, incredible.’ I’m a huge le Carré fan, a huge espionage fan and a huge fan of thrillers."

"I’ve always wanted to make action but my career had not necessarily pointed in that direction. So to be kind of given that opportunity, it felt out of the blue," the filmmaker says, adding that, following this, she went on to meet The Night Manager's producers.

At the meeting, the discussion focused on the story, cast, characters, and the scale of season two. "We talked about the big thematics of the show, what’s it’s politically saying on a bigger platform. But what struck me were the characters he’d formed."

"For me, the characters have to come first. And then I met Tom (Hiddleston) and were excavating the character ¬— what does Jonathan Pine look like 10 years later? Finally they said, “Do you want to direct it and direct all of it.”

Following these talks, everything was finalized, and the series was filmed, which Georgi says is like shooting a movie.

"I think this is the closest thing to cinema you can do as a TV director. Right from the start, I was basically told: This is a six-hour movie. So it’s shot all at the same time, it’s edited all at the same time — it’s made like a six-hour movie."

"There’s a lot of pressure, but also so much freedom creatively. And I still cannot believe I got to make it," the director adds.

The Night Manager season two debuts on Jan. 11 on Amazon Prime Video.