Jordan Calloway was booked and busy with the newest episode of Fire Country, which had him pulling double duty as an actor and director.
During the Friday, November 7, episode of the hit CBS series, Jake (Calloway) found himself in the running to be Cal Fire Battalion Chief, but that required proving he could lead the team. Jake ran into some issues with Bode (
Max Thieriot), who was still grieving his father’s death and a near-relapse.
Jake’s best efforts weren’t enough, and ultimately Manny (Kevin Alejandro) scored his job. Calloway, meanwhile, had much more fun offscreen getting to direct an episode of television for the first time ever. The actor, 35, spoke exclusively to Us Weekly about balancing the surprising developments in Jake’s arc with his job as a director:
‘Fire Country’ Cast’s Best Behind-the-Scenes Moments Throughout the Seasons
This is such an important episode for Jake. Did that make it easier or harder for this to be your directorial debut?
I would be lying if I said it was a piece of cake. What made it easy was my crew and my cast. Honestly, it was such fun and such a pleasure. I was tired at times, definitely, but it wasn’t hard or difficult at all. Everyone was so gracious and supportive. I just dove into the story for all of my characters, for all of my actors.
What did you learn from this first go?
The one thing that I learned is that it is so good to trust and lean on your team. Having played sports helped tremendously, because as a team captain you know the different players that you can count on to step up in certain times.
Did you ask your costars for their individual advice? What was the best tip you received?
The best advice I received on set was I would hear, “Tell your story and don’t be afraid to leave your mark on here. There is the tone of the show, but also tell your story. Get in there and do it. But do it how you see it and don’t rush.”
That was very helpful, because I do remember at one point I was so worried and consumed about the time. I was on camera and we had gotten the shot, and they asked, “Are you ready to go?” I was like, “I guess I’m ready to go.” But Quincy [Paglaro], our A camera operator, he was like, “Are you sure? This is a shot that you really wanted, and I think you should go see it through.” That’s what I mean by my team having my back.
Did you always want to direct?
I originally never thought about directing. It was my parents that were the ones that were like, “You’re going to be a good director.” I didn’t think so. I went to school for cinematic production and I minored in screenwriting. I thought I was just going to write and then maybe be a showrunner.
But I ended up stepping into this. I wanted to direct back when I was doing a show prior to this called Black Lightning. Then the opportunity just came up with Fire Country because the other show had ended before I could actually go in.
