Looking Back on Supernatural – A Chat with Writer Davy Perez

It’s no secret that Davy Perez is one of my favorite Supernatural writers. If you read my episode reviews regularly, you’ve heard me say that more than once, and he’s the only writer who wrote a chapter in the new book There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done: Actors and Fans Celebrate the Legacy of Supernatural, all about his journey as a writer and his experience on the show. There’s an online book club that’s currently reading Peace, and they’re inviting the contributors to join in their discord chat when they’re discussing that chapter. I pop in when I can, so I joined them when Davy’s chapter was the topic of conversation – and so did he!

It was Davy’s first time using Discord, so the only emoji he could find to try to express himself was the watermelon – which has remained the Book Club’s favorite emoji and is now used for all kinds of positive expressions in Davy’s honor.

The book club always has great questions and Davy had some great answers, so I’m sharing them here with the rest of the fandom (with Davy’s permission of course).

BC: What was it like to write an episode for Supernatural?

DP: I used to watch a lot of shock horror (in the) 80’s and kinda channeled that.

BC: How much influence did the network or the studio have on the writing?

DP: The network and studio give notes, but don’t mandate or dictate anything.  They are more there to
guide you toward the ideals that they want the show to always be (striving) for.  The writers/producers are still in charge of the story in the end.

BC: You said in your chapter that you had only watched a few episodes of Supernatural when you were hired, so you were not overly influenced by what had come before and had fresh takes on the characters and story line direction.

DP: In general, writing an episode is a lot like doubting yourself every step of the way (while also having
to) believe in your own genius. Also, specifically with SPN and with any show, you always do the work, from beats on the cards, to outline, to then just working on the scenes.  I aim for an act a day when
(working) on a script.  I actually found that whenever I watched an old episode, I found inspiration for
bringing something back, or looking at something from a new angle.  I was hired to bring in fresh ideas, for sure, but I like innovating from existing stuff vs. just fabricating from thin air.

BC: What do you think have been your most significant contributions to the characters’ development?

DP: My most significant contribution might be either the glasses or the sweaters (in Mint Condition and American Nightmare).

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(Me: mm hmm)

DP: Maybe the cowboy hats too  (in Tombstone).

BC: (wholeheartedly agreed on all of the above)

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Behind the Scenes of Supernatural with Director Richard Speight Jr.

I had the pleasure of chatting with one of my favorite people at the Nashville Supernatural convention last month – Supernatural actor and director Richard Speight, Jr. I’ve known Richard since his very first Creation con appearance almost a decade ago, and I always enjoy his thoughtful insights about the show. Nashville is a particularly fun place for Richard to be, since it’s also his hometown. In fact, he was busy planning a tour for a small group of lucky fans for the next day when we met up at the green room backstage. Turns out there were a bunch of very tired people catching a few minutes of much-needed sleep in the green room, so we resourcefully pulled some chairs off a stack in the hallway and made our own little interview area (the backstage area of the hotel is literally a series of hallways that thread through the kitchen and storage areas and then spill out into the main hall, which is fairly typical for convention hotels. Not exactly scenic, but you take what you can get!)

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Richard: Sorry.

Lynn: Not my first rodeo. Look how versatile I am (balancing an audio recorder precariously on a ledge and an iPad on my backpack)

Richard: (cocks an eyebrow) Yeah, you’ve got a lot of machinery there…

Lynn: So how are you?

(The audio recorder tumbles off the ledge, followed by the iPad falling off the backpack)

Lynn: You know, I thought I was being so smart and resourceful…

Richard: (Goes to get another chair)

Lynn: Thanks.

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Jerry Trimble Brings Ramiel to Life on Supernatural

I was fascinated by Ramiel on the recent Supernatural episode ‘Stuck In The Middle With You’ – in just one episode, actor Jerry Trimble, along with director Richard Speight Jr. and writer Davy Perez, created a memorable character who most fans would be happy to see more of. So I was thrilled to have a chance to ask Jerry about his experience on the show.

Lynn: Congrats again on the amazing job you did on Supernatural. As you probably read in my review on Fangasm, I’m a big fan of the original ‘Yellow Eyed Demon’ who was portrayed by Fred Lehne. I got to know Fred from interviewing him for Fangasm and for the books I’ve written on Supernatural, and was always impressed by his ability to make the character compelling as well as scary. You managed to do the same in one episode with Ramiel.

So I’ve got a few questions for you. I’ve known Richard Speight for years, and am looking forward to hearing his thoughts on directing this episode (stay tuned for that!), but I’d love to hear your thoughts on being directed by him. Were there some notes he gave you that were particularly helpful?

JT:
Richard was one of the best directors I’ve had the pleasure of working with, he’s an actor’s dream director. Probably because he’s an actor as well and a fantastic one at that. He was so helpful and pivotal in helping me to create the character of Ramiel, Prince of Hell. There were times when I was going too dark and hard, and then Richard pulls me aside and says, dude, back off and BAM Ramiel comes alive. Richard was collaborative in the coolest way. Some directors I work with are too into their comfort zone and just want to pump it out. They settle for less than the best, whereas Richard had an idea, I had an idea, we meshed them together and as you saw from the episode, it was magic. Loved working with him.

With director Richard Speight Jr. and company on set

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Stuck In The Middle (With You) – Supernatural 12.12 Gets Innovative

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Say what you will about Supernatural, the show is not afraid to mess with form. Last week’s episode, written by Davy Perez and beautifully directed by fan favorite #SPNFamily member Richard Speight, Jr., brought a Tarantino-inspired aesthetic to a very Supernatural story. Together with Serge Ladouceur’s gorgeous cinematography, some kickass VFX and some superbly choreographed fight scenes, these all combined to make for an outside the box episode that still felt like the Show I love. I’m often struck by Ladouceur’s work, and his and Speight’s direction together made for a visually striking episode.

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The Tarantino touches were spot on – a slow motion montage of Team Free Will Plus Two walking toward danger, with the added bonus of Ackles’ and Padalecki’s long long legs eating up the screen (and in perfect sync because Sam and Dean).

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