Krysten Ritter landed a seat in the director chair for the upcoming Peacock series The Girl In The Woods, a supernatural drama based on the 2018 Crypt TV short film with the same name and its 2020 sequel. This eight-episode series explores a monster-ridden world that's secretly protected by a small colony. The show puts forth a unique territory and many strong characters which led Ritter to feel a keen connection to the story immediately after receiving the pitch from her agents.
Successfully making a name for herself in the entertainment world over the last twenty years, Ritter has played integral roles in the popular shows Veronica Mars, Breaking Bad, and Don't Trust The B---- in Apartment 23. She has also graced the small screen of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, portraying the title character and stepping into the director role for the Netflix series Jessica Jones.
More recently, Ritter was chosen to direct the first four episodes of Peacock's latest young-adult horror series The Girl In The Woods. Talking about how her work in Jessica Jones prepared her to take on this new role, Ritter shared, "I definitely made sure to remind everybody of why that helped me get this job because that was also telling a superhero origin story. And you have a relatively short period of time to get inside this character's head, so I got to do that with Hellcat."
"Also, those sexy fights sequences and stunts that I got to do— we wanted to do in The Girl In The Woods. So, having that experience and working with the stunt team is something I have a history of doing. It was a fun opportunity for me and it helped me get the gig," she continued. In an interview with Game Rant, Ritter shared what drew her to The Girl In The Woods and her experience collaborating with the show's other director and its female writing team.
Game Rant: Tell me about how you came across this project. How did it get on your radar?
Krysten Ritter: I got to pitch on this. This was a submission that came in through my agents and they were like, 'Do you want to pitch on this project?' And I read it. And I was like, not only do I want to pitch on this project, I want to do this project.
I fell in love with the characters and the opportunities to do these big swings, creatively. The world-building of the cult and the colony, the world-building of the small town where other characters are from. Building these amazing characters from the ground up. And then the monsters and the methodology. I was so into it, so I worked my ass off to pitch on it.
I showed up to my first meeting, which was supposed to be a general, with an entire one-woman show — visual presentation, all the references I would use, shot references. And so, I think they were just like, 'Oh, okay. How could we not hire this girl?'
GR: That's incredible. So, you directed the first four episodes and then Jacob Chase came in to direct the final four. What was that collaboration process like? How did you make sure it was a seamless series?
Ritter: Jacob was a producer on the show as well. He was involved from the beginning and he knew the scripts and he was watching the dailies [unedited footage] as they came out. He had to continue a visual style that I originated. I think he picked up right where I left off.
He was an amazing sounding board and he has such great ideas. When we'd be on these big Zooms brainstorming, like, 'What should happen here?' I'd be like, 'Let's ask Jacob Chase's horror brain' because he always has really, really big ideas. I loved collaborating with him and it felt like I had a team member and someone to have my back. Having him around was really great. And I just adore him.
GR: Speaking about the collaboration process, what was it like working with an all-woman writing team?
Ritter: I'm so fortunate, honestly, in my career I've really only worked with women. I know it's an anomaly for a lot of people, but I'm so fortunate that I get to collaborate with these beautiful minds. Jane Casey Modderno is so good and talented, and her ideas are so fresh. I was always blown away by her brain. She doesn't have a style that feels put through the system.
Nothing ever felt formulaic. Everything felt wildly creative. Whenever there was something that we had to scale down because of budget reasons, people would pitch like, 'Oh, what if we do this instead?' and she'd go off and come back with something. And we're just like, 'Ah, that's so cool.' She is really talented. I think she's going to have a big, massive monster career.
GR: In a few sentences, can you summarize what makes this series special?
Ritter: I think that we are flipping stereotypes on their head. This is a badass female monster hunter and her coming to terms with her life as a monster hunter and bringing her fabulous friends along with her. I think you'll come for the monsters and stay for the character.
All eight episodes of The Girl In The Woods premiere October 21 on Peacock.