So far, Freeform’s Shadowhunters has lived a sweet life. Season 1 gave many a taste of the live action adaption they’d been waiting for, and its success afforded the show one hell of an upgrade for its sophomore outing. Besides new growth and exploration in multiple visual and practical effects departments, the writers’ room also gained a few new minds to help steer the ship. One of those newest additions is staff writer Zac Hug.
His debut episode, “Dust and Shadows,” played out the hours of Clary’s suspended grief following the loss of her mother. A tumultuous time for both Clary and guilt-riddled Alec, the episode explored their unexpected connection in trying to right one of the show’s biggest story shake-ups. It introduced us to some of the darker practices of certain Clave representatives and Downworlders and served as a disastrous reminder of why one should not mess with natural order. It also set a new bar for what the show is willing to do in order to raise the stakes.
We got the chance to ask Zac about his work on Shadowhunters, where he talked about the challenges of exposition, how the writers’ room works as a team, and werewolf nuns. Yup, you read that right. Werewolf nuns. See our interview below!
What was your very first impression of Shadowhunters?
It was the books. I worked on a freelance project for Freeform and started reading the books mainly to figure out what a Parabatai was. And then I was hooked and plowed through all of them over a summer. My first impression was that it was a good series of novels that had such a big, awesome world. And what else could you wish for in an adaptation for TV? The story points change a little sometimes and the characters naturally have to expand for TV, but the Shadow World is a badass playground.
What kind of stories or experiences are you inspired by, and how are you incorporating that into your writing on the show?
I’m always inspired by people in groups working together. In real life, that dynamic has always seemed to me the obviously better way to do anything. We’re all pretty capable of some groovy stuff on our own, but man, people can really bring out the best in us. And we bring it out in them. So I like the big group scenes. I also embrace a fair amount of quirk. When you listen to people in the midst of solving a problem, they come up with weird and funny stuff sometimes – and that’s kind of the only way to get through anything difficult. So I like finding ways to get that in there from time to time.
What scene has been the most challenging for you to write, and why was it difficult?
Any scene where a character has to turn to another one and say, ‘Here’s what we’re doing. Here’s the plan. Here’s why.’ Exposition scenes are some of my favorite scenes to write, but I end up writing them over and over because there’s so much that has to come through and still sound like the characters and be very clear. Those scenes are so important! If you get them wrong, an audience will be asking, ‘Wait, what?’ way longer than you want them to. It’s a good challenge, but…boy, I wish that was easier sometimes.
Which character do you enjoy writing for the most?
Magnus. I guess that’s easy to say. I relate to him in a way I can’t quite put my finger on. I think it’s that the older I’ve gotten, the more I’m willing to just flat-out stop caring about how I’m perceived. I respect that in Magnus, and that’s really core to what Cassie [Clare] wrote for him. He’s very strong, but he’s not hardened. He’s lived through insane stuff but hasn’t become bitter. Plus, as a gay kid who grew up in love with television – I couldn’t imagine that there’d ever be a character like this on TV. Harry Shum Jr. takes such good care of him and is very smart about feedback and the questions he asks. So, those scenes often become my favorite to work on.
You guys get to actually be on set while they are filming the episode you’ve written. What sort of thing goes through your mind when you’re watching your writing become live action? And what scene of yours were you most excited to see play out?
Mostly, you sit there and some very smart person turns to you and says, ‘Was that alright with you?’ And you say, ‘Yep.’ Watching the episodes get filmed really makes you a better writer. The actors are the only other people who spend more time with the characters than you do. Sometimes you realize that what you’re doing is working great – and that feels amazing. Sometimes you realize you legitimately wrote someone a tongue twister and you have to be smart on your feet to fix it. Mainly, you learn what you could do next, how you could push the story. It’s more inspiring than anything else. The scene I am actually most excited about is coming in 2B. But I also really loved all the Alec stuff in episode 2×05. Particularly his relationship to Clary. And Madzie. And Iris.
Jamie’s episode and the choice to kill off Jocelyn was ballsy, but your follow up was absolutely nuts. Demonic pregnancy, yin fen, Alec bonding with adorable mini warlocks. Was this a tag-team effort to destroy us all or the result of a competitive streak?
It’s all a tag-team. The whole room comes up with the larger stories and then we talk about them for – wow – a long time. There isn’t anything that anyone could pitch us that we haven’t already had a conversation about. All we really knew when we started episode 2×05 was that we didn’t want Jocelyn’s funeral to be the first thing in the episode. We thought that if we were going to honor Clary’s journey and her emotional life, the funeral had to be at the end of the episode. That opened us up to ask, ‘If you lived in this world, what would you do?’ From there, we stuck to the idea that death is pretty final and that the journey to acceptance can lead you down some dark roads. Plus, somehow in all that, we knew we wanted something about life being renewed – and Madzie has really become the gift that keeps on giving.
Has there been any particular scene you’ve written that ended up drastically evolving in the script to screen process?
I think every scene does. I like a good oddball, which is why I was so glad they let me play around with Iris Rouse. She’s definitely different than she was in the very first draft. She was way weirder and a little bit more mouthy. The more we worked on it, and as the revisions kept happening, the more it kept tipping her over into straight-up kooky nut-job. She was getting a little Madame Mim, so Todd and Darren said, ‘Let’s pull her back some.’ And then Steph Belding made such awesome character choices. And Sally Richardson directed it out of the park. So. Trust the process.
What kind of scenes do you enjoy writing the most? Action? Comedy? Romantic?
I like the chatty stuff. I started by writing plays, and I really enjoy nothing more than trying to get dialogue to be as efficient as possible and still feel a certain way. So, anytime two people get to talk to each other for a longer period of time, I’m all over it. No matter what the context, I’ll fall in love with writing it.
What has been the most bizarre pitch you’ve made in the writers’ room? And what have you pitched that made it into the show that you’re really pleased about?
I pitched a werewolf nun once. We went down a road where Jace was going to hide out in a church and there was a nun who turned out to be in charge of guarding the Shadowhunter weapons. And she was a werewolf, so it was sort of her job. Maybe we’ll get her in somewhere else one day. It’s funny that once an episode is written, so many people have had input and you’ve discussed so many things that you forget what ideas were yours. Every so often I’ll pitch a line of dialogue for someone else’s episode and forget it was mine. And then I’ll see fans tweet it and go, ‘Oh, yeah!’ That’s sort of my favorite part. But again, it’s such a group effort that you end up really proud of a pitch you remember someone else making.
Is there a scene or a line that was deleted that you really wish had made the cut?
Oh, God. Whenever we talk about these scenes or lines that were cut, people get so mad at us because they say, ‘That would have been great!’ It turns out that there’s never one single reason why something gets cut, but it’s the right call 99 percent of the time. There was a scene I loved at the end of episode 2×05 that we had to lose. And ultimately, I’m glad we did because it just didn’t quite fit in the story. Once we saw it all together, it slowed everything down. I can tell you it involved a warlock baby that had goat feet. It was a cute scene, but it was a little weird and thus, it took away from Jocelyn’s funeral. Once it was out of the episode, everything was so much stronger and the emotion landed so much harder. So, you never know.
Is there anything in particular that you would like the chance to explore in your writing on the show?
Todd and Darren are great at letting us bring ideas to the table. And I’m often pitching some pretty loopy stuff. They know when to let my weirdness work. And they also know when to say, ‘Wait, what?’ I think mainly I’m interested in learning how the larger story evolves. Adaptations are so fun because you keep coming back to the source material, but you also get to say, ‘Okay, what if we bend this choice just a little…’ It’s not better or worse, it’s just a different way of doing it that lends itself to visual storytelling. What’s more fun than that?
To end, describe 2B for us using three words.
Wait. For. It.
Shadowhunters returns Monday, June 5th 8/7c on Freeform, and Tuesday, June 6th internationally on Netflix.
