We got the chance to sit down with the executive producers – showrunners Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer, and series director Matt Hastings – in the Freeform press room at San Diego Comic Con, where they talked about writers’ room influences, the darker tone of the show, making the book world feel real, and diverse casting.
We asked if the cast performances have influenced the writing process, to which Todd said that they sometimes write to strengths and weaknesses. Darren explained further: “What they influence I think on an ongoing basis, there’s certain people’s performances that we’ve seen that have been really good so that character becomes a bigger character. And there’s times where we’ve said, ‘Oh, comedy between these two characters works really well.’ So, it’s like what we go back to.”
Cast performances in the stunt room can also gear them in certain physical directions, explains Matt Hastings.
“We’re influenced by what we see,” he said, “especially when it comes down to the tech of doing a stunt scene. We’re like, ‘Oh, my God, that person does an amazing backflip.’ We’ll see it in tech rehearsal and call these guys [the writers]. So, it’s a constant education, but it all starts with the script.”
On the darker tone of the show, and what the finale may look like, Darren said, “It’s dark and light. It may be dark, but I don’t feel like it’s going to be depressing at all. I think everyone is going to be left feeling good.”
“Shadowhunters’ sweet spot for us is sprinkling the humor in,” Todd added. “There was a great thing in 2×15 ‘A Problem of Memory,’ when Simon’s like, ‘Am I an organ donor? Wait, can vampires even donate?’ Little riffs like that in a heavy scene. But through that, it’s like a release of the drama, if that makes sense.”
On the topic of Season 2B’s finale and what to expect, Todd got a little gushy.
“Besides being dark, it’s the most epic end of a season we’ve ever done. The show is massive,” he said. “Matt directed the last two shows, we wrote the finale, and it’s on a scale you’ve never seen before on this show. Truly staggering. It feels like a two-hundred-million-dollar movie. The scope is based on [Matt Hastings’ directing], and also just trying to honor City of Glass. That’s not a little bit of a story if you guys are book fans; it’s big what’s happening in [those episodes]. We can’t do it exactly like it happens in the book, but you should be really excited.”
“When I read a book, or a script, or whatever, I imagine them big,” Matt added. “I imagine the scope, I imagine the world, and it’s upon us as filmmakers to honor the source material and deliver a world that hopefully makes your jaws drop. You don’t want to be like, ‘Lake Lyn, it’s out that window on a green screen shot very small.’ You wanna be able to see it and experience the world.”
On the show’s diverse casting, Todd confessed that the diversity in which they cast is “100% a priority,” and that despite how much they already have on the show, in this day and age, it’s “not enough.” He also mentioned the casting of characters Jordan Kyle, Lilith, and Bat Velasquez, who he says is “another great Latino character.”
“There’s a great degree of social relevance to this show, it’s the timing of it. And we have a responsibility to everybody,” Matt explains further. “It’s a world that’s changed dramatically, and now we’re just waiting for some of this world to catch up.”
Check out our roundtable interview below:
Interviewer for BSS: Brie Burnham. Filmed by Erin Cuevas.
Shadowhunters airs Mondays 8/7c on Freeform, and Tuesdays internationally on Netflix.
