Paris Barclay has directed more than 170 episodes of television, been nominated for nine Emmys and won two in addition to numerous other industry accolades: 10 DGA nominations and a win, two Humanitas Prizes, and four Peabodys. And this year he made Emmy history by becoming the first Black director to have been nominated in all three major categories — Drama Series, Comedy Series and Limited and Anthology Series — thanks to his work this season on Netflix’s Dahmer- Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
Barclay joins me for this episode of my Deadline video series Behind the Lens to talk about his remarkable career that includes standout work on such shows as Station 19, The Watcher, American Horror Story, Scandal, Glee, Empire, ER, The West Wing, Lost, In Treatment and NYPD Blue (for which he won directing Emmys in 1998 and 1999). His career also has included numerous music videos, and even a wild feature comedy, 1996’s Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood.
His current Emmy nomination comes for Dahmer‘s Episode 6, “Silenced,” which focuses on one of the notorious serial killer’s final victims, a Black, gay, deaf man named Tony Hughes. Much of the episode’s dialogue is relayed via sign language, which Barclay learned in order to direct it. His lead in the episode is a newcomer, Rodney Burford Jr, a member of the deaf acting community who had previously only appeared in reality TV. We talk about the challenges of this episode and taking on this limited series, which he says is about Dahmer in title only and really deals with many issues including the systemic racism still existing in so many parts of society and the police. Barclay also directed the series finale for the Ryan Murphy-produced show.
Other topics we discuss include Hollywood’s labor strife and the current writers and actors strikes. Barclay is a member of WGA and SAG-AFTRA, and was president of the Directors Guild from 2013-2017.
To watch our conversation click on the video above.
Join me every Friday and Monday during Emmy season for another episode of Deadline’s Behind the Lens.