‘Fire Country’ Star Jordan Calloway Talks Directorial Debut (Exclusive)

Fire Country star Jordan Calloway directed this week’s episode, and he spoke to PopCulture.com all about it.

In “Like a Wounded Wildebeest,” airing on Friday at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, “Manny has a serious conversation with Bode about a troubling discovery, urging him to be honest and take responsibility.”

Calloway, who has been portraying firefighter Jake Crawford since the beginning, made his directorial debut, and he says it was a “blast.” He continued, “I’m so grateful to the crew. I’m so grateful to the cast. I’m grateful to CBS and JBTV for just giving me the opportunity. It was a lot of fun. It was a lot of work as well. But what I think really helped with the process is directing my own short before and having to wear the hat of director, producer, actor, and writer. And then when I was able to step into this, I really saw the benefit of having a full team that just allowed me to focus on directing and acting. So, it really made this thing a breeze, honestly. Everyone crushed it. All the credit, I give to everyone, and glory to God, because I would probably crack the door.”

He is the latest Fire Country star to step behind the camera, following in the footsteps of Max Thieriot, Kevin Alejandro, and Diane Farr. Not surprisingly, Calloway made sure to get some wise words from all three, so much so that they were getting tired of it.

“I was hounding them all. Kevin was tired of me every time I called him. Max, he just stopped picking up, Diane, she ran away,” Calloway jokingly admitted. “They were honestly wonderful and so happy to pour in their different wisdom to me. I also did a series of shadowing since Season 1 in order to just really learn and understand what it really takes to direct on national television, honestly, and understand what also comes with it, too, and the process, the amount of people that are involved.”

Despite now turning to directing, the Black Lightning star confessed he “never thought” he’d be a director. “It was my mom and dad who always would tell me whenever they saw me, ‘Oh, you’re gonna be a director.’ I went to school for cinematic production, and I minored in screenwriting,” he shared. “But that’s what I was interested in. I think just over the course of time, as I had written more, as I had produced some of my own things, I also felt more confident.”

“In directing, you have to have a level of confidence,” Calloway continued. “In this whole industry, you do because a lot of people are counting on you. So if you’re questioning yourself, then that’s not a good sign, to be honest. However, you should also approach it with humility and an ability to learn, and that’s what’s been great with my crew: that everyone is so willing to help, and you don’t have to know it all. You don’t but my desire for storytelling that I’ve always had, I saw this as an opportunity in order to, one, find my voice, incorporate the things that I do love that comes out in storytelling, and just share that with the world and telling a story through the lens of perspective that I would see what each character is going through. And I was able to do that.”

As for whether he would step into the director’s chair again after Friday’s episode, without hesitation, Calloway said, “Absolutely.” He continued, “I have so much fun. I really do. And there’s another sense of creative freedom that comes in that when just compiling a shot, knowing where the character is in their story, and then framing them a certain way using certain colors. There’s so much that is cerebral that goes into directing that you have no idea of because you’re just receiving it as a viewer. But if I’m able to emote something out of you that I intend, that, for me, is a success. That, for me, is what storytelling is all about, what the film is all about: to cause an emotion within you and then, hopefully, at the end, leave you questioning or asking certain questions. And that all fits under the realm of entertainment.”

Make sure to tune in to Jordan Calloway’s directorial debut on Friday’s episode of Fire Country, airing at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, streaming the next day on Paramount+.