She did it for her work onHBOsWinning Time, which she also executive produced.
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Richardson-Whitfield also discussed directing her nominatedWinning Timeepisode and addressedthe 1980s dramas cancellationafter two seasons.
At the time, Richardson-Whitfield was starring on the Syfy seriesEureka.
(L-R) ‘Winning Time,’ Salli Richardson-Whitfield and ‘The Gilded Age’HBO/Courtesy
And I was hooked, Richardson-Whitfield said.
She went on to direct a secondEurekaepisode in 2012.
It was again DuVernay who helped Richardson-Whitfield restart her directing career onQueen Sugar.
Salli Richardson-Whitfield during filming of ‘Winning Time’
It was another one of those by-chance moments, Richardson-Whitfield recalled.
She grabbed me and she said, Come talk to me.
She goes, Are you still directing?
And then she goes, Well, I cant do my episode.
Do who want it?
And I was like, Yeah, Im ready.
Richardson-Whitfield directed two 2016 episodes ofQueen Sugar.
Do you want to come over hereand direct?, she said.
I say that you cant get here by yourself.
I worked really hard, and I really love what I do now.
There was one unexpected side effect.
As a woman director, a lot of times youll get Yeah, but has she done this?
or Can she do this?
Ive watched Francesca give people big opportunities and Casey [Bloys], Richardson-Whitfield said.
Theres something about HBO where they see talent and take a chance.
BothTheGilded AgeandWinning Timeare period pieces, a genre that had been elusive earlier in Richardson-Whitfields career.
Luckily, we have a Black historian there and a Black writer whos come on.
It was definitely another genre.
TheWinning Timeepisode BEAT L.A., for which Richardson-Whitfield received a directing Emmy nomination, features extensive basketball sequences.
So when I see that basketball in the show, I know that it is completely from my head.
Its not something that somebody told me to do or that was written down to do.
Its something that Im very proud of.
Winning TimeandThe Gilded Ageboth found themselves on the bubble in Season 2.
I think Brad has outdone himself.
Oh, absolutely I would recommend it, she said.
So I never rest.
Im always working, my poor family.
Thats really my next step, jumping in there and doing features.
