Ashley Williams is once again putting on her director’s hat for the latest episode of “The Rookie.”
The beloved Hallmark actress, who has starred projects like the “Christmas in Evergreen” series and the “Sister Swap” series, is giving fans a rare glimpse behind-the-scenes ahead of the premiere. Williams took to social media to share a series of playful photos and videos from the installment she directed, capturing fun moments from production and teasing what’s to come before the episode airs tonight on ABC.
While Williams is best known for her work in front of the camera, this marks another directing credit for the actress, who has previously worked behind the camera on both film and television projects, such as the Lifetime movie “Circle of Deception” and the feature “A Nashville Country Christmas,” along with “Meats,” a short film she wrote, directed, produced, and starred in.
Williams Shares BTS Photos of ‘The Rookie’
“BTS on my Rookie ep that airs tomorrow night on @abc!” Williams wrote in the caption of her April 12 Instagram post. ” I’ll post fun stuff after it airs that will spoil things otherwise. For now, these are fun. Xx.”
She went on to caption each photo included in the carousel. In the first photo, she’s on set with Nathan Fillion and Eric Winter, whom she called “some of my favorite people.” In the second photo, she also called Melissa O’Neil the “queen who makes me giggle.”
In subsequent behind-the-scenes snaps and videos, Williams gives fans a look at what life was like on set as a director, including a video of a “car rig that truly blows my MIND,” and a video of her “first time shooting on film.” She also made sure to give “props where props” are due and show off a “contraption” that “saved me nights of sleep I would have otherwise lost,” expressing her gratitude for the cast and crew.
Her sister Kimberly Williams-Paisley, who is also a prominent Hallmark actress, commented, “So proud of you!!! ❤️ Can’t wait to watch!”
Fans in the comments also showed their support for Williams:
“Looking forward to it, thank you for letting us know. I never miss an episode,” one fan wrote.
Another fan added, “The Rookie cast doesn’t just act together, they create together. It shows in every shot.”
“I’m so excited for you!!! I love The Rookie so much!” another fan commented.
Prior to this, Williams dedicated another Instagram post to how grateful she was to direct the upcoming episode.
“I am such a genuine fan of this show, and getting to direct the upcoming episode of The Rookie (it airs Monday!) was some of the best times with the best humans working at the very top of their game,” Williams wrote in the caption of her post. “Thank you for having me back! Pinching myself that I get to do this and excited yo share this truly spooky and funny episode.”
Williams’ Short Film Premieres at Sundance Film Festival
Williams’ short film, “Meats,” is about “a pregnant vegan who wrestles with her newfound craving for meat,” per the actress’ professional website. The short premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Creative Coalition Spotlight Award.
When asked what the genesis behind the film was, Williams said in an interview with Solzy at the Movies, “I love meat. I love eating meat. I have always felt bad about the fact that I love eating meat. So there have been times in my life that I’ve been vegan, I’ve been vegetarian. I’ve done an all meat diet for Atkins or whatever it was but I have also done a lot of research throughout all of that to try to get my brain around it. I’ve read books by Jonathan Safran Foer, Camas Davis—who wrote Killing It—and Michael Pollan—all the sort of food writers who write about the ethics of meat. At one point in the last year and a half, I gave myself the assignment of writing a short film a week. This was one of the short films just because I’m really interested in the subject matter.”
