The Split | Interview with Dee Koppang-O’Leary (Lead Director)

What is it about The Split that you find so involving from a directing stand-point?

I think with any good series it’s a testament to the writing and acting, but I just fell in love with the characters. Totally hook, line and sinker! You feel like you know them. I had such a reaction to this when I properly started delving into it. I felt like I knew these characters and their relationships and how they would react to each other.

Plus everything is so relatable; even if you’re not a top-class lawyer in London, there’s so much nuance in Abi’s writing and it doesn’t matter where you’re from or your background, there’s a commonality. It might be sibling rivalry, or love, or divorce or affairs, there’s so much in there. On paper you might think it’s quite a female show, you assume that women might enjoy watching it more than men, but Damien (Molony) who plays Tyler, said when he was travelling up and down from Manchester for Brassic, that he’s never been stopped by more male lorry drivers at service stations asking about The Split!

How do you keep the balance and rhythm between what’s not said and what’s written in the script, and all that emotion?

Something I was taught early on, and spoke to Abi, Jane and Lucy about, as well as to Jess Hobbs who directed the first series of The Split, who said to me “it’s about what’s not said” and also “what’s Hannah thinking?” – and that importance of always bringing it back to Hannah and how she’s reacting to any given situation.

So at times the action may be happening in the background, but we’re watching Hannah’s reaction to it. But also these actors know their characters so well, they’ve been playing them for five years, which means that they give you so much extra!

We can tease that there is a wedding to end this series, was that a total joy to film or actually a nightmare?

Equally both! Obviously the wedding scenes were amazing to shoot, but imagine it’s the hottest day of the year, 36 degrees Celsius, during Covid, and we were shooting in Harrow on the Hill, on top of a hill! Getting equipment up there… I mean it was beautiful and amazing and the weather looked gorgeous, but it was so hot! Everyone was absolutely boiling and we had to film these group wedding photograph scenes, and everyone in three-piece suits!

How collaborative was it sharing directing duties with Abi Morgan?

It was wonderful because it felt like my directorial debut as well, as I come from a second-unit background. The Split was my first time as lead director, so the first time I was in charge of a whole episode, let alone a series. No pressure!

Abi was incredible. When I first came on board we met up and went for this mammoth three-hour walk around Hampstead in the snow, and I got to quiz her and ask her about everything to do with The Split. I had a lot of support from her on story, structure, being across a whole series, and I’d WhatsApp her on my way to set to check in on the tone and feeling. And I think it was lovely because then I could help her with the directing side of things and talk her through the technicalities of that. It was such a joyful, collaborative experience because we had each other’s backs with this! Plus it’s complicated filming in Covid times so we were very much there for each other if schedules changed last minute and things had to be swapped. We’d tag in and tag out! Amazing strong, female team.

There is a Morning TV cameo in this series that features your husband Dermot O’Leary, was that just fun to set up?

You never want it to feel nepotistic, but it was scripted that one of the characters is interviewed on a breakfast TV show, and it was one of those funny things where I felt it’d be so weird to get someone else! So I said, “I might have someone I know who’d be up for this!”

Dermot is such a huge fan of The Split anyway, he was so over-excited to be part of it. I recently got to show him his section – and I mean it’s a tiny cameo – but he was very excited. We’ve got some really good cameos this season, from Lily Cole to Tom Rhys Harries to Lindsay Duncan, it’s amazing!

Hannah and Nathan’s house looks beautiful on screen but apparently is tricky to film in?

Yes! It’s gorgeous and feels very apt for Hannah and Nathan, and is lovely on screen, but filming across the floors, and during Covid, filming for 45 minutes then stopping to air out the room and open all the windows, wearing masks, and having to be conscious of zones and who you’re coming into contact with, it was incredibly hard. Just finding space to rehearse as well when you’re in a busy house with a big crew is quite tricky!

But I can’t complain, we were very lucky to be able to go back as it’s someone’s actual house, so when The Split started five years ago I’m not sure the owners knew how often we’d be back! But working on a show set in London, you want to celebrate the city and show it off. You want it to feel big and glossy, living in this luxurious high-end world. And we’ve always got to see Hannah walking across Millennium Bridge as well! That hustle and bustle of commuting to work, showing off that London skyline is always fun. I’m excited for everyone to see this series.