Sarah Drew has spent the last 15 years acting, and nearly the last 10 playing "Grey's Anatomy"'s April Kepner, an attending trauma surgeon whose determination and meticulousness rival Drew's own. When she decided to take on a different kind of project last summer — producing her first film, "Indivisible," a post-Iraq war drama in which she also acts — she had no idea she'd wind up hungry to be a beginner again. The fruit of her first foray into directing is the new "Grey's Anatomy" web series "Grey’s Anatomy: B-Team," which follows the latest crop of "Grey's" interns on their first day. Drew helmed a team of mostly women who, like her, had stepped into different or higher-level roles for the project. It was a surreal experience, one that gave her an education in more than just directing. In advance of the "B-Team" release, Drew talked to Shondaland.com about the scariest part of trying something new, the best advice she got from her mentor and co-star Chandra Wilson (who plays Miranda Bailey on "Grey's"), and why trusting yourself might be the most important skill of all — in any craft.

What made you want to direct?

This summer, I produced my first film — and I had such a ball on set for every frame of the shooting experience, from start to finish and into post. I remember calling Debbie Allen [who plays Catherine Avery on "Grey's"] and saying, "I’ve been bitten by all the bugs, I wanna learn as much as I can, I want to try my hand at directing, I’m super excited about producing. Can I shadow this season?" And Debbie wrote me back saying, "Well actually, we have this amazing opportunity, ‘cause we’re gonna do these six webisodes. Would you have any interest in directing them?" And I was like, "Uh, yes!"

What was the process like of bringing "Grey's Anatomy: B-Team" to life? How did it all come together?

It was definitely stressful. It’s a totally new thing for me. I shadowed Chandra Wilson early in the season, and that was incredible. She was such an amazing teacher and so patient, so gracious, really [an] incredible mentor to me. I kind of dove in at the beginning of the season to try to figure out, OK, how do I create a shot list? How do I figure out how I want to visualize this? It’s a learning curve, for sure, because I was basically starting from scratch, trying to figure out how to do this completely new thing. It gets easier, but it’s super scary, too.

Abby Chambers

Was there a particular piece of advice Chandra gave you that really helped or stuck with you?

She was basically like, "You’re gonna be asked a million questions when you’re on set. Just have answers for everything and answer with confidence. Just go for it and trust that your preparation will follow." [Another] very great piece of advice [she gave me] was to stay in a peaceful bubble the whole time, so that you don’t let all of the crazy things that are flying at you completely derail you.

[Chandra] is one of my most favorite people in the world. She has an ability to be focused and positive, and exudes a calm no matter what is happening around her. And directing can be so stressful and so scary, but with this sense of confidence and peace, it ends up going so much smoother. I definitely took that to heart when I walked on that stage. I’m like, I’m going to be in this space of peace and confidence while I navigate all of these waters. That’s been helpful for me not just as a director, but in life, too.

I can’t say enough good things about Ms. Chandra Wilson — I love her. She’s wonderful. Patient, and encouraging, and empowering. It’s exhausting directing, and being up there and having a million things fly at you at once, and even when that was all going down, every question I had [while shadowing her], every time I had a thought about something, or even if she just had an idea [to share], she was teaching me at all times while she was doing her job. I wanna be her when I grow up.

It sounds like you had great support and were working from a solid foundation. Was there still something that surprised you about directing?

I’ve been bitten by all the bugs, I want to learn as much as I can.

No matter how much you prepare — and I am by nature someone who over-prepares — there are always going to be things that you’re going to have to improvise once you’re on set. I think that was probably the part that scared me the most. I was just worried that I would be hit with something I would not be able to respond to. [But] that was one of the things that Chandra really helped me with, too. She was like, "You are gonna prepare, you’re gonna prepare and prepare and prepare, and once you get on set, you’re gonna need a big eraser to erase all of the preparation that you just did, based on all of the new elements walking in on the day that you’re shooting." You have to be ready to just dive in and go with all of the other elements that are in place.

Did your acting background help?

Certainly the acting helps me to talk to the actors and to give them direction, and to give them a sense of where to go emotionally in the scenes and what the relationships are. But also, one thing that was really helpful is when I was blocking it all out in my preparation. I would really put myself in the shoes of each of the actors, and I know how to do that having been an actor for 15 years, so the blocking that I came up with felt really authentic and intuitive to what would make sense for that character in that set of circumstances. The blocking was really character-driven, and not shot- or camera-driven. I think that definitely helps the actors dive into the scene.

I know the majority of the people you worked closely with on "B-Team" were women. What was that like?



It was so cool. It was a really warm, wonderful environment of just everybody wanting to encourage one another, lift one another up, support one another. It was so cool to work with a female DP [director of photography]. I’ve never worked with a female DP before and Alexa [Ihrt] was incredibly wonderful and amazing. [She] gave me so much extra time in our prep so that we were really on the same page, and could work enthusiastically well together, and with precision, and work efficiently. We had a female gaffer, we had a female second AD [assistant director] and first AD, female producer, female writer. I mean it was just… The future is female, across the board. It was a really, really, really wonderful experience. So neat to get to be a part of something that enables all of these women to rise up and do jobs that they hadn’t previously gotten to do as much of before, and really get to help each other shine.

As you mentioned, everyone on the project got to step up and take on a higher-level role. How was it working with first-timers as a first-timer yourself?

There was so much positivity, everybody was so enthusiastic. [It was] an opportunity for some crew members to do stuff that they don’t usually get to do. I mean certainly for me, getting the opportunity to direct for the first time, to have these actors get to shine for the first time on this show — it was just an electrifying experience and energy across the board. We were laughing and having a ball from start to finish. I didn’t feel a moment of stress once we were there shooting it.

I really felt like the whole set was just pure joy.

Our "interns" were so pumped to do it, because this was really the first opportunity they had to have some really juicy and meaty storylines. And to have a whole little series dedicated to them on their first day, which felt really reminiscent of the pilot episode. In fact, when we cut it together, we used a lot of music from the pilot episode to create that first feeling of day one. I really felt like the whole set was just pure joy.

OK, you’ve acted, produced, and directed — what projects do you want to take on next?

I want to do more producing and directing. I think I still have a lot to learn. I’d like to shadow more on our show and on other shows too, maybe shadow a film director sometime. I basically feel like I’m very much in the learning stage. I would love to eventually direct an episode of "Grey’s." It’s just been really exciting and fun. I feel like I’m in school again, where my brain is on overload, but in a really good way. It’s a new and exciting way to interact with a medium that I’ve been interacting with for 15 years, so it’s keeping it alive and fresh for me. But I would like to direct a feature. I think that would probably be the next thing that I’d be excited to do.

What's the moment from this experience that will stay with you when you've got a feature under your belt? Was there an "I can’t believe I’m here doing this right now" moment?

It really was the whole experience. I will say there were several funny moments where I forgot to say "Action" [laughs], because I just was so engrossed. I’m watching the screens, jumping back and forth between my seat. I just was a ball of energy. But [I'm] sitting there watching so intensely, waiting for something to happen, and then my DP nudges me, she’s like, "Go, go, go!" [And I said,] "Oh, action!" I think that was a really fun moment for me, because I was like, Oh, that’s me, it’s my job, I’m the one that gets to say "Action," ‘cause I’m doing this right now. And it actually happened a couple of times on my first day that I had to be nudged to say the word. It still felt pretty surreal.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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