With episodes three and four of Upload season three now streaming on Prime Video, we were able to catch up with director Tom Marshall (Ted Lasso; Space Force) to talk about helming both installments and some of the twists and turns that befell Nathan (Robbie Amell) and Nora (Andy Allo) during the eventful pair of episodes.
While we do our best to steer clear of spoilers, Marshall does break down episode four's super creepy ending - and designing that character - and also explains, in detail, what goes behind directing an episode of Upload and blending so many different genres to create one of the most ambitious comedies available to stream today.
Watch and/or read on for our full interview with director Tom Marshall below, and please remember to SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube channel for more exclusive content!
ROHAN: When you’re coming into a show like Upload, where you’re directing episodes deep into a well-established series, versus something like Ted Lasso, where you directed the pilot and sort of established its visual aesthetic, what is your approach to directing your episodes?
TOM: Well, what is interesting with Upload is it’s the first time in my career where I directed a show that I was a fan of, if you know what I mean, like I'd watched the first two seasons, and it was one of the few things me and my girlfriend can sit and watch together, that we both really enjoy and are on the same page with. So, I had sort of watched the first two seasons religiously, and then it was sort of crazy then jumping on to direct it, because it was with all these actors and characters that I had grown to love so much.
What Upload lends itself to though, as far as a director is concerned, is it's constantly introducing new elements to it, a new world, new environments, new characters. So, as a director, even though the sort of template is being set to an extent, you know, I had whole new realms to invent, to really put my own stamp on it. So, I can imagine whether the job is sort of jumping in during season three, or later, you know, it can feel a bit paint by numbers, but with Upload, there was just so much that I got to invent, and was sort of unique to Upload.
It was the type of stuff that you wouldn't get to do in other shows, like I've got some worlds that feel sort of Dune-esque, you know, and, yeah, we've got this sort of shared living space, a sort of dystopian view of what shared living might look like, in the near future. All of that was new to my episodes, so you got to sort of flex your muscles on a lot of things, and then you do sort of bring your sort of personal stamp to as many elements as you can - one of my favorite moments, in my episode, is a bit of an Edgar Wright reference, and I've sort of done quite a few of those throughout my career, and even in Upload, it sort of works and sort of fits.
So, yeah, it's a nice mix of keeping the ship going in the right direction it was on, and not getting in the way too much because, you know, it really works. It's the number one rated comedy on Amazon, and people love it, so you don't want to rock the boat too much, but, at the same time, you get these nice little moments where you can really make it your own and put your own stamp on it.
ROHAN: Since your episodes do spend more time in the real world than most episodes from the previous seasons, did you draw any inspiration from technology or trends that you could see society naturally moving toward in the future?
TOM: Well, it's sort of a mix, but I would say the best example would be, we've got this shared living environment. Nathan and Nora are sort of a bit down and out, you know, they're struggling with the real world in every which way, including very much just money and getting a roof over their heads, and they end up going to this shared living place, which is this windowless space filled with these sort of pods that people are living in, you know, some no bigger than a coffin, and what's so crazy about that is I've been really interested for the past few years in these type of coffin homes that already exist in places like Korea and across Asia, in particular, where people are living in apartments that I think are meant to be like two or three bedrooms, but they get gutted out and they install these sort of pods where people live. And, yes, it’s all a bit grim, and it feels dystopian, but it's happening now, you know, this is our people, some people are having to live like this now.
So, in that case, it was this is what's happening now, what's our sort of near future version of that, and we've sort of ended up in a space that has a bit of a shimmer on it, has a bit of an Upload-esque shimmer on it. But, it's still super, super sort of grim, and one of the things with that, in particular, was we wanted to get across the idea that it wasn't necessarily the down and outs who were living in these spaces, you know, there were a lot of people in shirt and ties, and they've got spreadsheets up on the walls in their cells, and they've got jobs going from the looks of it, but even then, they have ended up in the sort of pretty grim living quarters, I guess, trying to get across the idea that in this near future, it could be us. Anyone could end up in these in these spaces, and I think that sort of depressingly could be very accurate.
ROHAN: This show seemingly effortlessly blends together a variety of different genres from comedy to romance to conspiracy thriller and even horror. What kind of challenge does that present for you, as the director, just trying to balance all of these different tones?
TOM: Yeah, it's sort of like, from scene to scene, it becomes clear what the drive is, what the key thing to focus on. But I think the conspiracy element of this, the sort of thriller element to it can't be sort of underestimated, because I think that, for me, on top of the comedy and the likeability of the characters, that's what makes it sort of so bingeable, you know, when that cliffhanger comes at the end of each episode, you've got to watch the next. So, it's sort of really important to keep your eyes on that throughout the episode, and sort of really do those moments justice, because, yeah, I know, from sitting with my girlfriend, who's also a big fan, how often we've been ready for bed, we've done a couple of episodes, but because that cliffhangers come, she needs to watch the next one, but then what's great about Upload is, it also has moments where it doesn't take itself so seriously, and so it really delivers on the concept of it, which I really love. It sort of delivers these crazy moments you could only get with Upload and with the concept behind it, and I sort of lean into the jugular a bit with the comedy moments there, because I think you're allowed to because of the premise.
I think the funniest moment in my episodes, I don't know if I'm allowed to give it away completely, but I'll just say, cheese and AI guy, what would happen if a guy is trying to learn how to eat cheese for the first time in its life, you know, so you've got moments like that and we've really indulged it. I think you're sort of allowed to, and you've got license to, and, it really works and it doesn't come at the expense of the love story or the thriller elements, and I think that's the other thing is, I had a lot of Nora and Nathan scenes, so I was sort of aware that the fan base had become really connected and were sort of really rooting for that love story. So, again, it was sort of leaning into those moments, and luckily, Robbie and Andy have that natural chemistry and can sort of conjure up those very real seeming moments between them, and, you know, we've got lots of sweet moments in there, and I think, yeah, the fans will be really pleased.
ROHAN: Since the season does feature two Nathans, are you giving Robbie different direction when he’s playing Download Nathan vs. Upload Nathan? Or, is it more or less the same? Or are you just trusting Robbie with differentiating the two?
TOM: The thing I really enjoyed about that is Nathan, as we know, is a bit of a vain character, certainly with what we set up in season one. I think one of the very first shots that Nora seems him is a shot of him checking himself out in the motorcycle mirror, you know, so we've set up this archetypal, handsome hero, but this season, in my episodes, in particular, we do pile a lot on him. And, we're really able to see the sort of chinks in the armor starting to develop, even though, as you say, it's only like days in it between real world Nathan and sort of VR Nathan.
A lot of the notes given to Robbie were about seeing this sort of insecurity and neuroses starting to develop in real world Nathan, in contrast to VR Nathan, where a lot of the notes were about you've just got that constant pep in your step, you know, loving Lakeview, you're loving your relationship with Ingrid, and it was sort of really fun, sort of pulling and contrasting those two different versions of him, and I think a lot of it was done even with the costume. We put a little bit of a pudge on real world Nathan - I don't know if you guys use that word - but yeah, just a little bit of a belly on real world Nathan, and even just in the physicality of that, just seeing the heartthrob of Nathan that we'd seen for these two seasons suddenly just having a little bit of a pudge shifted so much.
And, we had a lot of fun seeing Nathan get even more insecure when he sees people noticing it, so it was a lot to play with, and Robbie, I think he's obviously a very handsome dude, very handsome, charismatic, but he's a great comedic actor, and really relished the opportunity to make himself look a bit stupid at times, and do things that are a little bit off the Nathan scale and seeing him get out of his comfort zone, he really relished that and really went for it.
ROHAN: The end of the episode introduces arguably the creepiest character we’ve ever seen on the show. What was the process behind deciding on that look and how his arc played out?
TOM: Yeah, so there was a few references kicking around, but it sort of was on the page. We sort of worked backwards from like this guy's really stripped back. He’s sort of the beta version of the avatars we know in Lakeview, so we should lose the hair, obviously, and then the eyelids thing, you know, no eyelids, little did we know was going to be the key to one of the funniest scenes I've ever shot.
Basically just having a character with no eyelids immediately makes something 10x funnier, we would come to know, but the real sort of Eureka moment was the guy that came in to audition, he had this sort of southern drawl to it and it was almost like, a little bit effeminate in how he delivered, like not at all how I envisioned it. I guess I thought you'd have him sound a bit creepy, and maybe it's croaky, maybe his voice box is going, so maybe that's what makes it creepy, but yeah, this actor came in and just sort of brought this weird unsettling energy to it that was both hilarious and creepy.
It's just so great because sometimes that happens where you don't give that note at all, and an actor will bring it and you see it and you immediately go, yes, that's it! Yeah, there was an amazing moment when we were filming it, where I filmed Robbie's side of the conversation with him first, and I could hear our guy without eyelids from behind the monitor, and it was really funny, but the first single he got on him, yeah, I laughed out loud. I ruined the take, because I was really seeing it in close-up for the first time, and Robbie said to me, ‘So, now you know what I've been dealing with for the past eight takes.’ And, I was like, ‘Yeah, man, well done for keeping a straight face.’ Even that, you know, we're talking about the tone of it, that turns into a little bit of a sort of thriller in itself, a little bit of an action moment, and it's all that great stuff that you would only get in a sitcom like Upload, where you've got the comedy and the stakes are sort of high and it's a matter of life and death and you get to have characters with no eyelids popping up.
The first four episodes of Upload season three are now streaming on Prime Video!