Shawn Levy Talks Why He Wanted to Direct ‘All the Light We Cannot See’: “Unlike Anything I’ve Ever Made”

Shawn Levy talks about why he was drawn to directing Netflix’s new miniseries All the light we can’t see.

The Steven Knight-created four-episode series, based on Anthony Doerr’s bestseller of the same name, follows Marie-Laure, a blind French teenager, who forms an unlikely relationship with a German soldier, Werner, after taking refuge in World War II. in her uncle’s town in France.

“When I read the first draft of the first episode of the film adaptation, my plan was to produce the show and maybe direct an episode,” Levy said. People magazine in a recent interview. “But after reading it, I knew I had to do it all myself.”

Although the series is different from the usual genre he goes for, he explained: “I loved the book, I loved the film adaptation. And it was in line with my previous work in that it is fundamentally – and unabashedly – ​​emotional,” adding, “It was just a very different kind of storytelling for me.”

Levy is known for his work on previous projects ranging from Cheaper per dozen, Deadpool, Free guy, Stranger things, Arrival And Night in the museum, the last three of which his production company, 21 Laps Entertainment, produced. And while all of his projects are quite different, he noted that they all have one thing in common.

“All my stuff tends to have a pretty warm heart,” Levy said. “That’s how I like to live. My emotions are on my sleeve, they are on my skin, my face, my voice.”

All the light we can’t seestarring Mark Ruffalo, Hugh Laurie, Louis Hofmann and Aria Mia Loberti, is currently streaming on Netflix.

Speaking about how he went about filming the series, Levy said: “I wanted to approach it as a full-length film, in this case a four-hour film. It looks different than anything I’ve ever made. The performances have a very different tone than anything I’ve done. It is a straight period drama.”