Yes, Noah Hawley is the guiding hand behind everything Legion. Add in Nathaniel Halpern, who co-wrote a number of Season 2’s episode. But for “Chapter 11,” which aired last night (April 17), you can heap a ton of thanks on rising director Sarah Adina Smith.
You might not know her name, and that’s fine — for now. The multi-hyphenate has been bouncing around the indie film scene for a while, but is starting to make a big splash on TV.
According to her IMDB page in two shorts as an actress, but it’s behind the camera that her skills really started to shine.
Film Work
Between 2005 and 2009, she directed, produced, edited, you named it a number of shorts. Then in 2014 she released Midnight Swim, about a three sisters who head home after their mother disappears trying to find the bottom of a bottomless lake. Sounds kind of like a Legion plot, right?
Her next movie, Buster’s Mal Heart got even more critical acclaim. Starring Mr. Robot’s Rami Malek and D.J. Qualls, the weird mystery film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to a ton of good reviews.
Be sure to subscribe to our Legion podcast for recaps as soon each episode is done airing!
TV Work
From there, it was off to the small screen. Smith directed two episodes of the comedy Wrecked, two episode of HBO’s anthology series Room 104, and of course Legion. Upcoming she’ll be working on the TV adaptation of Hanna. And who knows, maybe more Legion? Fingers crossed.
Want to get a sense of her work outside television? You’re in luck. Sarah Adina Smith has a Vimeo site where you can check out trailers for her full-length features, and even some of her shorter work. Head on over, and get a sense for why she was a perfect fit for Legion.
And be sure to subscribe to our Legion podcast for new episodes every week after the show airs:
An unofficial after-show for FX's Legion, hosted by Comic Book Club!
