This article comes fromDen of Geek UK.
Contains spoilers forBansheeseason 4.
Your background as a novelist has been predominantly in fairly down to earth, tender dramas.
What inspired the hard left turn intoBansheeterritory?
So that kind of put me in that business whether I wanted to be or not.
Are there any more plans to adapt any of your works for screen?
So those two are still moving forward, and I would hope at least one of them gets made.
After years as a novelist, was shifting into a more collaborative medium a challenge?
It was actually a welcome challenge.
I loved the shows ending predominantly because of how dark it wasnt.
We liked these characters and wanted them to succeed and they more or less came out okay.
Did you ever consider something darker or more downbeat?
How far in advance was the arc of the show planned?
On a similar note, how strong was the temptation to have a final showdown between Hood and Proctor?
Because I think a lot of people expected that but the fact that it didnt happen worked really well.
How did you as a writer maintain that balancing act?
For you personally, whats your favourite moment of the show overall?
Ive never really thought about it.
In season four I finally directed an episode and I loved every minute of doing that.
I really felt good about our finale.
I dont know that I have a favourite moment.
How was the experience of stepping into the directors chair after years as a writer?
Oh that was great!
And I spent a lot of time with the two guys who had directed the most episodes.
I spent a lot of time working with him and then O.C.
Madsen who directed I think the mostBansheeepisodes.
Can you talk us through a little bit what inspired the shift?
Whatwas the casting process for the show like?
We tried really hard not to repeat ourselves.
Which lends so much to the potency of a character like Chayton.
Thats his real voice!
He doesnt put that on for the show.
Even when youre having dinner with Geno and he just says pass the ketchup he sounds like that.
Oh yeah, of course.
We were learning stuff every day.
First of all, its not a great idea having twelve series regulars.
Its very hard to keep twelve series regulars in the mix.
I could go on and on.
Speaking of which, what can you tell us about what youre working on now?
Any new TV shows, novels or films?
All of the above.
Im doing that with Justin Lin wholl be directing it.
So, all of it.
Or all of the above?
Yeah, I want to do it all.
I absolutely want to do it all.
Its just really hard to get character driven movies made these days.
As a writer, how much say did you have in the ways Banshees fights played out?
Or was that more the territory of choreographers?
I scripted the fights punch for punch.
Fights tell a story too.
Watch aRockymovie; each round tells a story.
Did you ever have trouble getting any of the more extreme scenes past the data pipe?
No, we never did.
If anything the show almost got more reserved as it went on.
We policed ourselves; we knew if something was a little too much.
I think for the most part we policed ourselves pretty well on that.
We never got pushback from the online grid on our fights.
He was the star of the show so he worked every day.
He basically was working seven days a week and that would tear anyone down after a while.
Can I ask where the decision to focus on the serial killer plot came from?
It came from me, and I take full responsibility for those who didnt like it.
Like, Youre finally the sheriff of Banshee and theres a serial killer.
The show was always extremely confident in how much it set up and left unresolved each year.
Season to season, how confident were you that youd get another year?
Our fan base was growing and I never had a night worried I was not getting renewed.
Cinemax was incredibly supportive and very invested in the show and our viewers were growing.
Jonathan Tropper, thank you very much!
Banshee: The Complete Fourth Season is out now on DVD and Blu-ray.
