# S27 - Ep 1 - Pretty Lethal - Directing

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/below-the-line-podcast-812194/s27-ep-1-pretty-lethal-directing
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/below-the-line-podcast-812194/s27-ep-1-pretty-lethal-directing.md
Podcast: [BELOW THE LINE PODCAST](https://stenobird.com/podcast/below-the-line-podcast-812194)
Published: 2026-04-12T15:13:13+00:00
Episode link: https://www.belowtheline.biz/e/s27-ep-1-pretty-lethal-directing/
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/r6bz8bn7czgzzndb/S27Ep1PrettyLethal.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/below-the-line-podcast-812194/episodes/s27-ep-1-pretty-lethal-directing
Duration seconds: 2104

## Resource

What happens when you build an action movie from the discipline, pain tolerance, and physical language of ballet? For Director Vicky Jewson, the answer became Pretty Lethal — a film where movement isn’t just style, it’s story. This week on Below the Line, Skid is joined by Vicky Jewson and co-host Katie Carroll to go behind the camera on Pretty Lethal, the action thriller now streaming on Prime Video. From the outset, Vicky approached the project with a clear mandate: ballet wouldn’t be window dressing — it would drive everything. That meant immersing herself in the world of professional dance, collaborating with prima ballerinas, and building an entirely new movement language that blends choreography and combat into what the team ultimately dubbed “Ballet-Fu.” The conversation explores how that idea shaped every stage of production: Why the film was designed “ballet first, fight second,” and how that philosophy led to the creation of a new stunt vocabulary Building a hybrid team of dancers and stunt performers — and how seven weeks of prep transformed ballerinas into action-ready doubles The logistics behind intensive rehearsal, previs, and on-location blocking — including shooting complex sequences with an editor assembling scenes in real time Designing action set pieces as evolving story beats, allowing the audience to discover Ballet-Fu alongside the characters The decision to embrace the visual symbolism of tutus — not as spectacle, but as a statement about strength, femininity, and perception Creating a collaborative, high-trust environment on set, where tone, culture, and preparation all contribute to performance Along the way, Vicky discusses the realities of getting a film like this made — from years of development and packaging to finding the right partners a…

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## Transcript

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