I would go back and relive that night over and over again if I could. In this case, I had to put on a pregnancy belly because I already had my baby, and Kristin has not, so it was quite the quick change, and it was a thrill. I was worried they were going to write me out, or have me in just one scene that was pre-shot and I wouldn’t have to do anything during the live taping. I was happy that I at least had a couple scenes. I love a challenge… If anything, the prospect of having to run back and forth excited me. TVLINE | Did you find it difficult to switch back and forth between directing and acting on tape night? is a very specific look and feel, so I tried to honor that as much as possible. It was more like a math equation than anything, just kind of retraining my brain to work like that. With all the stuff I’ve ever done on my own, I’m the DP, I’m the camera operator, I’m doing everything, so for me the challenge was to multi-cam, which is four cameras at all times and getting all of the coverage. But I learned so much from watching other directors, especially in this format. My biggest takeaway from doing this was to not try and be Victor Gonzalez when directing, but to figure out my own way of communicating with these actors who are my family, and the camera crew who are family to me but never had me in this position before. I learned by shadowing, versus actually doing it, is that you can shadow as much as you want, but your own style and your own methods are going to be so different from whoever you study. TVLINE | Did you find it helpful to see how Gonzalez and Cardiff operated? It was challenging with a baby, because any time that I wasn’t on set, I wanted to be with him - especially the last couple weeks prior to my episode when I launched into full-time prep mode, and I called my husband. Primarily I shadowed Victor Gonzalez, but I also shadowed Andy Cadiff. TVLINE | Give me a sense of what prep looked like for you. It wasn’t until a couple of years ago on Last Man that I thought, “What better place to start doing it professionally than here?” I loved acting so much… My biggest hobby was photography, so I’ve always been behind the lens taking photos, and I realized that directing is just an extension of that, and combines it with all of the other things that I’ve been trained to do my entire life with acting. ![]() I was not the kind of actor growing up that was like, “What I really want to do is direct.” That wasn’t my focus. I’ve been directing stuff for my own pleasure for the better part of a decade - short films, web series, passion projects of my own - and I never really thought of pursuing it professionally. Was that something you’ve been itching to do? TVLINE | This is the first episode of Last Man Standing that you’ve had the privilege to direct. We’ll have more on that in due time.'Last Man Standing' - Amanda Fuller Directing Season 8, Episode 18 ![]() In the end, we’re thrilled that Fuller is getting this opportunity! Due to where Last Man Standing is in production at the moment, though, we wouldn’t expect to see her episode until a little bit later in the year. No matter the difficulty, the end result has to be infinitely rewarding and fun to reflect on. (We’ve also seen it recently on some other shows like Fuller House, where Candace Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin, and Dave Coulier have all directed episodes.) It’s a challenging gig for sitcoms in particular given that you still have to perform in front of a live audience, and doing that while also leading the crew can be a lot to balance. (They’re often encouraged to give it a try.) It’s also something we’ve seen Last Man Standing star Tim Allen do on a few occasions already. Directing episodes is an opportunity that comes around here or there for actors who are a part of long-running shows, mostly because they do develop such an intimate knowledge of the set and how certain aspects of it work.
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