Melora Hardin – On Directing The Bold Type and the Movie that Created an Enduring Friendship

Most recognized as Jan Levinson opposite Steve Carell in NBC's The Office, Melora Hardin is back in the fourth season of Freeform's The Bold Type. She makes her  episodic television directing debut in tonight's episode, “Snow Day”. Ever busy with other directorial projects, Hardin took the time to talk with Mike McKelly and Stefani Bishop on the Rocker Morning Show about her role in 17 Again, directing The Bold Type, and her latest documentary project.

"We had a good time doing it," Hardin reminisced about working on the Zac Efron vehicle, 17 Again. "Tom (Lennon) is amazing and we're still friends. That movie started a friendship that has been enduring that lovely. People love that film. It's funny and kind of deep in a way. I think everybody has had that thought, that wish, that desire. I think that's why it's kind of universal."

Being in the cast of one of the most successful television comedies of all time, The Office, she definitely had some leverage when it came to her terms working on The Bold Type. "When they offered me the part four years ago, I definitely made it known at that time I was directing other things, and that it was part of my desire to direct on the show. And the producers said, 'Great, in success we will allow you to do that,' and they made good on it this year. It was different for me working with all these experts and professionals where everybody is working together to try to make my vision come true, whereas everything I've done in the past was very independent where I'm wearing multiple hats at one time. So it was kind of refreshing and it felt kind of luxurious to me to be able to just be the director."

Having been an actor since she was a child, it wasn't until a chance moment on set that she was bit with the directing bug. "The director was floundering on how to work with the kids and the animals and I sort of stepped in. During the movie the producer took me aside and said, 'You know you should really direct. You've got that unique quality of an iron fist and velvet glove. And you should really think about that.' I guess that planted the seed for me."

When she's not on screen filming, or behind the lens directing, she's dedicating her time to a labor of the love; a documentary she's "really am very excited about it. It's really a story about female friendship, what it takes to really heal trauma, and transform trauma. It's about real life serendipity and the female gaze, and how we do it as friends. It's just an individual way of tackling something. I think it's going to hopefully be very inspiring."

Don't miss Melora Hardin's episodic television directing debut on tonight's episode of Freeform's The Bold Type, and listen to the exclusive Rocker Morning Show interview below.