But before she was one of Dick Wolf’s brightest stars behind the camera, Govich was one of the stars in front of the camera. After starting her TV career as a Law & Order guest star, she was a series regular on Wolf’s short-lived legal drama Conviction, and then portrayed Detective Nina Cassady on Law & Order — so far the only woman to be one of the main detectives on that long-running show. It’s an incredible journey, and Govich spoke to CBR about her career as well as what’s in store for the Feb. 11 episode of FBI: Most Wanted.
CBR: When you were playing Nina Cassady in Law & Order back in 2006-2007, did you ever think that you’d end up directing Law & Order and several other Dick Wolf shows? Or when did that become a possibility to you?
Milena Govich: I didn’t at the time. At the time I was so I was so young and so focused on acting that the directing thing hadn’t even really crossed my mind. [And] not for nothing, in many, many years of acting, I could kind of count on one hand the number of women directors that I had ever had in my career. So it was one of those things that I didn’t even think was really possible. But then later in my career, as I went through it all and I got that itch to direct, I’m very grateful that my buddies at Wolf keep me busy doing that these days.
Dick Wolf’s FBI franchise on CBS includes the compelling FBI: Most Wanted, which packs a punch in terms of incredible and captivating episodes.
It’s tonally the darkest of the FBI shows, and it’s also the only one where you really get to see the bad guy’s point of view. We have scenes that are not through the lens of our hero FBI agents, but scenes that are outside of their purview. We really get to know the perpetrator, or the bad guy, and really understand what’s motivating them to do whatever crime it is that they’ve done. And to me, that makes for really compelling storytelling. To know something about those characters as our agents are chasing them is really exciting.
What was it about FBI: Most Wanted Season 6, Episode 12 that captivated you? Anything that audiences should be looking out for in this specific story?
There are themes in this episode that are inspired by true events that are really compelling… There’s a girl that’s kidnapped. Her parents are murdered, and she’s kidnapped, and it turns out that these were her foster parents, and that the kidnapper has a relationship with her from the foster care system.
And so this episode really delves into the good and the bad of the foster care system, and how things that [kids] deal with successfully and not successfully, and how they impact their lives and their choices. So thematically, incredibly moving, very complicated, emotional episode.
There’s a very unique sequence that we got to do, because the girl that’s kidnapped is actually an ice skater. She’s a competitive ice skater, and she has the ability to potentially qualify for the Olympics. So she’s at that scale. So we got to do a very cool ice skating sequence.
You’ve worked with the FBI: Most Wanted cast on several occasions now, although not on a weekly basis the same way you would as an actor. So have you developed a rapport with them, similar to the way that actors bond on set?
FBI Season 7, Episode 9, “Descent” creates a national crisis, but it’s individual acting from John Boyd and a Night Agent Season 2 star that matters.
Absolutely. I’ve directed quite a few episodes of FBI: Most Wanted now, so I’ve got very strong relationships — not just with the cast, but with the crew and the producers. And it’s a great family there. We shoot on a very tight schedule, we accomplish a lot every day, and I can’t do any of that alone. It really takes a team to execute these incredible stories, and it is one of the best crews in TV.
These folks, they bring it every time and and so I’ve developed a shorthand with them. As well as some trust, because every time I return, if I’ve done episodes before that turned out well, the next time I come back and [I’m] like, “Hey, you want to do some ice skating,” they’re like oh, okay, let’s figure this out.
One thing that is interesting about directing television that people may not realize is that I only get the script usually the night before I start prep, which is about eight days. I have eight days to do all the scouting, all the meetings, casting, all that preparation, and then usually eight or nine days to shoot it. The turnaround is very, very fast, and that makes it a very high stress job, but it also makes it really fun and challenging.
And when you have a really great team like at FBI: Most Wanted, I really rely on that team to help me figure things out and execute. There’s no way you can just come in and be like “Everyone, just put everything down and do what I say.” You really have to integrate yourself into the team and get the best work out of everyone around you in order to just survive, much less make a great episode.
The Wolf Entertainment shows do have a number of incredible female directors. Aside from yourself, former Chicago Fire star Monica Raymund has directed episodes of FBI and multiple Law & Orders, and then there’s Brenna Malloy, Nicole Rubio, Christine Swanson, the list goes on. Have any of you ever connected to share your experiences?
For sure. Brenna and Monica are both fantastic, and there’s a number of other women that have been directing for Wolf that are great. Brenna and I actually started directing in the Wolf camp at the same time. In 2018, when I did my first Chicago Med, I also did a Chicago Fire that season, she was doing Chicago PD at the same time. So we were all in Chicago together, because the Chicago shows, they’re all at the same [soundstages]. I think we were all staying in the same hotel too. I got to know her pretty well.
And then I knew Monica in New York. We had crossed paths a number of times, and I got to know her, and I’ve hung out with her and her wife. It’s been a really great experience to have the support of other lady directors.
You’ve also now gotten to work with a majority of the casts across all three of the Wolf brands — FBI, One Chicago and Law & Order. Are there actors whom you’ve particularly learned from working with?
FBI: International Season 4, Episode 10, “Keep Calm and Deliver the Biotoxin,” reveals the fate of one Fly Team member in a very surprising way.
That’s hard to pick because there are so many fantastic actors on these shows who are also fantastic people and that I really enjoy collaborating with. If I had to choose one, it would be Alana de la Garza. She and I were on Law & Order together years ago, and that’s how she and I met. We became very, very close friends right away, when we were both cast on Law & Order in the same season [Season 17].
And to this day, you know, her kids call me Auntie. So when I go to direct FBI now, a shorthand doesn’t even cover it. [Laughs.] I basically just look at Alana, and she’s like, got it. And then I walk away. She and I are very, very close, and it feels like a gift that I get to collaborate with her.
Is there any chance that you’d do a guest role on one of the Dick Wolf shows, even if it’s just a brief appearance, just for the fans who still remember the on-screen parts you’ve played in this universe?
That would be really fun. I have yet to do a physical cameo, but you know, who knows? It might happen one of these days.
FBI: Most Wanted airs Tuesdays at 10:00 p.m. on CBS.
