‘We Were the Lucky Ones’: Thomas Kail on the Emotional Finale Episode
Growing up, Thomas Kail—the Tony award-winning and Emmy-nominated director—loved It’s A Wonderful Life. “We were this Jewish family living in Northern Virginia and my mother loved Jimmy Stewart. That movie was always on,” Kail told The Daily Beast’s Obsessed over Zoom. Though he was unaware that directing was even a job at the time, Kail’s discovery of who made the film—Frank Capra—sent him on a journey to discover what else Capra made, and who inspired him to make films. “It was definitely a gateway,” said Kail.
Since finding his passion for theater in his early twenties, Kail has become a prominent stage director, helming musicals like In the Heights, Sweeney Todd, and Hamilton (for which he won a Tony). He’s also directed countless plays, and has broken into television, directing episodes of 2 Broke Girls, Up Here, and the special Grease Live. He also created Fosse/Verdon, which stars his wife Michelle Williams.
His latest project—the Hulu limited series We Were the Lucky Ones, tells the incredible true story of the Kurcs, a Jewish family who defied the odds by surviving the events of the Holocaust. Kail served as executive producer, and directed the series premiere and finale, which is now available to stream. The series has received critical acclaim, and even screened at the United Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. “It was a night that will be held in our hearts and never forgotten,” Kail said.