Jordan Calloway was booked and busy with the newest episode of Fire Country, which had him pulling double duty as an actor and director.

During the Friday, November 7, episode of the hit CBS series, Jake (Calloway) found himself in the running to be Cal Fire Battalion Chief, but that required proving he could lead the team. Jake ran into some issues with Bode (Max Thieriot), who was still grieving his father’s death and a near-relapse.

Jake’s best efforts weren’t enough, and ultimately Manny (Kevin Alejandro) scored his job. Calloway, meanwhile, had much more fun offscreen getting to direct an episode of television for the first time ever. The actor, 35, spoke exclusively to Us Weekly about balancing the surprising developments in Jake’s arc with his job as a director:

Photos of ‘Fire C

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