JULY 1, 2020 EMMY PREVIEW/DRAMA
PRESENTS J U LY 1 , 2020 E MMY P R E VI E W/ D R A MA
JEREMY STRONG
The method behind the madness of Succession’s second season
HILLARY CLINTON
Takes a deep dive into her life and times with a new documentary series
Plus:
DIALOGUE: DRAMA
Rose Byrne
Kerry Washington Gugu Mbatha-Raw Kaitlyn Dever
Fresh faces Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones break through in the love story that smashed ratings records and became a television sensation
PEOPLE
D EA DL I NE .CO M /AWA RDSL I NE
NORMAL
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
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7
JEREMY STRONG Succession’s troubled second son attempts to break free from his fate
11
WORLD MAGIC How The Mandalorian’s use of new technology could change the game
12
TEENAGE KICKS The breakthrough stars of Normal People join director Lenny Abrahamson to discuss the hit Irish television phenomenon
22
DIALOGUE: DRAMA Kerry Washington Rose Byrne Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Kaitlyn Dever Gugu Mbatha-Raw
32
THE PARTNERSHIP Hillary Clinton teams up with Nanette Burstein for a documentary series on her life and work
36
FLASH MOB Tap into the webcams of the assembled players that took part in Deadline’s digital Contenders Television livestream event ON THE COVER Paul Mescal & Daisy Edgar-Jones photographed exclusively for Deadline by Violeta Sofia ON THIS PAGE Kerry Washington photographed exclusively for Deadline by Chris Chapman
THE ACTOR’S SIDE Intriguing one-on-one conversations between Deadline’s awards editor and leading actors of film & television NEW VIDEOS EVERY WEDNESDAY WATC H N OW AT DE A DL I N E .C OM
Prince of Darkness BA FTA L A/CO N TOU R BY G E T T Y I M AG ES
As Kendall Roy steps out of his father’s looming shadow in Season 2 of Succession, Jeremy Strong grapples with a heavy head perpetually denied its crown BY JOE UTICHI
PHOTOGRAPH BY
Emma McIntyre
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
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MOMENT OF TRUTH Strong, as Kendall Roy, offloading family secrets in Succession.
the first time in his life. “This is the day his reign ends.” “It’s an eleventh-hour buzzer-beater
yourself up; no real person involved.” It was an exchange folded into the script by creator Jesse Armstrong in
moment,” says Strong of Kendall’s
one of its later drafts, after debating the
electrifying press conference coup de
scene with Strong. “We had a hammer,
grâce. “A somersault flip that has been a
we had a trigger, and we were missing
long time coming.”
a firing pin,” Strong says. “I know my
In Kendall’s mind, one imagines, are
father’s a bastard, and I know he’s cruel.
those final words his father left him with.
But I don’t think I’ve ever quite seen the
“You’re not a killer,” Logan told Kendall,
gorgon head of his evil before, and I think
before accidentally lighting the flame he
that has a real effect. Despite the glaring
had previously been tamping down. “You
evidence of my father being a false god,
have to be a killer.”
I have been worshipping at his altar for
But Kendall was a killer, in a very literal
so long. I’m ready to be his sacrifice. But
sense. At a wedding towards the end of
I think, in that moment, I finally see him
the first season, he had slipped from his
for what he is.”
sobriety and been responsible for the
Strong often talks about Kendall like
death of a waiter in a car accident remi-
this; in the first-person, as though the
niscent of Chappaquiddick, very quickly
character is as much a part of him as
for him to deliver. “The truth is that my
hushed up and tucked under the rug by
any memory he holds of his own life. It
living in the pillory Logan Roy has
father is a malignant presence, a bully
his family’s frightening and unchecked
is not affectation. Strong’s approach to
constructed to keep his own children in
and a liar,” he tells the assembled press.
power. Everyone had moved on, but
his work has always been to internalize
line, that final swing becomes the release
“And he was fully personally aware of
Kendall could not. And on the verge of
and embody fully. Even before his acting
that Kendall has longed for, even if he
these events for many years and made
tears in that final conversation with his
career gained steam, he had worked with
never knew it. At the press conference
efforts to hide and cover up.” He pulls a
father, he had brought it up. Perhaps
Daniel Day-Lewis, serving as his personal
set up for him to admit culpability,
set of index cards from his jacket pocket,
he deserved to be his family’s fall guy?
assistant on The Ballad of Jack and Rose.
Kendall rejects the statement prepared
and lays out the full truth, for perhaps
“No,” Logan had assured him. “Don’t beat
Later, they worked together in front of
But after two seasons and a lifetime
8
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
COU RT ESY OF H BO
THE SECOND SEASON OF SUCCESSION ENDS WITH A BANG for Jeremy Strong’s Kendall Roy, the troubled second son of a Murdochinspired media dynasty built by his imposing father, Logan, played by Brian Cox. Kendall has been selected by his father to become the family’s sacrificial lamb, as a crisis threatens to engulf the Waystar-Royco empire. “One meaningful skull to wave,” as Logan puts it, to protect the family’s control on the business. And, for Logan, Kendall has never had the cutthroat spirit to run the company, an admission he makes as he swings the hangman’s ax down on his own son’s neck.
the camera, with art imitating life as
deadened place, for months on end, in
Strong played John Nicolay, the private
a way that was difficult because that’s
secretary to Day-Lewis’s Abraham Lin-
not my nature.”
coln in Steven Spielberg’s eponymous biopic of the President. Watching Day-Lewis’s work was
thing to it, and whatever it costs you is
a lesson to Strong about how to
what it costs you. I don’t really believe
approach his own. “What I saw in him
in tempering things so that you can
was a willingness to make a fool of
stay healthy, if what the character is
himself on the day in front of the crew
experiencing is a form of hell. Because
and the other actors so that he could
it’s not about you. It’s about the millions
really believe in the thing and commit
of people, potentially, who might expe-
to it,” Strong remembers. “I think com-
rience something from the storytelling.
mitment is a worthy goal; you have to
That might be moved, or even have a
leave everything else at the gate. I was
cathartic experience, if you come from
22 and it was a great privilege to get to
a real place and truly embody what the
witness that.”
character is thinking.”
He chuckles. “At the same time,
S UCC ESS I ON : HBO; BA LLA D : IFC P RODS /KOBA L/S HU T T E RSTOC K ; LI N CO L N : D RE AM WO R KS / 20 T H CE N T U RY FOX /KO BAL /S H U T T E RSTOC K
But there was no avoiding it. “You have to really go there and give every-
Still, despite the frequent opinions
he’d be so mad to know I’m sitting
held about the irrationality of method
here talking about him as if that were
performance—perhaps most famously
something special. He is an actor who
(and perhaps most apocryphally),
is endangering himself for love, I guess,
Laurence Olivier telling Dustin Hoff-
like we all do, and I think part of what
man, after a discussion of Hoffman’s
became difficult for him was the way
method, “My dear boy, have you tried
in which it elevated him, or gave him
acting?”—Strong insists there’s a very
some kind of special status in other
clear line. He may try to lose himself in
people’s eyes. But between us, he’s an
the characters he plays, but he is never
otherworldly force.”
truly lost. “For me, it is a game. You’re
‘Endangering’ is a apt choice of
approximating something and trying
STORIED HISTORY Clockwise, from top: With Brian Cox in Succession, Daniel Day-Lewis and Camilla Belle in The Ballad of Jack and Rose, as John Nicolay in Lincoln.
word, especially considering the emo-
to render it, but it does exist within
tional weight a character like Kendall
lines on a court. I wish you could lose
Roy has been carrying around. The
yourself in it completely—and there are
it gives us the possibility of capturing
Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment,
flipside of an all-in, method approach
moments within scenes in which you
these real moments. A lot of the scenes
who has both an inflated sense of self
to acting is that it isn’t so easy to leave
do, and that’s usually when it’s good—
between Brian and I are just the two
and an abject insecurity. You imagine
that weight on the soundstage at the
but I guess you bring yourself up to the
of us getting into the ring together and
that tug of war is always going on inside
end of a day. “I don’t know that acting
ledge as best you can.”
going for it.”
of him, and so it does make me feel a
in itself is the sanest or healthiest
He insists that he can step away
But so much, he says, about being
lot of empathy for his struggle.” Kendall’s triumphant press confer-
pursuit,” Strong says. “I was in a fucked-
from Kendall, and keep his creative and
fighting fit in the moment revolves
up headspace, in a very intensely
personal lives separate. But occupy-
around the work he put into under-
ence moment feels like it might be his
ing the inner thoughts of a different
standing the peculiar mindset of an
most apposite chance to escape from
person requires a bit of revving up and
entitled enfant terrible of a billionaire
his father’s rule and set his own destiny.
throttling down either side. He admires
family. The Roy siblings all exist in a
But the final shot of the season rests
those actors who can switch their char-
state of emotional immaturity, instilled
on Logan’s face as his son tears up and
acters on and off like a light bulb. “Meryl
in them by their privilege, and their
discards those index cards that have
I DON’T REALLY BELIEVE IN TEMPERING THINGS SO THAT YOU CAN STAY HEALTHY, IF WHAT THE CHARACTER IS EXPERIENCING IS A FORM OF HELL.”
Streep talks about that; pretending to
parents’ detached approach.
just exploded his carefully controlled
—JEREMY STRONG, SUCCESSION
world. And, just before the episode cuts
the level of belief so she’s just there
“Kendall is full of these things that
when they call action,” he says. “But,
have been planted in him by his father’s
to black, a wry smile starts to form at
for whatever reason, my runway—my
abuse and his mother’s lack of nurture,”
the corner of Logan’s lips. He has finally
taxi and takeoff—is just a lot longer and
Strong reflects of Kendall’s urgency
seen his son become a killer.
there’s more in my way.”
to please. “What’s so great about the
After a lifetime spent chasing his
writing is Jesse pulls from so many
father’s validation, that means all bets
the production of Succession that
sources. So, of course, I read a lot about
are off for Kendall Roy. “I don’t have
might allow him to get up to speed,
the Murdochs and thought a lot about
the kind of relationship with my father
but Strong is pleased about that. The
what it must be like to be James and
that Kendall has with his,” says Strong.
discoveries you make in rehearsal, he
Lachlan, growing up at that breakfast
“But I do know what it’s like to have
says, are given added artifice when
table and having a father whose only
heroes and to not measure up to those
they’re reenacted for the camera. “You
language was commerce and strength,
heroes. That’s as much as I’ll say about
have to walk into a scene not knowing
if that might not be your own native
that, but by inference, I’m sure you can
what’s going to happen. We get to work
tongue. But I also think there’s elements
understand what I mean… and what a
in this wonderfully dangerous way, but
of Biff in Death of a Salesman. And
powerful thing that is.” ★
There is no rehearsal built into
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
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CHARTED TERRITORY
At press time, here is how Gold Derby’s experts ranked Emmy chances in the Drama categories. Follow all the races at GoldDerby.com
Let Them Eat Cake
DRAMA SERIES
ODDS
1
Succession
4/1
2
Ozark
6/1
3
The Crown
6/1
4
Better Call Saul
7/1
5
The Morning Show
23/2
FX’s Kate Lambert shares the inspiration behind the innovative short-form series ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES WITH CAKE, FXX sought to bring prestige short-form content to mainstream TV. Spearheaded by Kate Lambert, SVP, Original Programming at FX Networks, the show was conceived as, “a collection of bite-sized snacks that were all of one piece,” the executive says. Targeted toward a millennial audience, Cake was inspired by Liquid Television and the wacky variety of Adult Swim—a treasure trove of animated and live-action programming, ranging widely in aesthetic, length and tone. In curating pieces for the series, Lambert was guided by the fearless, adult-driven brand ethos of FX. They aimed for “something with a point of view and authenticity,” she says, “that was challenging, cinematic and told a great story.” For Lambert, one of the most exciting aspects to Cake has been its potential as an incubator for diverse, up-and-coming talent from around the world. “That’s part of the heart and soul of development at FX,” she says, “just finding those people, giving them a platform, and letting them take off.” In Season 1, one of these raw talents was Samantha Jayne. The creator and star of the recurring segment Quarter Life Poetry—an exploration of a young woman’s struggles in her personal and professional life—Jayne’s project started its life as a series of poems published on Instagram, and has now successfully connected with audiences worldwide. “It’s been the most lovely collaborative process with FX,” Jayne says. “We feel so lucky that they’ve believed in Quarter Life Poetry, what it stands for, and how it affects conversation.” —Matt Grobar
FLIGHT OF FANTASY Production Designer Frank Walsh talks building a faerie homeland for Carnival Row
1
Brian Cox Succession
39/10
2
Bob Odenkirk Better Call Saul
9/2
3
Jason Bateman Ozark
5/1
4
Jeremy Strong Succession
11/2
5
Billy Porter Pose
13/2
ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES Olivia Colman The Crown
37/10
2
Laura Linney Ozark
9/2
3
Jennifer Aniston The Morning Show
5/1
4
Jodie Comer Killing Eve
13/2
5
Elisabeth Moss The Handmaid’s Tale
19/2
without that,” Walsh says, “I think [the show] was just an odd fantasy set-up.” Basing Tirnancoc’s earthy architecture on medieval churches in Ethiopia and Norway, Walsh rounded out the world by incorporating eroded sandstones
prior to their subjugation at the
mountains he found, while scouting
Row, production designer Frank
hands of humans. For Walsh, properly
locations in the Czech Republic. “It’s
Walsh was tasked with creating a
establishing this environment was
all about chasms, and the sky, and the
village for an ancient race of faeries.
key, in demonstrating the depth and
darkness of the ground,” the designer
Immersed in the natural world, the
sensitivity of these characters—
notes. “I felt like that very much was
Fae flew freely amidst the beautiful,
qualities that set them apart from
a place where I could see the Fae
snowcapped mountains of Tirnanoc,
their urban oppressors. “Because
existing.” —Matt Grobar
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
ODDS
1
On Victorian fantasy series Carnival
10
ODDS
UNITE Faerie meets human in Carnival Row.
The Art of Craft
Dispatching disparate location shoots in favor of a revolutionary digital “volume” stage, The Mandalorian leaned heavily into an evolving approach to visual effects that may change production workflows forever BY MATT GROBAR
SPACEMAKERS The Mandalorian himself (Pedro Pascal, center) and the show’s crew on the volume stage, with a dynamic digital backdrop projected onto LED panels in 270 degrees.
1
4
COURTESY OF DISNEY+
7
To craft an epic space Western on a TV budget,
2
The volume, made up of 2,200 LED screens in a
3
The videogame engine, married with high resolu-
The Mandalorian eschewed
20x70ft circle, projected
tion environment scans,
location shoots and instead
environments crafted from
had advanced far enough
crafted a digital exterior vol-
plates and digital assets, on
to project photorealistic
ume on a soundstage
Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4
worlds in real-time
The nascent StageCraft technology relies on age-old
5
The many LED panels were bright enough to offer ambi-
6
The real-time rendering of the footage meant cam-
principles of rear projection
ent lighting to the scenes
era movement could be
and camera perspective,
being shot; actors and props
matched by parallax moves
given a cutting-edge, mod-
seamlessly blended with even
in the renderer, offering il-
ern twist
dynamic lighting changes
lusory perspective
Scenes could be shot on alien landscapes with little
8
Almost 60% of scenes shot for The Mandalorian took
9
A recent tech demo for Unreal Engine 5 suggests
need for green screen chro-
place on the volume. VFX
even further improvements
ma key stages. Post-produc-
supervisor Richard Bluff con-
to come. Could long post-
tion compositing work was
siders StageCraft a game-
production VFX workflows
considerably reduced
changing technology
become a thing of the past?
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
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Photography by
VIOLETA SOFIA
PEOPLE LIKE US
Just how has Normal People taken the world by storm? Starring unknown actors, the humble story of a love affair between two Irish
schoolkids has smashed ratings records and sparked much online chatter. ANTONIA BLYTH meets the makers of a phenomenon.
14
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
#1 CRUSH
Clockwise, from left: Marianne (Daisy EdgarJones) and Connell (Paul Mescal) celebrate the new year at home in Sligo, Ireland; Connell wrestles with anxiety as a school student; pillow talk; Marianne on vacation at her family's Italian villa.
THERE’S SOMETHING ODD ABOUT
Normal People. It is, ostensibly, a show about two teenagers who fall in love, then navigate a very typical series of bust-ups and reconciliations. So far, so normal. And the show begins innocently enough. Set in Ireland, we see the popular and sporty Connell (Paul Mescal) get together with awkward school outcast Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones). But then comes this weird sorcery. As you watch the couple move from high school to college, somehow the story creeps up on you, tears out your heart, chucks it out the window, and runs it over with a bus. Based on Sally Rooney’s New York Times
devoted to Connell’s ever-present silver necklace
bestselling novel of the same name, Normal
(@connellschain, 184k followers) and Marianne’s
People elegantly and succinctly shows us how
effortless trademark fringe (@mariannesbangs,
humans mess up our relationships, how we
8.6k followers).
misunderstand each other; how our defenses—
Director and executive producer Lenny
designed to protect us—in fact keep us from the
Abrahamson, the Oscar-nominated helmer
very things we want most in life. The experience
behind Room, rubs his forehead in consternation
of watching it as an adult is to find oneself
as he goes over the viewing figures. “I still can’t
rethinking every missed chance and reviewing
quite believe it,” he says. “The numbers are just
every past relationship.
absolutely unbelievable.” The BBC’s streaming
Such is this Normal People effect that, Edgar-
service, BBC iPlayer, has been the most shocking
Jones reports, when I meet her in a corner of her
for him so far. “I remember the first week was
London bedroom via Zoom, “I have had a few
16-point-something million, which was double
people who are older message me and say [after
the previous highest figure. There was 16 million
watching], ‘I just rekindled my old flame from high
for Normal People, and something like 21 million
school.’ I’ve had two or three people tell me that.”
for the [entire] iPlayer. And the previous record
In Ireland, Normal People is so popular that
[high] was Killing Eve, and that was something
even a rather staid national newspaper ran
like 10 million.” Then there are the Irish viewing
a trivia quiz on the show. In the UK, endless
figures. “RTÉ just published their results from their
articles expound upon the appeal of the
domain. Normal People is three times higher than
previously-unknown Mescal and Edgar-Jones.
the best ever previous drama on the channel. It
On Instagram, accounts have sprung up solely
really blows my mind.” In the U.S., Hulu has not D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
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released any numbers, but, says Abrahamson, “from what we understand, they seem very happy.” So, what is this show’s secret sauce? As with every great project, a perfect storm of talent is obviously required, but that doesn’t explain these vast viewing figures. Abrahamson humbly offers that during COVID lockdown, people have needed a show about love and connection. He also says that while this era of high-quality television has hit the crime, thriller, and drama genres hard from the beginning— he cites The Sopranos and The Wire—no one had yet put a love story in that space. And it’s true that elevated television has not featured much in the way of pure romance before. Normal People’s elevation is largely down to Abrahamson’s gentle hand on the tiller, and the way he deliberately hides his machinations, rather than
“I FEEL LIKE I GOT TO THE POINT WITH DAISY WHERE I KNEW WHAT WE WERE BOTH GOING TO DO BEFORE WE DID IT, WHICH IS LOVELY.” —Paul Mescal
showing them off, which ironically, is the hardest sort of directing there is. As he himself says, “If you’re hiding the scaffolding, then it’s harder to seem like you’ve disappeared, because if you did really disappear, the whole thing would just become documentary or something. So, you’re making all these decisions, but you’re trying to do them in a way that leaves a sense of taking ownership to the audience. It’s more personally meaningful if it feels like something you’ve discovered. I think one of the reasons why people perhaps are affected by Normal People in the way that they are is that they’re encountering something, rather than having somebody predigest it for you and
moments are actually incredibly intimate. And it’s
tell you what’s happening.”
amazing that you can feel safe, and be able to ask,
He points out that without the talent and chem-
the scene is deeper, and more emotional, and sexier
balance of ‘show, don’t tell’ wouldn’t have worked.
because those moments of realness are there.”
“I wouldn’t have had the chance of working at that
From top: Marianne and Connell find their way back to each other in their final year of college; Marianne at home; running an errand together in Italy.
have some dialogue and then cut to a very separate,
audience they are mad about each other, and that
voyeuristic view of bodies. Normal People eschews
is a poor substitute for what seems to the audience
all that. Instead the camera is most often on the
to be just an act of authentic observation.” Given
actors’ faces, and the physical feels like a continua-
that he had actors who could carry this approach,
tion of the dialogue. characters seriously. Abrahamson says, “Quite often,
And thus, he set the tone for the whole series—the
stories centered on that point in people’s lives, and
first half directed by him, the latter six episodes by
on that generation, can have the effect of diminish-
Hettie Macdonald (Howards End).
ing them, as if this was a naïve and silly phase of life,
One much-discussed scene that seems to have
before you’ve learned wisdom. And I thought the
deeply affected viewers sees Marianne losing her
opportunity was really there to make something
virginity to Connell. He asks for her consent in the
about that moment which shows it to be potentially
most perfect way imaginable. “If you want to stop or
the most alive and truthful and intense and lived
anything, we can obviously stop,” he tells Marianne.
part of a person’s journey. I think that’s where the
“If it hurts or anything, we can stop. It won’t be
longing comes from, because there is loads about
awkward. You just say.” The actors seem to con-
that time that I would not go back to, but on the other
nect so openly and honestly that what might be an
hand, there’s an amazing depth of feeling, and how
embarrassing moment becomes sexy. She asks him
intensely you feel things when you’re younger.”
often see on screen. “What I found so amazing,” Edgar-Jones says, “is
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
Another thing the show does is take its 17-year-old
that we feel we are not watching them, we are them.
to get a condom. These are conversations we don’t
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Usually, Abrahamson points out, sex scenes
level, with that depth. I would have had to tell the
Abrahamson sometimes has the camera so close
YOUNG HEARTS
and not have to be clunky or awkward. If anything,
istry of Edgar-Jones and Mescal though, this delicate
When Abrahamson’s longtime producing partner Ed Guiney of Element Pictures first read Rooney’s novel, it was as an unpublished galley, and, since
how much that scene in particular sparked a wider
Element was already developing her first novel,
conversation about first-time scenes. It seems that
Conversations with Friends, Guiney actually hoped
when we come to intimate scenes, those awkward
he wouldn’t like this new one. It would be simpler if
bits are rushed over. This highlights that those
he didn’t want it—surely, he thought, Rooney would
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D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
“ONE OF THE MOST SPECIAL THINGS I GAINED FROM NORMAL PEOPLE WAS MEETING PAUL. BECAUSE IT WAS A SCARY THING, AND WE WERE BOTH VERY SCARED TO GO INTO DOING IT. IT’S A LOT OF PRESSURE TAKING ON CHARACTERS THAT PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY FALLEN IN LOVE WITH, AND THAT WERE LOCKED IN THEIR OWN IMAGINATION.” —Daisy Edgar-Jones
not want to have the rights to both her books with
Room with Brie [Larson]. Obviously, the charac-
the same company? “Unfortunately,” he says, “I
ters span age 17 to 22, so I guess that means that
light touches was to pare back the script even
completely fell in love with it.”
you’re not looking for people who are well-known,
further. “What I spend a lot of time doing in
because there aren’t that many well-known
pre-production is removing dialogue,” he says.
actors at that age.”
“[With a book] you start with something blank
Guiney shared the book with Abrahamson, and things began to click into place. Not only did the material really sing for the duo who had made Frank
Mescal was an early find for the team. Com-
What Abrahamson also did beyond those
and you’re adding. Nothing is there if you don’t
together in Ireland, and whose 2015 film Room got
pletely unknown to television, he had done some
decide to describe it. But cameras are a bit
them both Oscar nominations, but the story’s setting
excellent theater work, Guiney says. “We loved
stupid. You take the lens cap off and every-
had to seem almost serendipitous to these two
him from very early days.” Finding Edgar-Jones
thing floods in. And so, I find the process of
friends who’d attended Trinity College together, and
took another couple of months. She had done
removal is a part of really good filmmaking. It’s
who met as 15-year-olds in Ireland. “It was a kind of
some television before, including ITV’s Cold Feet
what you really don’t need. And that’s always
coming together of my own biography, Ed’s biogra-
and the BBC miniseries War of the Worlds.
a challenge in an adaptation.”
phy, and the desire to do something set in our home
When she met Mescal, Edgar-Jones imme-
Edgar-Jones says, “It would be very easy
country,” Abrahamson says. With him on board, the
diately recognized the character from the book.
to take all of the dialogue [from the book] and
BBC greenlit the project.
“I think I was down to the final five girls that they
put it on the page and bring it to the scene.
were seeing,” she says. “I had obviously read the
Often, we’d have that. And then Lenny would
but essential move. A successful but still young
book and [the characters] feel so real. So, it was
say, ‘Let’s cut back. Let’s really allow the audi-
novelist, Rooney had never written a script. “She
very odd then, meeting Paul and being like, ‘I’d like
ence to fill in the gaps.’”
read scripts and she read treatments and she just
to know you, because you’re Connell.’”
Bringing on Rooney as screenwriter was a bold
immersed herself in the how-to of screenwriting,”
For Mescal, the magic was there too—an
Guiney and Abrahamson also knew that the intense, very intimate scenes were
Guiney says, “and then she had a go, and it turns out
experience so ephemeral it’s impossible to
key, and they were aware of the need to
she’s a bloody brilliant screenwriter.” Then, together,
pinpoint. “How do you know when you meet your
protect everybody involved. So, an intimacy
Rooney, Alice Birch (Lady Macbeth) and Mark O’Rowe
best friend?” he says. “Or how do you know when
coordinator was brought in. “We had this
crafted the unicorn of literary adaptations: a script
you meet any potentially lifelong partners, from a
wonderful person,” Guiney says. “A woman
that loses absolutely none of the novel’s poignance
first meeting, that they are going to be that thing?
called Ita O’Brien, who, with Lenny and
and power.
You can’t. It’s a process that builds. But I knew very
Daisy and Paul, and with the DP Suzi Lavelle,
quickly, as we got into the shooting process, that
worked very closely together to create an
seemed made for a television series, the shape of
Daisy was the perfect fit for Marianne as an actor.”
atmosphere so that the actors could actually
them fitting perfectly into 12 half-hour episodes,
Their first chemistry read brought the room
It helped that the chapters of Rooney’s novel
cease to worry about the choreography of
although that shorter length is unusual for a drama.
to tears. Abrahamson describes it thus: “There’s a
those scenes, and could actually act. Because
“In a way, doing 12 half-hours is almost like chaptering
very complicated scene, where she says, ‘I would lie
we had such young actors, we just wanted
it, like a book,” Guiney says. “It just allowed for a more
down and you could do what you wanted to me.’ In
to make sure that they were as comfortable
pleasurable experience of the piece. And we really
the audition we simplified it. And I think we did the
and as protected as possible, had as much
just cleaved to Sally’s book. We’ve done a lot of book
first kiss. And we did that lovely scene where they
agency in how those scenes were done and
adaptations over the years, but I don’t think we’ve
meet each other again in college. Oh my God, it’s so
didn’t feel any pressure. Ita just creates a
ever done anything that’s stayed as close to the
sizzling, that scene. Paul on that day… It was one of
very—to use that well-worn phrase—safe
source material. There are no new characters, there
his great days. When he says to her, ‘You were always
space. But it is a really safe space where really
are really no new plot lines.”
pretty. You’re beautiful,’ there was such an electricity
good work can happen.”
The casting had to be a kind of alchemy. Along
between them. I looked around and Emma Norton,
“I wouldn’t ever sign on to a job now where
with casting director Louise Kiely (The Lobster, Dublin
producer, Catherine Magee, producer, Louise Kiely,
sex is required without an intimacy coordina-
Murders), Guiney says, “Sally was very involved in
casting director, they were all having a cry. I remem-
tor,” Mescal says, “because I can’t imagine
finding the right Connell and Marianne. We wanted
ber just thinking, God, this is one of those onscreen
how you would do it.”
to cast Irish, ideally. And also, Lenny always likes to
relationships that you can really go with very light
cast close in age to the characters. He did that on
touches as a director.”
“Lenny was really keen that [we had] 50-50 nudity,” Edgar-Jones adds, “and D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
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“CAMERAS ARE A BIT STUPID. YOU TAKE THE LENS CAP OFF AND EVERYTHING FLOODS IN. AND SO, I FIND THE PROCESS OF REMOVAL IS A PART OF REALLY GOOD FILMMAKING. IT’S WHAT YOU REALLY DON’T NEED. AND THAT’S ALWAYS A CHALLENGE IN AN ADAPTATION.” —Lenny Abrahamson, director, executive producer
making sure that was equal, but also that if you were going to use nudity, it wouldn’t just be thrown in for the sake of it, it would be a natural moment that it would occur.” Lavelle and Abrahamson showed the actors the work of photographer Nan Goldin as a reference point for how relaxed and natural Marianne and Connell are in these scenes. “She did The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, during the ’80s, when she did these amazing photographs, like one of this couple in bed with the woman having dirty feet. Just these amazing observations of human beings.” Having Macdonald direct the second half of the season was both a practical and tonal decision, Abrahamson says. Part of it was simply not having the time to shoot all 12 episodes himself, and some of it was knowing that in setting the tone, creating the style, and building the crew himself, he wouldn’t feel he was giving up half the show. He also felt that the script, and the original book, naturally fell into two halves. “There’s no massive shift,” he says, “but there is a kind of darkening in the second half. I thought it might be interesting for a really, really good director with their own strong, creative impulses to bring their own vision to it. So, even though it was going to have to work within the tone of what I created in the first block, we didn’t want somebody who was just going to come in and copy that; we wanted somebody with their own voice.” Macdonald really embraced close camera work in those latter episodes, which fit with Abrahamson’s approach. “Hettie would sometimes say, ‘Okay, we filmed these shots, but this time, this is your secret camera,’” Edgar-Jones says. “This is where you tell the audience what you’re really feeling.’” The ‘secret camera’ was set up close to her face and in such a way that it allowed a kind of private communication. “I knew Marianne was this very vulnerable and soft person and she had a lot of self-doubt. She wasn’t actually this cold person. So, you give me a secret camera where I could go, ‘Okay, I’ve done all of that bit, but now I’ll show this camera exactly what’s really going on.’ That was really fun, learning skills of film acting. I’ve never really had the chance to do that. And I really enjoyed that process.” An intense, months-long shoot, when you’re in almost every scene, and those scenes are deeply emotional, would be tough on any actor. But Mescal and Edgar-Jones developed a genuine friendship that helped lighten the load of the toughest beats. “[Marianne and Connell’s] dynamic is quite different from mine and Paul’s,” Edgar-Jones says, “because they are wonderful, but they are quite serious at times. And I think Paul and I are quite silly and we get hysterical quite quickly and easily. So, if we were ever doing things that were quite emotional, we were able to have a good giggle off screen.” “Towards the end of the shoot,” Mescal says, “discussions around scenes just happened less and less and less, because—and this is kind of insane—we both knew without speaking to each other how we
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D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
were going to play the scene. I feel like I got to the
them are romantically over for now, but with the
point with Daisy where I knew what we were both
implication that they might find each other again
going to do before we did it, which is lovely.”
one day. An ending aggravating enough that viewers
Their friendship is something both actors speak of very fondly. “I’ve definitely found a friend, one of my best friends for life,” Mescal says. “If the show had
will surely be clamoring for another season. Would Rooney write a follow-up? “We’ve talked about the possibility of how
been an absolute failure, that’s something that brings
interesting it would be to check back in with them,”
me massive joy, that I found somebody who is an
Abrahamson says, “but apart from just general
amazing person and who I really enjoy working with.”
musings and over a drink, no, there have been no
“I think Paul and I will always be best friends,” adds
concrete discussions about what it would be like. As
Edgar-Jones. “One of the most special things I gained
Sally says, the book stops where it stops because it
from Normal People was meeting Paul. Because it
feels right. But, I have a sneaking thing in the back of
was a scary thing, and we were both very scared to
my head that if everybody was willing, and if the stars
go into doing it. It’s a lot of pressure taking on charac-
aligned, I’d love to revisit them in five years and find
ters that people have already fallen in love with, and
out what happened, where they are. Is somebody a
that were locked in their own imagination.”
father or a mother? What relationships are they in
Perhaps the scene that best showcases
that then get disrupted by their meeting again? But
Mescal’s work comes when Connell experiences
it would be really strange to pick that up eight weeks
a serious bout of depression at college. While
later with him traveling to New York, I think. There
Marianne, temporarily studying in Sweden and split
needs to be time.” He would want to let the actors
from Connell, tries to support him, even leaving
truly age those years too. “You’d do it for real, you’d
their Skype connection open so she can watch over
do it á la Before Sunset.”
him as he sleeps, his friend from back home has
For now, though, Abrahamson and Guiney will
committed suicide and Connell feels desperately
be working on what Abrahamson calls “a cousin” to
adrift. As Mescal puts it, “The line that really jumped
Normal People—Rooney’s first novel, Conversations
out to me, made me upset when I read it, is when
with Friends—which will be another Hulu series. It’s
he says, ‘Back home people liked me, here I don’t
a love story set in Dublin again, this time between
think people like me that much.’ I was like, Oh, this
two young women, one of whom takes up with the
is fucking brutal. Ultimately, he feels so let down by
husband of their older mutual friend. “But it’s differ-
his life decisions and events, that he says, ‘I thought
ent [from Normal People],” he says, “and we don’t
that if I moved here, I’d feel better, but I don’t, I hate
want to do a sort of secret Season 2 thing.” Surely, he
it here.’ Everything that he thought was going to
will be inundated by Normal People fans? “I hope we
make him feel content in the world has somehow
fulfill their now very high expectations.”
not happened.” We see Connell in a therapist’s office, first fighting
It seems then, that Marianne and Connell will have to live on in our minds for the foreseeable future.
tears, then sobbing as he describes his feelings, the
Where does Edgar-Jones imagine them? “I don’t
camera barely moving from his face. “You prepare as
know,” she says. “A little bit of me imagines that they’ll
much as you can,” Mescal says of doing emotional
always be in each other’s lives. I just don’t know if
work, “and then you pray to God that something
it would be in the romantic sense, but at the same
happens on the day, I don’t know. I haven’t worked
time, I find that quite hard to believe, because they do
consistently enough to know how to do it.”
have this uniquely special connection. And so, I hope
Edgar-Jones enjoys the way Rooney ultimately shows how much goodness Connell and Marianne have brought to each other’s lives. “The simple thing
that they do end up getting married and have loads of kids.” Mescal has also given this some thought.
of Marianne saying, ‘Oh, you go to sleep, I’ll stay up
“Connell, I believe, would potentially get married to
on Skype.’ It’s such a simple gesture, but it has a
somebody else,” he says. “It’ll destroy lots of people’s
profound effect on how Connell heals, and eventually
lives along the way, because ultimately they’re going
it builds him up in Episode 10. I think it’s about making
to be drawn. But they will consciously resist the idea
sure that the people you surround yourself with are
that they’re supposed to be together. It’ll be a long
the people that are worthy of your love. Obviously,
process of discovery until they finally find each other
Connell is, but someone like [her other boyfriend]
permanently, I think.” Then he adds, more emphati-
Jamie isn’t worthy of Marianne. It’s never going to
cally, “I really need them to be together. If Sally ever
work. It’s knowing that if you surround yourself with
decides to do the second book or second series, I
people who give you goodness, that can be the most
need them to be together.”
formative thing, the most wonderful gift that human beings give each other.” As with the novel, the ending of the series leaves Marianne and Connell at an ambiguous crossroads.
Why does he think they, and actually people in
LOVEFOOLS
From top: Marianne poses for her photographer boyfriend Lukas (Lancelot Ncube) while she and Connell are on a break; Connell visits a therapist while deaing with depression; Marianne suffers through the festive season, given her own dysfunctional family. Left: Behind the scenes on Normal People.
general, as he put it, consciously resist, or sabotage that kind of life-changing, intense connection? He leans toward his laptop camera, revealing a
Connell has been offered an opportunity to study
silver necklace exactly like Connell’s. “I think it’s nuts,”
creative writing in New York, and Marianne per-
he says, “and I think we all do it, and I don’t have an
suades him to accept, suggesting things between
answer. If I had that answer, I’d be a billionaire.” ★ D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
21
D THE DIALOGUE
EMMY CONTENDERS/ DRAMA
Kerry
I had a wall of my dressing room at the theatre dedicated to images of a lot of these young men. Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Philando Castile... And
WA S H I N GT O N
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women, too, like Sandra Bland. When a new incident happened, I would add pictures to that wall, because it felt to me like the play was, in some ways, a magnificent prayer to the unraveling of these injustices. I was constantly adding pictures to it, until it took up the entire wall.
With American Son, the Scandal alumnus is tackling the human cost of racial injustice head-on BY J O E U T I C H I
Sadly, nothing in American Son is new. For me, and for a lot of people in the Black community, this has always been present. Stories like these precede the introduction of these little personal
IT HAS BEEN A BUSY 12 MONTHS FOR Kerry Washington, with a key part in Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere, a directorial stint on HBO’s Insecure, and an exec producer role on Sundance doc The Fight occupying her time. In November she brought American Son, the critically acclaimed play written by Christopher Demos-Brown and first performed by her on Broadway, to Netflix as a TV movie. And with every passing day, its powerful story about a Black mother piecing together the details of the last night in her son’s life after a confrontation with police officers has become ever more prescient.
computers and video cameras we all walk around with today. And I think, for a long time, people thought that Black people were making a big deal out of something that wasn’t really there. “That person must have deserved it.” Now, because we have the power of capturing these images and this behavior, we’re seeing there’s a different reality at hand. I think that’s one of the reasons that it was so important and so fantastic that Christopher Demos-Brown put the cellphone in the play, because that’s really a part of the dynamic of how these stories unfold now.
How did the play American Son first
mance that are joyful. There are definitely
come to you?
moments of connection between them
So much of the play is about the family’s
I had done my first play on Broadway about
as a couple, and there are also moments
dynamic; Kendra is Black and her estranged
10 years ago. It was called Race, and I origi-
when she remembers her son as a baby. I
partner Scott is white.
nated a role for David Mamet. He directed
learned also to use those moments as real
One of the things I love about it is that, in many
and it was an amazing experience.
guideposts. They were markings to land in
ways, the film is about how you figure out how to
some joy in the play, and to be able to then
love somebody when the cultural divide is so big.
Richards, he’d read that it was going to be
go back into the nightmare for eight shows
How can we listen to each other, and learn from
Scandal’s final season, and he called me and
a week.
each other, and love one another? I think this
The producer of that play, Jeffrey
said, “You have to come back to Broadway.”
couple, they do love each other tremendously.
I hadn’t had the opportunity, because our
How much did the injustice of the world
They are just faced with cultural circumstances
hiatuses just weren’t long enough in network
around you drive your decision to step
that feel insurmountable to them.
television to do theatre.
into this role?
So, I leapt at the opportunity, but it
In some ways, I feel like Kendra and Scott are
Certainly, part of what drew me to the role
stand-ins for us as a society. For people who are
wasn’t really until I read the material. At
was the fact I was coming off seven years on
embodying inclusivity and those who are resist-
first, I was like, “No, I think I’d like to take a
Scandal, where I was playing someone who
ing it. How do we hear each other? And I think
nap.” Because the workload on network TV
was an arbiter of the system. My father and
finding the surprising commonalities between us
is bananas. But when I read American Son, I
I in the show, we had designed the system
is part of the power of the medium.
knew there was no turning back. I knew this
and we were enacting it upon people and
play had to live in the world, and I wanted to
manipulating it. To play someone who was
One of the truths so seldom acknowledged
be part of making that happen. So, I came
outside of the system struggling to find
about a move towards more inclusive
on as an actor and a producer.
agency within it was, I thought, a really good
storytelling is that there’s nothing to lose
exercise and exploration for me.
from hearing new stories, and so much to
The journey for your character in the
I think it’s exciting that our narratives are
gain from finding those commonalities you
piece, Kendra, is raw and it’s intense.
being drawn in this direction, because I think
speak of.
Where did you find that stamina?
we’re realizing that it’s not up to the system.
I think that’s a beautiful observation. I think
What Kendra asked of me, I couldn’t pos-
The system only works if we’re involved. We
we’re becoming less and less afraid to allow our
sibly do 24 hours a day. When I wasn’t at the
have to realize that we hold the power, and
protagonists to look a lot of different ways. As
soundstage or in the theatre, I was deeply
that if we unleash that individual power, we
members of communities that are labeled ‘other’,
entrenched in the joy of my life. Thank God
can create systemic change.
we’ve always known that we could see a story
that my family was with me in New York.
about something that wasn’t exactly our experi-
In many of the ways that she was broken, I
Did you keep the stories of Trayvon Mar-
ence and say, “Oh, I see myself in that.” To allow
felt really blessed. I could flip and be on the
tin, Oscar Grant, Walter Scott, and so,
that shift, where white people or straight people
other side of that heartbreak in my own life.
so many more in your mind as you went
can see themselves in the stories of a more dis-
through the experience?
enfranchised experience, that is so exciting. ★
But I also found moments in the perfor-
PHOTOGRAPH BY
Chris Chapman
D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
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Rose
when Gloria breaks down and screams at McGovern’s aide about how he, at the 11th
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hour, totally backtracks on the feminists and betrays them after saying that he will allow them on the convention floor. Nora Ephron wrote in her very famous essay about this, and that Gloria [was] the unflappable, very serene sort of face of the moment; you never could catch her having a moment,
Mrs. America’s Gloria Steinem explores both the nuances of the feminist icon and the movement itself BY A N T H O N Y D ’A L E S SA N D RO
and then she has this moment where she screams at him on the floor and is very upset. So, it was really important for Dahvi to capture that, to see her finally crack, in a way, because she has always been presented as very stoic.
OSE BYRNE HAS DEMONSTRATED fierce comedic timing in movies like Bridesmaids, Spy, the Neighbors franchise, and this year’s Like a Boss. But the Australian native’s turn as feminist trailblazer and Ms. magazine co-founder Gloria Steinem in FX’s limited series Mrs. America reminds us of her chameleon-level expertise. Yes, the wig and the sunglasses are a plus, but Byrne plunges into the complexities of the ERA proponent’s public image and personal life with a great subtlety, displaying not only Steinem’s inspirational attributes, but her flaws as well. Byrne was previously Emmy nominated in the supporting category for Damages in 2009 and 2010.
R
The series builds Gloria and Phyllis up as foes, but we don’t see them go at it. Rather it’s Phyllis and Betty Friedan who debate on stage. Gloria even remarks that she would never get in a public scuffle like that. It’s almost as though Gloria is very conscious of her brand. Is that how you found her? Gloria had no interest in trying to highlight Phyllis’ message, and she knew with her power and the media behind her, and her being the face of the movement, whether she liked it or not—there’s that reluctance in her you see at the beginning—she knows
On the show, Gloria has a fascinating
smart about it, and doesn’t feel like it needs
Mrs. America, did the creators always
means of negotiating with the men to
to have any more light shined on it, because
have you in mind for Gloria Steinem?
get her agenda across, like when she’s
the media are already shining a lot of light
I was approached by Dahvi [Waller], and
dealing with George McGovern’s advisor
onto Phyllis, and perhaps disproportionately.
we had a couple of great conversations,
to get the abortion platform presented
I feel like it’s less branding and more just a
and I was just intrigued by the project as
at the Democratic Convention.
strategy of expanding one’s power.
a whole. The character, in a way, is almost
Well, I see it with not just Gloria, but with all
the last port of entry, just because the pace
of these women, whether it’s Gloria or Phyl-
So, let’s talk about the glasses and the
itself was so fascinating and interesting, and
lis [Schlafly] or Shirley or Jill Ruckelshaus,
hair. Did you put them on and every-
the way a historical piece, to me, was so
and it’s because that’s how you had to get
thing else just flowed?
relevant to just reverse-engineer where we
business done then. These women, you
It certainly was a big part. Trying to recre-
are today, and how we have got to this place
know, grew up and were in their 20s and
ate her silhouette was essential... You know
now in our politics, and how divisive it is, and
30s in the ‘50s and ‘60s, where there was
she’s just so recognizable. She’s an iconic
how divided we are.
such rampant sexism and such rampant
figure. There are not many people like that,
discrimination, and they had to figure out
that you instantly know from a silhouette.
eccentric, and you know, feminists often get
a way to deflect and move onto getting
It’s very rare, so, to have that, to really try to
the bad rap of being humorless, and Dahvi’s
what their end goal was. She was a defense
capture that without making it a caricature,
definitely not that, so I knew that this would
expert. I feel like it’s more of a circumstantial
was a fine line, and we worked very carefully
be a really fresh, incredible period of history,
thing that women have always, throughout
to try to achieve that.
which is actually largely almost forgotten
history, had to figure out how to get their
and not known about. And you really realize,
agenda in a patriarchal society. So, you see
Looking back at your career, which proj-
watching it and learning about it, how as a
how they’ve become accustomed to it, and
ect really shot you out of the cannon?
woman, we really stand on the shoulders
how they still achieve what they’re striv-
I did a movie called Troy with Brad Pitt when
of these women who came before us, the
ing to achieve, and it still happens now, to
I was 23, and for me, that was like being
Second Wave movement. Without Shirley
a lesser degree, I think, because there are
shot out of a cannon. Doing a film of that
Chisholm, there is no Black Lives Matter.
more people being held accountable, but
scale with these huge movie stars, coming
Without Gloria Steinem, there’s no #MeToo.
I think the series really examines that from
from Australia, and having done plays and
All the work these women did really precipi-
many different perspectives.
TV shows. That experience was quite unlike
She’s very charming and really funny and
tated where we’re at today.
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D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
That’s a very well-documented moment
anything I could prepare for. ★
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Andrew H. Walker
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the attention it will bring, and she’s very When you were first approached with
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ter. I get up to Episode 6 and I’m working on my version of Dr. Manhattan, saying, “Wow, I get to play two different characters.” I went in and started to do my research.
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The Watchmen star delves into the power of portraying Dr. Manhattan BY M AT T G RO BA R
flex a little bit more, and I find out that, “Oh, I’m not playing two characters. I’m actually sions of Dr. Manhattan, and Cal, as well. So, this job, for me, was really an actor’s dream. I got to do a lot of character work. I got to do work that was rooted in very
FTER HIS EXPERIENCE WITH Watchmen, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has been thinking a lot about disruption. In the show’s timely exploration of systemic racism within America, the actor plays two roles— stay-at-home dad Cal, and the Black god known as Dr. Manhattan. The HBO series’ reception was so powerful that it changed the way Abdul-Mateen thinks about art, and the roles he wants to pursue, going forward. “Watchmen was the first thing that I was a part of, where I saw its potential to be a change agent,” he says. “That was a really good feeling, and I want that feeling
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important history, but I got to do physical work; I got to do vocal work, and really challenge myself to test my limits, so that I could show as much variety as the story required, and that was really a gift. Was it challenging to inhabit the life experience of a god? Well, I had to try to make it simple. There was no way that I could play all of these things at one time. I think a good actor would try to play two things at one time; sometimes, it’s hard enough to do one thing. But I wanted to make sure that he had
What resonated with you, when you
uncomfortable. I’m very proud of being part
humanity. He is a god, but at the same time,
read the scripts for Watchmen?
of a show that had the dialogues that made
I said, “Well, he’s a god who left earth, be-
From the very first episode, we were into
people uncomfortable, in the ways that is
cause it was too much for him to bear. Why
that story of the massacre in Oklahoma,
important for us, as a society, to be uncom-
would a god come back?” The answer to
and the way that it was very descriptive and
fortable, and to look at our own selves, so
that was because he wanted to be in touch
detailed, and leaned into that history in a
that we can get back on the right path and
with humanity.
way I hadn’t seen before, I knew it was doing
start to heal, and start to weed out the bad
something special.
apples, in a sense.
I got each story one at a time, and as the
So, I made it my mission to make him a god-like figure, but to have him be someone who was also accessible, and who also had
scripts continued to come in and unfold,
You were cast in a supporting role, then
a desire to be human. I tried to imbue him
I saw the way they were writing this story
found out a couple of episodes into
with patience, and understanding, and a lot
about heroes, about the often-untold side
production that you’d also be playing
of love, but then also make him a bit distant,
of American history. They were being very
Dr. Manhattan.
as well. Because if you’re a god, there are
relentless and courageous with the content
Harking back to the material in the first epi-
some things he couldn’t afford to relate to.
they were writing, telling the story of sys-
sode, Watchmen was a great opportunity for
temic racism in America, and the story of
a young actor, for myself to step in and play
acter, to creating the physicality, I looked
generational trauma, while also being a love
the role of Cal, supporting Regina King and
towards voice samples of people in my life
story and a really exciting hero’s journey, and
playing a husband who went against the
who I thought were hyper-intelligent, and
that was very exciting.
typical images that we see of a husband. He
tried to model myself after those voices,
Outside of the cast and the excellent
was a stay-at-home father and husband,
people whose vocal posture was differ-
artistic company, it’s really nice to be doing
who was comfortable in his position, as a
ent than my own. I looked at Steve Jobs;
work that also speaks to the state of the
protector and a support system for his wife.
I looked at the Dean of the Yale School of
world. We filmed this in 2018 and ’19, when
That was amazing, to be in that role, and
Drama, James Bundy; I looked at Damon
the world was a lot quieter than it is right
telling that story well. Cal wasn’t a guy who
Lindelof, and I tried to make a combination,
now, but still, a lot of things were going on
was restless, out trying to be something
and figure out some of the things that were
underneath. So, that definitely spoke to
else. That wasn’t a point of conflict between
common amongst them.
me. One would look at it right now and the
him and his wife. So, Cal, in and of himself,
impulse is to say, “Man, Watchmen was right
was really a gift. Then, I found out that I was
was fun to experiment with, but it all came
on time.” Or maybe, “Watchmen was ahead
playing Dr. Manhattan. Damon [Lindelof]
back to humanity. It all came back to the
of its time.” But the truth is that, if we look at
brought me in his office and revealed that
theme of, how does this character use all of
history, our Watchmen is probably 50 or 60
to me, and of course, I had the moment of
those tools to get back to what he wanted,
years late. I think our Watchmen was needed
disbelief and excitement, but then I was
to get the thing that he wanted, which was
because we talked about those issues head
very, very excited about the opportunity to
a second chance at love, and a second
on, in a way that did make a lot of people
transform it and make it a different charac-
chance at being human? ★
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D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
Then, when it came to creating the char-
I found this whole new voice, and that
PHOTOGRAPH BY
Michael Buckner
Kaitlyn
Marie, and she said that she found a lot of closure from the show, and that she thought
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it was amazing. What was that like, hearing that? I was just sort of speechless. I don’t even know. It’s so overwhelming. The only thing I could think of is, what more do I need? Hearing from her is all that really matters
Unbelievable’s traumatic true story proved life-changingly moving and important for its lead actress BY A N T O N I A B LY T H
because we were all given such a privilege that she was giving us her story to tell to the world. Hearing her reaction, hearing her thoughts, and knowing that she saw it, watched it and ended up loving it and got
ASED ON A PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING article by T. Christian Miller of ProPublica and Ken Armstrong of The Marshall Project, and an episode of the podcast This American Life, Netflix’s limited series Unbelievable follows the true story of teenager Marie Adler, played by Kaitlyn Dever, as she tries to report being raped in her home, only to find herself disbelieved, denied, and even prosecuted for lying. Toni Collette and Merritt Wever co-star as the dogged detectives who ultimately give Adler her life back. For Dever, this harrowing story was truly a 180-degree turn from her comedic role in the film Booksmart, further proving the breadth and depth of her talent.
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closure from it, is just really overwhelming, because we all came together to do this for her and for survivors everywhere. It really meant a lot to me. There’s this expectation of an ‘appropriate’ response to being raped or abused. What did the show teach you about it? I learned so much about sexual assault and trauma and the aftermath. All of it has been such an extreme learning experience for me. I think what the series does so well is that it really shows that no one can really know how someone will react, not only with trauma, the experience, but also the trauma of retelling
You’ve called this show the hardest
take advantage of that ever and I didn’t want
the experience multiple times. And the show
thing you’ve done in your career.
to do it half-way. It was really, really tough
really walks us through the process of what
When I say that, I think about not only me,
but it definitely felt like we were all coming
it’s like post-assault. How people respond to
but all of the hard work that everyone put
together to make something really impor-
trauma is not always the same. The police in
into it. It was such a team effort. And I really
tant, and that felt worth it.
Marie’s case make a series of mistakes and
do mean it when I say it was the hardest
they cast a lot of doubt around her. Even do-
thing I’ve ever done. I think it was a lot of
What sort of interaction, if any, have you
ing those scenes with the detectives, it was
things combined that made it difficult, one
had with Marie?
so, so tragic. And throughout the process
being that when I first read the script and
When I was given this opportunity, it was
she encounters police that really just didn’t
read about the story and listened to the
the first thing I thought of, to talk to her and
have the proper training to ask her
podcast and read the article, I was angry. I
maybe meet her. But also, at the same time,
the questions that were needed. She just
was feeling a lot of anger but at the same
I was having conflicting feelings because
completely shuts down. She uses her on-
time, my heart was breaking for Marie and all
I knew that the circumstances on this
and-off switch and she just shuts everything
of the other survivors that are talked about
project were very, very different, and I quickly
off, understandably. It was really incredible to
in the article and in our show. I think that
learned that this kind of trauma affects
learn this through this show. And it’s been in-
those emotions overtook my body and my
someone for the rest of their life, so I really
credible to see that people are learning from
brain the whole duration of the shoot.
wanted to be extra careful with that. It was
watching it as well, which is really moving.
a conversation that I had with [showrunner] Susannah Grant and [director] Lisa
That awful scene where the male
the article. That was before I had even gone
Cholodenko when we were in our prep
detectives say, “Are you sure you didn’t
and auditioned for it, so by the time I was
stages. I asked them what the right thing to
imagine it?” We see the self-doubt on
given the opportunity to play Marie, and we
do was, because obviously I knew I had all of
your face. How was shooting that?
started a prep process, I was already kind
this amazing journalism to refer to, and all of
I had done all of this prep, then in that scene,
of upset and frustrated by it. It’s just such
this great source material. I just wanted to
I ended up feeling like a little kid, and I didn’t
a tragic, tragic story. All those emotions
ultimately respect her privacy and that was
expect to feel that way at all. I think it was
coupled with the fact that I was really put-
something that was very important to them
when I got into the room with those two
ting so much pressure on myself, because
and to Netflix. Then, after the show came
actors. I know Marie knows what the truth
I felt like this kind of opportunity doesn’t
out, Susannah Grant said, “I forwarded you
is, and yet for some reason everything is so
come around that often. You rarely get an
an email. You should really take a look at it.”
foggy and confusing, and I feel like I’m in
opportunity to really do some real good, and
And I went and looked at it and that was
trouble because I’m telling the truth and that
give a voice to the voiceless. I didn’t want to
from Ken Armstrong, who had spoken to
doesn’t feel right. That was surprising. ★
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Taylor Jewell
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I read the first script for the first episode, and then I listened to the podcast and read
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came to light, but how mindful of that did you have to be when you were approaching this character?
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Obviously, we always knew we were dealing with a fictional drama. Kerry Ehrin, the showrunner and lead writer, had done so much research with the writing team. I think it was a testament to the research how eerily accurate some of the scenarios were. But it
As The Morning Show’s Hannah, she highlighted an abuse of power and the desperate need for cultural change BY A M A N DA N ’ D U K A
was never based on anybody specific in that way. I think that they wanted it to be relevant but also universal in a way that women could relate to it, and men hopefully can relate to it, or at least see a new light shared on expe-
UGU MBATHA-RAW KNEW HER role on The Morning Show would be a challenge. As Hannah Shoenfeld, the talent booker who survives a sexual assault, she provided a crucial turning point in the Apple TV+ series that centers on the sexual misconduct that plagued a news organization. It was her story, and ultimately, her tragic fate, that put a spotlight on unchecked abuses of power. Mbatha-Raw tapped into a gamut of emotions to showcase a trauma that so many women are only too familiar with, and hopes that Hannah’s tragic ending can serve as a cautionary tale, showing the value in not staying silent.
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riences that maybe they’d overlooked. There was a healing quality to the story. Not just the Hannah story but with all the stories of the other women, too. To see so many defined female characters in one show, not just archetypes, they’re nuanced and complex, and there are so many of them. Not just Hannah, obviously Reese [Witherspoon]’s and Jennifer Aniston’s characters, Karen Pittman, Bel Powley, there’s such a spread of different perspectives on that world and I appreciated the nuances. Being a woman of color, I’ve always been told we have to be twice as good as our
First off, I have to ask, how are you do-
certainly in terms of the show, what happens
counterparts, especially white men. Was
ing? The world is super unsettling right
in Episode 10 of The Morning Show is an
that something that you felt Hannah
now. How are you holding on?
awakening. Hopefully, the emotional trigger
was dealing with?
I’m doing well today. There are ups and
of that moment will sustain the evolution of
I think that that was obviously an underlying
downs. It’s sort of a day-by-day, week-by-
the culture.
pressure for her. It wasn’t overtly expressed in the storyline, but we did talk about her
think it has been an incredible time and
You’re very vocal about Black Lives
backstory. I think in the quest for equality,
I’m inspired. I’m inspired to think that even
Matter and what’s going on with racial
gender equality and racial equality, this is a
though we’re going through so many chal-
injustices, with police brutality.
big conversation we’re having culturally now.
lenges, that hopefully positive things are
It’s really a seismic shift and a catalyst and
But in the quest for that, certainly when
going to come from everything.
an awakening culturally. I’ve always believed
we were making The Morning Show, and in
that Black lives matter, that’s not something
terms of Hannah’s perspective on that, I
Your character Hannah was an impetus
new to me, but I think what is fascinating
think that she probably had internalized the
for change, which fits very well with
is when the culture also simultaneously
culture that she was in to such a degree that
the times we’re in. It seems like some-
awakens, and there is a sense of momen-
she was just trying to progress and trying to
thing terrible has to happen, like what
tum, and I think that that’s when real change
do the best she could.
happened with George Floyd, for people
can actually happen. Beyond anything that
to actually take notice and see what
feels like activism on the fringe, this is activ-
The sad truth is people still question or
people have been experiencing for years.
ism in the front and center of our culture,
judge survivors of abuse.
I know. It’s very sad that there was a sacrifice
and it’s an international conversation that is
There’s so much going through Hannah’s
in that way that it becomes a catalyst.
happening now. So that, to me, as much as
mind in terms of what will the implications
Certainly, in terms of The Morning Show,
it’s like giving birth, there’s so much pain that
will be. I think that to actually see those
not to say it had to be that way, but I think
needs to happen, but then for a new system
beats, and working with Michelle MacLaren
sometimes when you’re dealing with institu-
and hopefully a more equal way of living.
who directed the episode, making it much
tions, and you’re dealing with cultures that
There has to be a reckoning and there has to
more about the thought process for Hannah
are very slow-moving and set in their ways
be discomfort. I think it’s part of the process.
as well as the physical element was very im-
that unfortunately, like you say, sometimes
portant. So, I trusted the female leadership
there has to be something so jolting and so
This show came at a time when a similar
behind the camera. They really wanted to
shocking and so sad that it awakens people.
scandal rocked The Today Show. I know
show a different side and in detail, a nuanced
Both in the culture that we’re in now, but
this show was written before all of that
side of that experience. ★
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Christopher Smith
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week process. But today I’m doing well. I
The
Partnership No. 4
HILLARY CLINTON & NANETTE BURSTEIN
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Hillary Clinton and Nanette Burstein first met in 2018, two years after the presidential election that shook the world. Burstein (American Teen, The Kid Stays in the Picture) was chosen to make a documentary based on behind-the-scenes footage captured in 2016 by Clinton’s staff. Hillary, a four-part series, premiered on Hulu in March, and in 35 hours of interviews with Burstein, Clinton addressed everything from growing up as a feminist, to her devastating electoral loss to Donald Trump. In between are key sections about Clinton’s time in the U.S. Senate, serving as Barack Obama’s Secretary of State, and decades of experiences with husband Bill Clinton, one of many candid on-camera interviewees. In a Zoom conversation with Dade Hayes, and featuring portraiture by Michael Buckner, Clinton and Burstein discuss Hillary and the tumult of 2020. This presidential election year, now also defined by COVID-19 and sweeping protests against racism, has thrust their historical record into a vibrant dialogue with the present.
downs, as one would on a campaign trail. This is what she’s like with her staff. This is how she, and they, operated in this tumultuous, exciting and really conflicted campaign. Did you anticipate the footage being most of the running time? Burstein: It is such an amazing opportunity to show it. But I also felt that I didn’t want to just tell the story of the campaign, that that was limiting in scope and too soon, too raw. I just felt like, more than anything, there’s such a bigger story to tell if everyone agrees to it. Secretary Clinton, you were open to the idea of looking at your whole life, still using this footage is a way of seeing you in this unguarded way, but really getting to know you as a person. So much of her life was both influenced by the arc of the women’s movement, and she influenced it. And never had I seen that more clearly in one personal story than in this. As a feminist and
Nanette Burstein: It’s so lovely to see your face.
are in China, one is a biotech company here in the
someone of the Generation X that was affected by
It’s been a couple months.
United States that actually started testing with FDA
the national spotlight of her career, this couldn’t
Hillary Clinton: I know.
approval about two months ago. And there’s the
have been a more important topic for me to take
Burstein: How’s it been in Chappaqua [NY]?
Oxford research, which most people are putting
on. So it was exciting that she, when I explained
Clinton: It’s been very calm. People seem to be
at the top of the list. They are beginning to test on
the arc and the framework, was on board to be
both anxious to get out and get back to their lives,
thousands of people in Italy and a few other places.
unfiltered and share her personal feelings about her
but they’ve also been very respectful about mask
They’re very hopeful. I’m not going to say confident,
entire life story.
wearing and social distancing. I hope that sustains
but hopeful. In watching the series, did you find there was
itself because I think New Yorkers, we were all so shocked by the intensity of the virus and what it
There’s such intimacy and immediacy in the
a particular sequence or moment where you
did to us, that people seem to be more willing to
Hillary footage we see from 2016. We get to see
gained any new insight, even though you had
exercise some responsibility. But the city’s going to
a number of unguarded moments.
yourself lived it?
start opening up and I don’t know quite how that’s
Clinton: The people who followed me throughout
Clinton: I really think the biggest insight was the
going to play out.
the campaign were part of a small group of young
one that Nanette just expressed. After looking at
Burstein: It’s going to be tough. I don’t know how
videographers who were everywhere. They had total
those thousands of hours of footage, she came
New York ever returns to any kind of normal life
access. This project really started as a behind-
back, and she met with me and said, “Look, this is
until there’s a vaccine.
the-scenes look at the 2016 campaign. That’s
much more than a story about a campaign. It’s re-
Clinton: That’s the way a lot of people feel right
what I initially agreed to do because the campaign
ally much more than a story about you. It is a story
now. Who knows? I mean, this is such a big un-
owned the footage. We had 2,000 hours sitting
where you would be the subject, but you would be
known. We are all just making it up as we go. It’s
around. People said, “Well, there’ve been some re-
placed into the arc of women’s history over the last
just tragic that we have had such a lousy leadership
ally interesting retrospectives on campaigns. Since
50-plus years, and American political history. How
and bad communication from the very beginning.
you have this footage, why don’t you look at doing
those two intersect, how they conflict, how they
Cross your fingers and your toes, guys.
that?” That’s what we originally decided to do. And
have reinforced one another from time to time.”
that project itself then was run by Propagate. They
She asked if I would be up for really not only sharing
Do you have high confidence in the level of
decided to hire a director, and Nanette came out by
my very personal feelings and reactions about the
scrutiny the vaccine will get? Dr. Anthony
far as their top choice.
events of my own life, but also helping to reflect on
Fauci has said that he would block anything
Burstein: The footage was this incredible asset.
this much larger story. That was the central insight,
that isn’t ready for mass deployment, but
These women were there filming her so often that
because a lot of people who have written or ana-
some fear the White House wants to rush
no one really could tell me how much they actually
lyzed or talked about me never really understood
something out to score political points. Do
captured. It was just part of the embroidery, which
that larger context. It was always too much about
you worry about that?
is the best way to film people. What was really
me and too little about the contextual history of
Clinton: Yeah, I do worry about it. Look, vaccines
unique about the footage was no one expected
these two historic tides, the women’s movement
are really complicated. The flu vaccine changes
this to ever be part of a documentary at the time.
and the changes in American political history. And
every year, trying to figure out how to outsmart
So, people were able to be themselves on camera.
She didn’t tell my life story chronologically. She
the influenza virus. My daughter is a PhD in public
And there was no limit set on me. The floodgate
went back and forth in my life, but used what was
health and she teaches at the Mailman School
was open. One of the criticisms of Secretary Clinton
happening in the larger world around me to make
at Columbia, so I rely on her to filter through all of
is, “Oh, we don’t know who she really is,” or, “She
these important points.
the information. There are dozens of companies
seemed guarded.” And this is the way of just get-
and research scientists trying to get a vaccine,
ting rid of all of that. Here she is. This is her. She’s
Right after the election, you retreated from
but the four that she knows the most about, two
charming, she’s funny, she goes through ups and
public life. But then, you re-emerged on social
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Michael Buckner
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media and in 2017, you wrote a book about
that there could have been, and maybe should be,
just not. So that creates a lot of backlash.
your experience. By the time this documentary
a retrospective at some time that kind of puts to
Clinton: I just don’t understand how they can so
started shooting, were you feeling more game
rest some of the anxieties and worries that people
manipulate people to be protesting something that
to confront everything? It cannot have been an
had about the process, because they were ginned
would help them. How is that? I mean, we’ve seen
easy thing to do.
up. They were ginned up by the Russians. They were
so much of that in the Trump years. How is it that
Clinton: I did think there was an important story
ginned up by my primary opponent’s supporters.
our politics can be so maneuvered so that people
that needed to be told and I’m very glad that I did.
who would benefit from having their pre-existing
Not all of it was pleasant. A lot of it was challeng-
OK, so forget the Russians and the DNC. Much
condition taken care of, for example, or having their
ing, and painful, even, but it really came out in a way
more important question: What about the
children still covered by insurance, what is it that
that I give her all the credit for, because I don’t even
baby pictures we see in the opening credits
works to agitate them to the point of making them
know where she found some of the footage she
and in the first episode?
angry and upset? We’re living through that again.
found. Some of the people she interviewed, I didn’t
Clinton: I saw some for the first time. I couldn’t
We’re living through protests over governors trying
know had been interviewed, and I was fascinated by
believe where she got them all.
to keep us safe by closing businesses and facilities,
that. So, I came away from it saying, “OK, yeah, this
and people showing up with their automatic weap-
is about me, it’s about my life, I get that, but wow,
That’s amazing.
ons. This is something that, really, has yet to be fully
there’s so much more here.” I think it’s part of the
Burstein: This is what I meant before. It wasn’t just
understood, and understood to the point that it can
reason why it’s been so positively received, because
the time she gave me, and the willingness to share
be contended with.
I think people feel that.
her innermost thoughts and feelings, but it was
Burstein: One thing that I still find remarkable
also providing a lot of things people hadn’t seen
What lessons for the America of 2020 are
today is that Secretary Clinton agreed to do this. I
before. She had these family albums dating back to
there from what you went through?
mean, she got the larger concepts and the im-
her grandparents, which we were able to scan. And
Clinton: Hopefully, enough people have seen the
portance. But for a public figure who has been
there was a storage locker at the Clinton Library
contrast now that they’re not going to be fooled
examined to the extent she has, and has been wary
of all of these snapshot photos from the ’70s, and
again, but there’s no guarantee about the upcoming
of the media, and who didn’t know me very well, to
’80s, mainly from their time in Arkansas. From them
election. We have to keep doing everything we can
take that leap of faith without having creative con-
as an early couple, to getting married, to having
to register people to vote, and make sure they can
trol and give her time and energy, and just trust that
baby Chelsea. They were so wonderful, and real, and
vote, and try to prevent all of the efforts that gov-
I would do her story justice, is pretty remarkable.
even the ’70s, orange-y kind of film footage itself
ernors and mayors and local election officials are
was so indicative of the time. That was amazing. On
undertaking to prevent people from voting or having
One thing left out is the divisions within the
just a filmic level, it gave you this intimate look at her
their vote count. The material in the documentary
Democratic Party. In the film Secretary Clinton
life in a way that we hadn’t seen.
is so relevant to where we are right now and the
dismisses Bernie Sanders as an unpopular
Clinton: Then in addition to some of the baby pic-
challenges we face, and how we’re going to have
senator and a career politician. But the film
tures, and some of the people interviewed, the fact
to defeat these forces of racism, and anti-science,
omits the nomination process and the conven-
that Nanette found footage of me being burned in
and anti-public health and everything that is at the
tion. Sanders and his supporters feel he was
effigy [in 1993].
forefront right now.
frozen out of a pre-determined process. Bitter-
Burstein: I feel exactly the same way you do about
ness over that still lingers. Why skip it?
That sequence is really compelling.
what’s happening now, but you try to share that
Burstein: I did get the interviews in, thinking that,
Clinton: I’d never really seen it. So, that’s the kind of
with people on the other side, and they’re just going
“OK, I might cover this.” But my thought in general
‘wow’ moment for me watching the documentary.
to get their back up. But if you look at something
approaching the ’16 campaign was always trying to
I’m going, like, “Wow, I was trying to get everybody
that happened 20, 30 years ago and show it, then
not to get too inside baseball, because I’m trying
healthcare, and look, they’re burning me in ef-
people can see it for what it is, and you can under-
to do something complicated. I’m trying to tell the
figy for trying to change our healthcare system.”
stand how these things that are in people’s self-
arc of a life story, the arc of partisan politics, and
Having gone through so many of these experi-
interest just become politicized so that they fight
the women’s movement. I’m using this footage, but
ences, and run up against all of these real negative
against their own self-interest. It’s crazy.
I’m not trying to completely re-litigate ’16. It’s a fine
anti-progress forces for decades, I know how hard
line to walk. So, yes, there is this story, but it doesn’t
this is. I know how hard it is to get things done, and
What has your experience been over these past
pertain to the bigger themes. It doesn’t really
to get things changed, and to stay on a progressive
few weeks, watching the country go through
pertain to Secretary Clinton’s character. There were
track when the other side is so well-organized, and
what it’s gone through with the protests on
a lot of things in the general election with Trump
so well-funded, and plays to fears as opposed to
top of COVID-19? Does it give you any sense
that I could have also shown, and thought I might.
hopes. So, it was quite a moment when I saw that in
of optimism, or does it create more anguish
But I just decided to leave them out to strike that
the footage.
about where we are?
balance. It was constantly a debate that we had in
Burstein: It was for us too, frankly, when we found
Clinton: It is both. It is anguish and outrage, deep,
the edit room.
it. I felt like, “Oh my God, this is so emblematic of
abiding frustration about the health crisis, the
what happens when you try to create change.”
economic crisis, the systemic racism crisis that
Does the Democratic Party seem healthier now
There was all this other footage, like when they
we are facing all together at this moment in time.
than in 2016?
went on this bus tour. You saw the anger on faces,
But it’s really impacted by the optimism that I feel
Clinton: I do think we are in a stronger position
but that particular [effigy] image was so extreme,
about how people are responding. During the 2016
because we have a nominee. Everybody can be
we just felt like that whole section, we built to that
campaign, I made the fight against systemic racism
focused on the general election. The Democratic
moment. It’s trying to show what happens when
a central part of my campaign. Literally the first
National Committee doesn’t run anything except
you try to become a different kind of First Lady and
speech I gave in the whole campaign was about
the convention. It doesn’t run primaries. It doesn’t
take on this huge initiative that the country should
that, in spring of 2015, and I was particularly af-
run caucuses. Those are run by states. So, I think
feel ready for, trying to help everyone, but they’re
fected by the mothers of the movement, women
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D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
INSIDE STORY Clinton with Kate McKinnon, who played her on Saturday Night Live; below right, with daughter Chelsea; below left, with President Obama.
who had lost children to police violence, or to
Voting really matters, and so I’m optimistic if people
besides Barack Obama in 2008. We have got to
civilian gun violence. I kept hoping there would be
follow through now and don’t just protest and then
convince people that if they care about any of these
a moment. It didn’t happen with Trayvon Martin. It
get discouraged because the existing officeholders
issues, about how badly the virus was handled,
didn’t happen with Michael Brown. It didn’t happen
are not being as responsive. This is really a long-
about how terrible the economic cost has been,
with so many of these young Black people who
term commitment.
about the continuing, unabated brutality and racism
were killed, because there was always a murkiness
that we see in policing, then they’ve got to vote.
about it. People would say, “Well, I don’t know what
Do the events of the past few weeks make you
really happened,” or, “Well, I’m not sure,” or, “I can
more hopeful about Joe Biden’s chances?
Any last thoughts?
understand why somebody would be worried or re-
Clinton: If people vote. I mean, it all comes down
Clinton: I got all worked up. I’m sorry.
acting.” There is no question about what happened
to whether people turn out, because if people turn
Burstein: No, I think it’s great. I mean, look, we all
to George Floyd, and the entire world saw it for 8
out, then Joe Biden will win. We will take back the
feel worked up right now. We have to be, and we
minutes and 46 seconds. So, unlike our legacy of
Senate. We will hold the House. We will have gov-
want to hear from people that we respect and our
lynching, Jim Crow, the horrible instances that we’ve
ernors and state legislators who will take all of this
leaders about it, because you articulate it so well.
seen even in the last few years about the deaths of
seriously and act. But if people don’t turn out, and if
I’m just nodding my head the whole time.
young Black men in particular, but also some young
the Republican Party is able to prevent people from
Black women, there was no turning away. As hor-
being registered or having their registrations count,
You guys have such an easy rapport. Did that
rific as that was, it changed how many Americans,
or having enough polling places for them to vote,
come from doing so much promotion in the
particularly white Americans, now think about what
then maybe not. Vote by mail, which should be used
past few months?
Black America has been facing forever. So that gives
widely because of the coronavirus, they’re trying to
Clinton: I had so much fun with this project. We got
me optimism. You see police chiefs resigning be-
prevent that. I mean, Trump and his people know
to go to Sundance. We went to the Berlin Film Fes-
cause they can’t control their departments. You see
that if we get vote by mail—and I am right now rais-
tival. It gave Nanette a chance to talk about the art
police officers being charged with crimes for how
ing money and fighting to support litigation against
of filmmaking, and gave me a chance to talk about
they have treated people in their custody without
all these states to require vote by mail—if we get
all these other bigger issues that I think are at stake
any explanation—a knee on a neck, a shot in the
that, they can’t beat us. When I say us, I don’t mean
and that are so well-raised in the documentary.
back. So I am optimistic, I guess I would say, that
Democrats and Democratic nominees. I mean the
Burstein: Our premiere was early March. I think
maybe the changes we need now will have a better
will of the American people. Remember, I am the
that was the last big event that myself and many
chance of actually happening and being institution-
person who got the second highest votes running
people I know actually attended in person. And then
alized. But I also don’t think protest alone is enough.
for president of any person in the history of America
the world shut down. ★ D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
35
Linda Cardellini
Trevor Noah
Forest Whitaker
Nicholas Hoult
Lucy Liu
Russell Crowe
Janet Mock
Patrick Stewart
Uzo Aduba
Robin Thede
Contenders Television 2020 JUNE 2 0, 2 02 0 Deadline assembled 106 panellists worldwide for our first virtual Contenders livestream. See more photos at ContendersTelevision.Deadline.com
Dan Levy
Niecy Nash David Harbour
Lisa Kudrow
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D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E
Jason Bateman
Anthony Anderson
Laura Linney
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