Deadline Hollywood - AwardsLine - 06/05/19

PRESENTS

JUNE 5, 2019 EMMY PREVIEW/COMEDY

SARA GILBERT

RI G H TS TH E S H IP O N T H E CO N N E RS

CANNES GALLERY

T HE B EST I N WOR L D CINE M A AT D EAD L INE’S FESTI VA L STU D IO

DIALOGUE: COMEDY

RI CKY GE RVA I S S ET H M E Y E RS REGI N A H A L L RA M Y YO U S S E F CHR I STI N A A P P L EGATE & LIN DA CA R D E LL INI

WONDER WOMAN WHY FLEABAG AND KILLING EVE CREATOR PHOEBE WALLER-BRIDGE IS THE NAME ON EVERYBODY’S LIPS… EVEN 007’S

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THE YEAR·S BEST REVIEWED NEW COMEDY. “ONE OF THE BEST TV SHOWS OF THE YEAR SO FAR .

BENEATH ITS TOUGH, MYSTERIOUS EXTERIOR, ¶RUSSIAN DOLL· CONCEALS GENEROUS EXPLORATIONS OF TRUST, TRAUMA AND — I·M NOT EXAGGERATING HERE — THE MEANING OF LIFE.” TIME

“A BRILLIANT MIX OF SATIRE, SCI-FI AND SINCERITY. REMARKABLY WELL DONE.” THE ATLANTIC

“IT·S RARE FOR A NEW SHOW TO GARNER AS MUCH UNIVERSAL ADORATION.” THE NEW YORK TIMES

“NATASHA LYONNE IS A REVELATION.” ROLLING STONE

F O R

Y O U R

E M M Y® C O N S I D E R A T I O N

FYC.NETFLIX.COM

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SARA GILBERT Clutching victory from the jaws of defeat with The Conners

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PHOEBE WALLER-BRIDGE As Fleabag enters the annals of comedy history, its creator is ready for more

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DIALOGUE: COMEDY Ricky Gervais Seth Meyers Regina Hall Ramy Youssef Christina Applegate & Linda Cardellini

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DEADLINE STUDIO AT CANNES 2019 The best of world cinema passed through our portrait space

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FLASH MOB Deadline’s Cannes cocktails Netflix’s Scene Stealers panel ON THE COVER Phoebe WallerBridge photographed exclusively for Deadline by Nicol Biesek ON THIS PAGE Ricky Gervais photographed exclusively for Deadline by David Vintiner

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Tidying Up with Marie Kondo

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| The Production Design of Kidding

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Family Ties As the sardonic and spot-on Darlene in Roseanne, its reboot, and now The Conners, Sara Gilbert discusses a lifetime of comedic social commentary.

BY SCOTT HUVER

PHOTOGRAPH BY

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REUNITED In The Conners’ home, Sara Gilbert rules the roost.

LONG BEFORE SHE WAS A TEENAGE ACTRESS holding her snarky own in Roseanne, before heading a panel of women sharing their perspectives on The Talk, and before the Roseanne reboot reconfigured into The Conners, Sara Gilbert found her voice as a performer.

says. “We all took it really seriously.”

Unlike many actors who experi-

Galecki. “Johnny and I just have the best chemistry and the best friend-

ence fame at an early age, Gilbert

ship,” she says. “Every time we’ve

was, thanks to her family’s industry

worked together, we send each other

roots, comfortable in the public eye.

texts like, ‘I can’t believe it. It just feels

“Fame wasn’t that strange to me,”

like the cameras disappear when we

she says. “The only weird thing about

do these scenes.’ It’s so sweet. It’s

being a famous teenager was that it’s

like, here we are, 30 years later, still

“I also just had this overwhelming

a really strong juxtaposition between

marveling at how awesome it feels

school performance of The Wizard of

sense that I was supposed to be an

the adoration and attention, and the

to work together.”

Oz, the five-year-old Gilbert was cast

actor; like, I just knew it.”

normal feelings of loneliness and

Specifically, during an elementary

as Toto, which sparked an improvisa-

At 13 she auditioned for the role

Along the way, she became a tele-

isolation that can come with being a

vision producer almost “by accident”

tional chord. “When we were doing it,

that would launch her into stardom:

teenager. The ‘Who am I?’ and figur-

when she conceived of the daytime

I decided to start barking at random

Roseanne’s Darlene Conner, to

ing all that out with all the attention

chat show The Talk—which funneled

times during the play, and every time

which she brought an over-it-all

is sort of strange, because the two

the format of The View specifically

I would bark, people would laugh,”

middle daughter reality, while

poles are so different…If I rebelled as

through a more maternal-minded

Gilbert recalls. “That was me figuring

expertly landing the most cutting

a kid, it wasn’t away from my career.

lens. It was sold to CBS in 2010. “I was

out that I could do comedy.”

one-liners—something Gilbert

That was the one thing that always

looking to expand myself spiritually,

had already honed at home from

made me feel good.”

in a way,” she says. “I felt a little bit

Showbusiness was the family trade: among other credits, her

verbally smacking down her sister. “I

During her final seasons of Rose-

maternal grandfather Harry Crane

remember thinking, Oh yeah, I know

anne, Gilbert had already embarked

public speaking, and it would be an

developed The Honeymooners

how to do this.”

on study at Yale. Then, after gradua-

interesting way to challenge myself.”

with Jackie Gleason and brought

Despite its star Roseanne Barr’s

tion, her acting career would continue

stuck, and I felt like I was afraid of

As both co-host and producer,

the celebrity roast concept to The

steady stream of controversies

to flourish, with a string of diverse

Gilbert learned by doing. “It really

Dean Martin Show. And half-siblings

and behind-the-scenes battles,

roles on various high-profile network

pushed me to learn how to develop

Melissa and Jonathan Gilbert were

Roseanne became a ratings sensa-

series, including dramas such as ER,

a public persona that felt authentic

child stars on Little House on the

tion and a critical darling. Gilbert

24 and Law & Order: Special Victims

and matched who I really am,” she

Prairie, collecting crew gifts at

embraced the professional responsi-

Unit, as well as comedies like The Big

says. “You also learn how to not say

holiday time that their younger

bility that came with the job. “We all

Bang Theory, where she frequently

more than you’re comfortable with,

sister coveted. “I was really jealous,

felt work came first, and that was a

shared scenes with her Roseanne

how to not overshare. On the produc-

so I wanted in on that,” she laughs.

great atmosphere to grow up in,” she

co-star and longtime friend Johnny

ing front, I really learned how and

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ALL IN THE FAMILY From left: Gilbert with castmates Ames McNamara, Laurie Metcalf, Jay R. Ferguson, John Goodman and Emma Kenney; Gilbert and Ferguson bring the heat.

when to speak up. At the beginning, I

take on a little bit more weight, but I

produce more and more and start-

felt like everybody knew better than

just think we have the most incred-

ing to develop projects.” She’s also

I did, and I had to learn how to really

ible cast, and I just rely on them, and

value my voice.” She says the move

really, these great writers.”

prepared her for the Roseanne reboot

Playing the adult Darlene, far

and The Conners. “By the time I came

more beleaguered and challenged

into that, I thought, ‘Okay, my vision

by life than she or her family ever

and my thoughts are as important as

anticipated, has not only filled the

everybody else who’s producing it. No

substantial void left by Barr, but

more important, but no less.’”

also been a rewarding experience

Gilbert was also an integral force

for Gilbert. “I wanted to bring some

I SAW THE SHOW AS AN ENSEMBLE FROM THE BEGINNING OF THIS REBOOT. I CONTINUE TO SEE IT AS AN ENSEMBLE.”

married to songwriter and music producer Linda Perry and raising three children. “I just thought, I know I need to act more, and I know I need to produce, and I know I need to see my kids. I’ve had the opportunity to do the talk show for nine years. It felt like, ‘Ok, now it’s time to focus on these other things.’”

in reviving Roseanne for its hit 2017-

more vulnerability to the charac-

2018 season, before Barr once again

ter,” she says. “I mean, she always

succumbed to controversy and was

had that, but I felt like maybe life

removed from the show, prompting a

could have worn down some of

starting to write and getting closer to

Netflix’s Atypical, and the voice she

creative rebranding as The Conners.

her defenses a bit. I like this idea of

her passion.” The Conners has been

discovered as a child is more vibrant

As a result, Gilbert’s role took on

somebody middle class who seemed

renewed for a second season.

than ever. “I think I’m really drawn to

greater emphasis as the family’s de

like the rising star, the one that was

Gilbert will soon depart The

facto matriarch. “I saw the show as

going to break the cycle, having kids

Talk after nine seasons. “It’s been a

and drama. Projects that, if it’s a

an ensemble from the beginning

young and staying stuck in the cycle.

very difficult decision,” she admits.

comedy, are still very emotional and

of this reboot,” she says, “and I

Because I think that happens for so

“It’s been years in the making, as

poignant, and if it’s a drama, it’s still

continue to see it as an ensemble.

many people across our country…

I’ve gotten busier. I’ve been acting

extremely funny. I like that world

I definitely have had to probably do

But I think there’s hope, too. She’s

more and more, and wanting to do

in between, because I think that’s

a few more scenes per episode and

still struggling to make it, and she’s

that, and then I’m really wanting to

what life is like.” ★

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It’s a creatively fertile time for Gilbert, who also has a recurring role on the upcoming season of

projects that are a blend of comedy

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CHARTED TERRITORY

At press time, here is how Gold Derby’s experts ranked Emmy chances in the Comedy categories. Follow all the races at GoldDerby.com

Cleaning House

COMEDY SERIES

ODDS

1

Veep

5/1

2

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

11/2

3

Barry

6/1

4

Russian Doll

8/1

5

The Kominsky Method

8/1

Marie Kondo discusses the magic of Tidying Up and her mission to organize the world MARIE KONDO HAS BEEN TIDYING UP SINCE SHE was very young, and imparting the magic of organization to the world ever since. Now, thanks to Netflix’s acclaimed reality series, she has become a bona fide phenomenon. Joined by interpreter Marie Iida, Kondo enters participants’ homes to educate them in the KonMari Method, helping them to pare back their belongings to those that “spark joy”, while navigating such life transitions as the loss of a partner and the impending birth of a child.

In early development meetings, Kondo “considered various formats for the show,” including a scripted version, she says.

What she ended up with was a “very visceral” entertainment experience, illustrating her tidying methods in ways her books couldn’t, and the benefits of her process. “You are able to visually witness how all these peoples’ lives change,” the host reflects. “You can see in their expressions.”

Ever inspired by her cause, Kondo is currently plotting the release of a children’s book, through which new generations can learn “to cherish their belongings and themselves, and lead fulfilling lives,” while certifying legions of KonMari consultants, who are currently sparking Kondo’s brand of joy in more than 30 countries.

For Kondo, all of this work has been in service of an overarching vision—a dream of organizing the world. On a case-by-case basis, a tidied home might sound like “a very small change”, Kondo admits. “But when you accumulate it all together, I believe it becomes a very large impact and change to the world.”—Matt Grobar

KIDDING AROUND

to understand the “genesis” of the

How production designer Maxwell Orgell brought a fictional children’s show to life for Showtime series

expected, leaning into the darkness

ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

ODDS

1

Bill Hader Barry

17/5

2

Michael Douglas The Kominsky Method

4/1

3

Ted Danson The Good Place

5/1

4

Don Cheadle Black Monday

6/1

5

Anthony Anderson Black-ish

21/2

ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

ODDS

1

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Veep

17/5

2

Rachel Brosnahan The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

4/1

3

Allison Janney Mom

11/2

4

Natasha Lyonne Russian Doll

6/1

5

Pamela Adlon Better Things

19/2

form and “hit the same notes”, while diverging in key ways from what’s of host Mr. Pickles’ existential crisis.

Orgell built a “false studio” on a

CENTERED ON A LOW-BUDGET

called for colorfully artificial sets,

Culver City soundstage, carefully

children’s show and the dysfunctional

retro practical effects and an

curating the behind-the-scenes look

family that runs it, Kidding was

assortment of original puppets. To

for a Columbus, Ohio local broadcast.

something like an enormous arts and

bring show-within-a-show Mr. Pickles’

In so doing, he captured the essence

crafts project for the craftspeople

Puppet Time to life, production

of a mini entertainment empire

involved. Created by Dave Holstein

designer Maxwell Orgell researched

that derives its charm from “staying

and starring Jim Carrey, the series

bygone eras of children’s television,

small”. —Matt Grobar

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PULLING STRINGS Jim Carrey’s Mr. Pickles on the set of Puppet Time.

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THE

PODCAST

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PHOEBE WALLER-BRIDGE has torn up the television rulebook with shows like Killing Eve and Fleabag, not only writing towards gender parity with authentic roles for women that defy definition, but acting her way into stardom, too. Her one-woman Fleabag play has just ended its sold-out, extended run off-Broadway, only to be quickly snapped up for a return to London’s West End, while Daniel Craig himself asked her to do a script polish of the upcoming Bond film. Antonia Blyth meets the woman stirring up stereotypes, shaking 007 into the present, and delivering laughs and tears within a single scene.

PHOTO GRAPHS BY NICOL BIESEK

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i

It’s a gloomy Monday afternoon in Westwood and Phoebe Waller-Bridge is wrapping up Deadline's cover shoot. Fresh from the Fleabag stage in New York, in two weeks’ time her brainchild Killing Eve will sweep the BAFTAs, but of course she doesn’t know that yet. For now she’s hard at work on a very famous, typically male-dominated franchise.

5/31/19 3:36 PM

[bond is] absolutely relevant now.

It has just got to grow.

It has to evolve."

“Congrats on the Bond job,” the make-up artist tells her, during a last-minute touch-up.

Waller-Bridge is surprised. She seems to almost blush. “Oh, thank you,” she grins.

The Bond job is a big deal. Following a special request from Daniel Craig, Waller-Bridge is currently polishing the script for the newest installment, due for release in 2020 and directed

by Cary Joji Fukunaga, with the working title Eclipse. Only one woman in Bond history has ever been credited on a script—Johanna Harwood, for the first two entries, Dr. No in 1962 and From Russia

with Love in 1963—and the franchise that has historically favored damsels in distress, doomedto-die seductresses and catsuit-clad villains will surely benefit from a Waller-Bridge tune-up.

“There’s been a lot of talk about whether or not [the Bond franchise] is relevant now because of who he is and the way he treats women,” she says. “I think that’s bollocks. I think he’s absolutely relevant now.

It has just got to grow. It has just got to evolve, and the important thing is that the film treats the women properly. He doesn’t have to. He needs to be true to this character.”

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B

efore getting the Bond job, she already had a real appreciation for Craig’s incarnation of 007. “When I saw his Bond for the first time, there was a wryness to his performance that I really loved,” she says. “So, I was really excited about writing

dialogue for him.” Then she adds, “I mean, the script was there. It’s already there. I think it’s unfair to say that I’m writing the script.”

Still, given the example she has set in her work to date, it isn’t hard to imagine WallerBridge’s hand on the tiller will be strongly felt. “It’s just about making them feel like real people,” she insists. “I always think the test for me as an actor, whenever I’m writing anything, is: would I want to play that role? And so I’m coming into this polish thinking, I just want to make sure that when they get those pages through, that Lashana [Lynch], Léa [Seydoux] and Ana [de Armas] open them and go, ‘I can’t wait to do that.’ As an actress, I very rarely had that feeling early in my career. That brings me much pleasure, knowing that I’m giving that to an actress.”

Distant dreams of Bond had in fact been lurking in her mind for a while. “The funny thing is that it was one of those feelings I had: I’d love to write a Bond film.” So, then, did coming up with Killing Eve—the tale of a dogged spy on the trail of a wacky, sociopathic assassin called Villanelle—inform her work on Bond?

“I feel like there are elements of Villanelle and Bond that appeal to me in the same way,” she says. “That they’re both these characters who we love, even though they do these violent, brutal things. Her motive is less clear than his.

She just wants money and clothes. He’s trying to protect the country’s security, so fair enough.

But that kind of tipping edge of psychology is really interesting to me. Someone who can kill, and then also be charming. There’s a front that appeals to me. But the wit of it is the thing that I love the most about that franchise. It’s the wit.”

Waller-Bridge has been shaking up the storytelling scenery for some time with work full of twists and sharp left turns, nixing all tired tropes, predictable plot lines and onedimensional characters.

Take the Season 1 finale of Killing Eve for example, when Sandra Oh’s Eve rolls over in the midst of what might be a love scene and stabs Jodie Comer’s Villanelle in the stomach. Or, in Fleabag Season 2, when Kristin Scott Thomas’ character Belinda sips a martini in a bar, having just won a Best Woman in Business award.

We think she’s enjoying this success, until she suddenly says, “It’s infantilizing bollocks.” Socalled ‘women’s’ categories are “ghettoizing” and “a subsection of success”. They’re the “fucking children’s table of awards”. And then,

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without a pause in which another writer might

in an elevator; singing brutal ‘truth songs’

have heard imaginary applause, Waller-Bridge

accompanied by a ukulele).

has Belinda move on:

I always knew I just wanted to be part of this industry.

It never felt like just one thing in it."

And of course the ‘female’ accolades have

“I’ve been longing to say this out loud. Women are born with pain built in. It’s our physical destiny—period pains, sore boobs, childbirth. We carry it within ourselves throughout our lives. Men don’t. They have to seek it out. They invent all these gods and demons so they can feel guilty about things, which is something we do very well on our own. And then they create wars so they can feel things and touch each other, and when there aren’t any wars they can play rugby. We have it all going on in here, inside.

We have pain on a cycle for years and years and years, and then just when you feel you are making peace with it all, what happens? The menopause comes. The fucking menopause comes and it is the most wonderful fucking thing in the world. Yes, your entire pelvic floor crumbles and you get fucking hot and no one cares, but then you’re free. No longer a slave, no longer a machine with parts. You’re just a person.

In business.”

arrived in spades. She’s often asked what it

It is utterly unexpected and breathtakingly

than a political one. “I know that she has a

relevant today.

Vicky Jones, Waller-Bridge’s longtime friend

feels like to be a female writer and producer in this climate; what inspires her to write about whole, complex women. Her female characters’ sex lives are bold and liberated and she writes well-rounded women with all the detail that male characters have traditionally enjoyed.

All of these things are of course enormously valuable, but in some ways, does focusing mainly on their femaleness, and on Waller-Bridge’s own femaleness, feel reductive? Is it another conciliatory dish for “the children’s table”?

Waller-Bridge smiles wryly at the question.

“It’s a way of containing us and controlling us in our work,” she says, “and immediately being able to almost tie a bow around our collective work and go, ‘That is women’s work.’ It’s a trap, because we want to talk about it, and each other, and the experience, and share it and make sure it’s something that is articulated well.”

She says her work speaks more eloquently on this topic of femaleness and feminism than she herself ever could. “When people ask me those sorts of things, I just want to point at Fleabag and go, ‘That. That does it.’ But also I’m more inspired listening to female artists talk about their art than female artists talking about what it’s like being a female artist.”

In fact it’s only when she’s doing press that she finds her gender becomes relevant. “My collaborators and colleagues don’t refer to me as a female writer, like, ‘Can you send in your latest female draft of that, please?’”

Sian Clifford, who met Waller-Bridge at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and plays Fleabag’s sister Claire, sees her friend’s presentation of women as coming from a pure place of human observation, rather passion for writing transgressive women,” she says. “I also know that she writes without an

and collaborator, says this twisty signature

agenda. She really writes the people she wants

and seat-of-the-pants style has been in her

to see on TV. It just happens to have landed

work from the beginning. “Even in her earliest,

at this moment in time when I think we are so

rawest state, thrilling the audience was her

thirsty for real representations of humans, and

priority,” Jones notes. “She wanted to make the

not just women, but humans. They come from

experience of watching an unpredictable ride.

a very pure place within her. They’re just real,

Even today, I always talk about trying to make

fully-formed, three-dimensional humans.”

my work Phoebe-proof, which means writing something that she wouldn’t see coming.”

Every scene of Waller-Bridge’s television

And it’s certainly not just the female characters that get the full human treatment.

Men also get to embody characteristics they’ve

work—Fleabag, Killing Eve, and 2016’s Crashing—

previously been denied. “I want to afford male

is packed with wicked observations, and

characters the same vulnerability that women are

characters steeped in messiness (having

afforded,” Waller-Bridge says. And while Fleabag’s

sex with a priest; stealing from an evil step-

first season featured some nameless men with

mother), greatness (punching awful people in

titles like The Hot Misogynist, that was, Waller-

the face; looking impossibly chic at a funeral)

Bridge points out, about the Fleabag character’s

and ridiculousness (deliberately farting

own flawed tendency to reduce people.

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Villanelle is a perfect example of the WallerBridge approach to rounding out characters. A role that could easily have become an obviously sexy ingénue hook for Killing Eve was instead made meaty and wholly unlike anything else we’ve seen.

“That is my goal for writing women,” WallerBridge says. “Like knowing that Villanelle was going to be a girl in her 20s who didn’t have to get her tits out, and who could play an assassin.

It wasn’t about being in a catsuit. She could just have a ball and be a complicated, weird, freaky person who would just shoot someone in the head and you don’t know why.”

Waller-Bridge’s own acting roles span not only her stage and television creations, but everything from an errant lawyer in

as the way in. I didn’t really know how you

endless Bambi legs came up to me afterwards

Broadchurch to the droid with attitude in Solo:

became a writer. I also loved acting, so I was

to tell me she loved what I had done with it.

A Star Wars Story. As Jones says, “Phoebe

like, ‘Oh, that’s how I get into that world.’ It

I remember being immediately struck by her

is an extraordinary actor. As well as having

just felt like the quickest way in, and, actually,

brown eyes and her sweet enthusiasm. She told

formidable technical skill, she has exquisite

it’s a very hard way in.”

me she was an actress, and very shyly gave me

taste, and great observation. She is able

She also had the sense of wanting many

a paper copy of her CV, folded into quarters.”

to channel truth, and convey that truth

strings to her bow. “I always knew I just

so eloquently that it looks like she’s doing

wanted to be part of this industry. It never

going to be friends but also great collaborators,

nothing at all. But that apparent ‘nothing’ is

felt like I wanted to be just one thing in it. I

and formed their company DryWrite. Jones

chiming with your heart.”

want to try producing and directing, as well as

would go on to become the director of the

writing and everything.”

stage version of Fleabag, and script editor on

Waller-Bridge’s love for the craft, though, really began with writing. “I wrote a lot of really

After RADA, Waller-Bridge met Jones—a

The pair quickly realized they were not only

its television adaptation and Crashing, as well

bad poetry when I was a kid,” she says. “I was

scenario the latter describes thus: “I was

as writing on Killing Eve. Now they’ll reunite on

about 10, and I would write loads of stories.

directing a piece of new writing in a pub

Jones’s new HBO show Run. In fact, Fleabag’s

I know—what a wanker. I always saw acting

theatre, and this statuesque beauty on

best friend character Boo was, Waller-Bridge

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My colleagues don't refer to me as a female writer, like, 'Can you send your latest female draft please ?'" says, “a love letter” to Jones.

She cites their friendship as an enormous source of inspiration. “It took me until I met Vicky to go, ‘Oh. It’s about fucking surprising people and doing the thing that they’re not expecting. Not standing in the way that everyone else stands and not speaking in the

RUN THE GAMUT Top left: Waller-Bridge as the titlular character in Fleabag, with Andrew Scott as 'The Priest'. Below: Behind the scenes on Killing Eve. This page: Jodie Comer as Villanelle in Season 2 of Killing Eve.

way that everyone else speaks.

people to come and watch it?’ And

feels, because otherwise it’s just a conversation

we cared so much, it would be so

about a bank loan. But then if she’s sweaty and

exciting, and then that grew and

she’s under-prepared, and she forgot to put a

grew and grew.”

top on underneath but she needs to impress

Once Waller-Bridge did get

this guy… When there are three things going

stuck into writing, she developed a

on at the same time, at minimum, I think you

kind of quasi-system to make sure

instantly have reality.”

each scene was uncomfortable,

A second season of Fleabag wasn’t

gripping and compelling; to show

necessarily on the cards from the off. As

her characters’ width and breadth.

with the original play, she felt the first season

“I always think there should be at

had a three-act arc and that was it. “It had a

It’s just about truth and truthfulness and

least three things going on in one scene at the

beginning, a middle, an end, and that’s the story

honesty and, to be frank, entertainment.”

same time,” she says. “I think every actor should

that had to be told,” she says. For Waller-Bridge,

know that there are three things this person is

Fleabag’s constant breaking of the fourth wall,

would put on plays in a room above a pub in

dealing with, and usually it’s like they’re having

where she directly addresses the viewer like

East London. “It was such a small scale,” she

to eat lunch, or they’re having to deal with a

a co-conspirator, had been the story of the

says, “just coming up with these theater nights.

really hot room. It’s something like that.”

show, and that story had been over at the end

In those early days, Waller-Bridge and Jones

Looking back now, I mean, we were adorable.

So, for example, the scene in which an

of Season 1, when Fleabag pushes the camera

We put money into it, and I never acted in it or

overheated Fleabag tries to take off her sweater,

away, effectively ending the conversation.

anything—or even wrote for ages—but we were

and accidentally flashes her bank manager

just like, ‘What if we got 11 writers and we asked

while applying for a business loan. “I feel like

wrong. “The thing that was really bugging

them to do this, and we got an audience of 25

the more you put on a person, the more real it

me about it is that, actually, the central

So writing a second season initially felt

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I'll be in the shower and suddenly it'll be like, 'I should go and write that [idea] down."

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relationship for me in this show is between Fleabag and the audience,” she says. “I never wanted to do it if it didn’t mean something other than just a witty aside. I felt like the relationship between Fleabag and the audience drives the whole thing. At the beginning, she invites them in. She goes, ‘Come into my life. I promise you it’s going to be a riot. I’ll show you I’m sexy and funny and my world’s kind of crazy.’ But secretly, she wants something else from us. I just thought that was the perfect journey. She starts with inviting you in, and by the end, you know too much and she’s pushing you away. So, I was like, ‘Well, it’s gone. She doesn’t have a reason to talk to it anymore because she’s confessed and it’s open and the audience know her secret.’ So that’s the thing that was really bugging me. Why would it come back in? And what is she hiding this time?

Then I realized it didn’t have to be something that she was hiding. That she kind of didn’t want the camera in her life anymore maybe, or that it was there as a hangover. She doesn’t know how to get rid of you.”

Some early Season 2 ideas had Fleabag feeling hunted by that fourth wall cameraaudience. But then something shifted and Waller-Bridge realized a character who sees her break the fourth wall was the key. So Andrew Scott’s Priest character—the man who finally gets under Fleabag’s skin—sees her turn to the audience, and questions her about

in the early 2000s, worked with

that secret ‘real’ side of her.

Waller-Bridge and Jones on those

“I knew that she was going to meet

writers’ nights above that London

somebody,” Waller-Bridge says. “I knew that

pub. So things have come full

that person was going to go, ‘Whoa. What

circle there.

was that? Where did you just go?’ And when

And the chickens have come

Domhnall Gleeson and Merritt Wever.

SUFFOCATING Julian Barratt's character, also called Julian, gets to grips with Jodie Comer's Villanelle in Killing Eve Season 2, Episode 2.

“It’ll be a twisty turn-y brilliant tale,” she says. “It’s people who made a pact when they were 18 to one day run away with each other if they texted each other a certain thing. Then in

that idea came up, I went, ‘Oh, shit.’ It was

home to roost in London too.

one of those rare feelings. It surprised me

Fleabag the play, born in Waller-

when I thought of it. Then it was like, ‘When

Bridge’s early years, spread its wings in 2013

a joke she and Waller-Bridge always had,

this happens, it’s going to be huge for her.’

at the Edinburgh Festival where it became a

“that when we were in a situation we had

Knowing that he did that became central to

surprise breakout hit, then this year landed

got ourselves into, whether it was work, or a

his whole existence in the show, really.”

off-Broadway for what was meant to be its

party, or a relationship, that one or other of

last ever run. But in August it will return to

us would whisper ‘RUN!’ And we would take

the British capital for a final encore.

each other’s hand and run out of there, and

Fleabag Season 2 also meant letting go of Killing Eve, as the two show’s schedules would clash. The only answer was stepping

“I keep deciding it will be the end,”

their 30s, they decide to do it.”

Jones says the idea came out of

just keep running.”

back into an EP role, and handing the Eve

Waller-Bridge says. “But then the

reins to Emerald Fennell.

Wyndham’s [Theatre] said they might

the one-woman play that not only morphed

be interested in it and I love that theater

into one of Britain’s most important comedies,

Bridge says of leaving Eve behind. “I feel like

so much. Actually the idea of going from

but became a smash hit in the U.S.? Rather

in some ways my version of that story was

Edinburgh—that tiny little apartment where

biblically, the answer came in a dream the very

complete. And if not complete, it was rounded

the whole team of seven was sleeping in

same night she wrapped Season 2.

off with that moment between the two of

two beds just putting up the show—it’s like

them in the bed at the end. I’d taken them on

one of those proper stories. To end in the

never going to have another idea,’ and then I

a journey and so I was satisfied by that. It is

West End after this amazing journey has felt

went to sleep. I woke up and I had this idea for

like a break-up, because it’s like, ‘What about

like the perfect kind of dream.”

this movie in my head.” The script is coming

“It was always going to be sad,” Waller-

me?’ But it’s equal amounts of pride and excitement to see what they do next.”

Taking over from Fennell as showrunner for Eve Season 3 is Suzanne Heathcote, who,

With Jones directing, the dynamic duo

So how will Waller-Bridge follow up Fleabag,

“I was like, ‘God, it’s been amazing, but I’m

thick and fast, she says. “I’ll be in the shower

will be together again. They also have Jones’

and suddenly it’ll be like, ‘I should go and write

new show Run to look forward to. Waller-

that down.’ It’s very strange, which probably

Bridge is onboard as EP and will star alongside

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D THE DIALOGUE

EMMY CONTENDERS/ C O M E DY

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Ricky

You seem like you’re on a tear with the show. You’ve already written Season 2?

G E RVA I S

★

★

★

★

★

Well, I’d say I was halfway through. I think of a first draft as being halfway through.

But yeah, it’s incredible to be going into a second season with all the love for the first.

You shouldn’t go into anything again if it isn’t at least watched and liked. But this has been extraordinary, I must admit.

As Netflix sitcom After Life strikes a chord with viewers, the comedian is ready to show his softer side

BY J O E U T I C H I

I did finish the first so that it could be the only series. I always do that, in case I die tomorrow [laughs]. So I did it with The Office and with Extras. There’s always an ending. But as soon as you know you’re going to do another one, that’s

RICKY GERVAIS IS A PRIME PROVOCATEUR, at least if you ask the many critics he has drawn for his comedy, through shows like The Office and Extras, his stand-up, and a particularly active Twitter feed. But, as his new show After Life proves, the well of his compassion runs deep. On the surface, it’s the kind of show with which Gervais pokes at the easily offended. He plays Tony, a grieving widower who hurls insults and dabbles in hard drugs. But the show has been a hit because of what lies beneath: a sensitive, emotional, and often romantic look at what grief, depression and guilt does to us all.

not the ending anymore. It becomes a cliffhanger. That’s so lovely as well.

The second series of anything should be the best. You’ve put all your eggs into one basket, you think, but how well do you know someone after three hours? Right? With a second series, you know who you’re writing for. You know what worked and what didn’t.

I think I’ve also got the best cast of any comedy/drama in history. It’s incredible. And they’re all coming back. It’s just so much fun once you’ve already set up the world. It’s all set up for you.

Television and film has dealt a lot with

The scenes with Penelope Wilton’s

the sadness of grief. After Life deals

Anne are quite positive about religion,

Well, you say it did have a conclusion,

with the other emotions: numbness,

to be coming from an atheist.

and that’s true. There was a sense that

confusion, even guilt.

Well, it’s the difference between religion

Tony was on a journey and he reached

Because Tony says he feels guilty that he

and spirituality. Spirituality is a personal

the end of it.

resents going to see his dad every day,

thing that does no one any harm. If it

Right, but I’ve never been one to have it all end,

and that frustrates him. He’s frustrated

makes you feel better, good luck to you. I

“And they all lived happily ever after…” That’s

with his dad, and he feels guilty about that

don’t believe it’s true, but if you do, that’s

why I would never end a movie with a kiss.

because he knows it’s not his fault. There

great. Wherever you find it, whatever you

Because we never know if it’s happily ever after.

are so many mixed emotions with grief and

think—whether it’s a connection with

Most marriages don’t end in happily ever after.

dementia. With dementia, you try to get by,

nature, or you think there’s an Almighty,

by telling yourself, “That’s not the person I

whatever—that’s lovely.

knew,” but then you feel guilty about that.

Religion takes that and uses it as a stick

I think I’ve stolen everything for endings in everything I’ve ever done—from Ghost Town to The Office to The Invention of Lying—from [Billy

No, it is the person you knew. They just

to beat you with. Religion says, “Oh, you

Wilder’s] The Apartment. When she says, “Shut

don’t know you.

love God, do you? Well, I know Him, and He

up and deal.” I love that. They’re soulmates.

says if you give me money, I’ll get you into

They’re already friends. They know there’s more

death after a really long, terrible illness. My

People also feel guilty about the relief of

heaven.” Or, “If you do these things, then

chance of happily ever after. I’ve always tried

mum had lung cancer, and you think, Well,

you’ll get into heaven.”

to put a grownup romance in there, if I do put

she’s not in pain anymore. And then you feel guilty for thinking that.

I’m quite militant about that now,

Religion’s a middleman, I suppose, for feeling good. That’s all it is. It’s a broker.

else is there but sharing your 80 years on this

You can have all the good bits of religion

planet with someone else?

because I’ve thought a lot about it. I’m

without religion. So much of it is snake

very pro-assisted suicide and Dignitas. We

oil salesmen.

know it’s a lovely thing to do to a Labra-

romance in, which I usually do, because what

I think that this is sort of like a fable along the lines of It’s a Wonderful Life. To prove to

Anne is just a good person. She just

someone that life’s worth living. There’s a bit

dor when they’re very ill. We know it. And

said the right things to Tony, and I liked

of Christmas Carol in it. He was Scrooge, and

yet we don’t want to be the person who

that intuition. I like the gut feeling she got,

kindness made him realize he was wrong. But

says, “It’s a fucking lovely thing to do to

when she said to her husband after Tony

of course, Christmas Carol ends on Christmas

your grandma if she wants it.” It’s crazy for

left, “He seems nice.” I just love that; a little

Day. What happens on Boxing Day? Or on New

people to think like that.

throwaway thing, and Tony hears it. Good

Year’s Eve? Does he keep it up?

People have asked me what my worst fear is. My worst fear is being told, “You’ve got six months to live, and it’s going to be the worst six months of your life.” Fuck.

PHOTOGRAPH BY

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David Vintiner

people have good gut feelings, because

So that’s Season 2. What happens the day

they’re programmed to be compassionate.

after? Because depression doesn’t just end.

Penelope’s an incredible actress. She

“Oh good, I have a date with a nurse, I’ll never

made my lines. That’s all you can ever ask.

be sad again.” Really? Well, we’ll see. ★

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Seth

This past year, you wrote a few new episodes and some original songs for

MEYERS

★

★

★

★

★

Documentary Now!. What about Season 3 stood out to you?

We went into it with a little trepidation because we knew—for the best possible reason, which was Barry—we wouldn’t have Bill Hader, who is as good a sketch actor as I think the world has ever

Five years in, the Late Night host hits his stride

BY M AT T G RO BA R

produced. Yet that became this challenge that I feel the show rose to meet.

When you can get Michael Keaton and Owen Wilson, and Richard Kind and Cate Blanchett, it was just so exciting—and

N FEBRUARY, WHEN SETH MEYERS completed his fifth year as the host of Late Night, he decided to take stock of his experience, recognizing how far the series had come in his tenure. Starting out in 2014, Meyers had a modest goal: “To keep my head above water.” But in recent years, Late Night has hit its stride, earning Emmy and WGA Award nominations, while leading in its timeslot. “Ultimately, you just get better with more trips to the plate,” the host says. “Now, we feel as though our audience and the network knows who we are.”

I

in the really safe hands of Rhys Thomas and Alex Buono, our directors, I feel as though this season was as good as any we’ve ever done.

It seems like it would be difficult to carve out time from your late-night schedule to take on other creative projects. How have you made that work?

Every day is such a labor of love. I think the thing about Late Night is, every episode we do is most valuable to an audience within the 24 hours that we do it. It’s like very fresh vegetables; eat them right away, or

What were your goals when you set

writer, who used to run Weekend Update.

they will go bad. Whereas Documentary

out with Late Night?

We had a lot of experience, but most of

Now!, I think, will endure. If you go back and

The initial goal, I feel like, was just to keep

our writers were green. Now, they’re vet-

watch any of those episodes in 10 years,

your head above water. I think we knew you

eran comedy writers on a television show,

they will have the same quality to them.

had to do the show to figure out what the

and I think it shows up in the product.

But the other thing is, I think these

Have you found new inspiration in any

ment is to do enough shows to be able to

shows work when the host has a level of

recent documentaries, or docuseries?

figure it out before they pull the rug out

comfort. It took a couple of years to feel

Yeah, there’s so many now. The one rule

from under you. The hardest press I ever

comfortable, and now we feel as though

we have, which we might not have to stick

did in my life was the six months leading

our audience knows who we are, and the

to, is: Anything anyone suggests to us, we

up to that premiere, because you had to

network knows who we are, so you don’t

decide not to do. So, if you have one you

talk about a TV show, [where] you didn’t

go out every night thinking, “Oh boy, I hope

really want us to do, don’t tell it to one of

know what it was. The thing that we were

I don’t drop the ball tonight, or else I might

us in person. But it’s been fun. We got to

right about is, we thought we would talk

be out on the street.”

break out a little bit [in Season 3], because

show was going to be, so then, the require-

to authors and politicians. But I don’t think

I think we approached the first two years

this format was anything close to what we

Creatively, what has been on your mind

like, “What would be funny for Bill and Fred

conceived in the beginning. The great gift

over the last year with Late Night?

to play?” Now, there is a bit of freedom,

of a nightly show is that we get the reps,

The part of our show that we put the

because Fred did three this year and Bill

and the reps inform what the show is.

most effort into on any given day is that

couldn’t do any. So, moving forward, I think

first act. We want our first act to be as

there’s certain parts that we wouldn’t have

Why do you think these results are

much about the day’s news as pos-

been able to play before that now are open

coming now?

sible, so we just constantly are trying to

to us. I think that’ll be fun.

I think if you listen to your audience, they

become better and more agile at reacting

are a great feedback device, as far as what

to the news as it happens. If we decide at

Your current Late Night contract will

it is you’re doing that works, and what

9 a.m. what the show’s going to be about

take you through 2021. Do you have

you’re doing that’s not. And ultimately, you

that night, we’re effectively going to be

a sense yet of how long you want to

just get better with more trips to the plate.

wrong more often than not, so we are

remain as host?

We have a writing staff that has grown

then trying to figure out, “How can we do

We hit five years, and I think that was a

up with us; a lot of them, it was their first

the same quality show we’d want to do if

nice time to take stock of things and say,

job. So, when you look back at those first

news happens at 2 in the afternoon?” So,

“I’m happy in this, I like doing this.” So,

18 months, there was [producer Michael]

if there’s anything we’ve been trying to do,

knock on wood, we can go another five

Shoemaker and I, and Alex Baze, our head

it’s just to be faster and better.

years and have the same assessment. ★

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Regina

more voices, and you have to hear people’s feedback, and be responsible in a way that you didn’t have to before.

HALL

★

★

★

★

Did you enjoy the improv?

It was great. Jordan and David love improv, and I think we just have a cast that’s really funny. They’re funny people. So, whatever

★

we have written, after the first take, we’re

The Black Monday star infiltrates the boys’ club, with pleasure

BY M AT T G RO BA R

just doing craziness. And that’s what’s fun, because as we discover our characters, we get to discover what we might say. Improv work needs freedom. You have to feel like you have a safe space to try it. So, we try

HEN REGINA HALL READ THE PILOT script for Black Monday, the ’80s comedy from Jordan Cahan and David Caspe, she immediately fell for the character of Dawn. A leading trader at a second-rate Wall Street firm, Dawn operates within a toxic boy’s club environment and gives as good as she gets. “I loved that she’s just as ruthless and ambitious,” the actress reflects. “She’s one of the guys, [and] also very much a female.” While pulling back these layers, Hall worked to find her footing in a unique comedic space, which shifted unpredictably between the grounded and the absurd.

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it, and one improv might lead to another one—or even if it doesn’t lead to a comment, it leads to a reaction.

Black Monday will be back for a second season next year...

The writers are back in the writers’ room.

We’ve spoken; I’m going to go to the writers’ room myself, and we’ve gotten some ideas about what’s going to be next; what portion of these characters’ journeys we pick up on.

At the end of Season 1, Blair and Dawn have found themselves in new positions of power. What are your thoughts

What excited you about the idea of

loved her being in the ’80s and wanting her

on Season 2, and your hopes for it?

working on Black Monday?

career, as opposed to just wanting marriage

Well, it was exciting for me, until Blair

What excited me was Don Cheadle; he

and kids. I just thought she was dynamic

[Andrew Rannells] turned into a vicious

always excites me. I don’t know if that

and had a lot of layers. But more impor-

cokehead [laughs]. So, now it’s kind of that

sounds good [laughs]. A little #HeToo-ish.

tantly, I thought she was funny.

season, watching where it goes, knowing

But I’ve always been a huge fan of his work,

that the algorithm has caused a com-

and loved how he was so brilliant, dramati-

What did you make of the series’

plete crash—picking up in the middle of

cally and comedically. So, the fact that he

damning critiques of ’80s pop culture?

chaos. It’s a little scary for Regina to think

was a part of it was already exciting. Then,

It’s crazy because until this show, I hadn’t

of Dawn, because there’s no Mo. I think

I read the script for the pilot and was like,

realized what happened in Sixteen Candles.

it would be the first time where Dawn

“What the hell is this?” It was this world

There’s so many things where I’m like,

would have to see if she’s actually able

that I loved, and I thought that it could

“That’s crazy, what we were watching and

to navigate; it’s different to think you can

be something that was really special. The

loving.” I love the way they take a look at

navigate, than to actually navigate it. So, I’d

comedy that could come from a period

everything, and they don’t make a mes-

love to see how Dawn’s going to handle no

that we’re observing retroactively was re-

sage, or make it judge-y.

Mo, and a dark and naïve Blair. It’s all kind

ally appealing and interesting.

of scary, if you ask me.

Black Monday uses its period setting as

Why was Dawn an appealing character

a vehicle, to allow for the discussion of

Black Monday is the first series you’ve

for you?

topics that are much trickier to tackle

produced. What has the ability to con-

I loved that she was a woman [who] was

in 2019. Has comedy become a more

tribute behind the scenes in this sense

brash like the boys—that she was incred-

challenging space to work in?

meant to you?

ibly smart, but she also never felt above the

Oh, absolutely. There are definitely things

It’s really been great. I’ve always been

guys. That she could do dirty humor, and

that were said and done before that you

fortunate enough to be able to have my

they didn’t make her the school mom of

just could not do now. In some ways, com-

opinions heard, but to be able to actually

the group. Like, “Hey guys! Don’t do that.”

edy makes a lot of things more digestible,

be a part of the process—and feel really

I loved that she’s just as ruthless and just

but I’m sure that especially for stand-up

comfortable and welcomed, because you

as ambitious, and obviously, those things

comedians, it’s difficult. With comedy, I

feel like your opinions are valued—is so

are tempered a bit by her feelings for Mo

kind of always felt like, if they made fun

great. I’m really grateful, and actually, I re-

[Cheadle] towards the end. But she’s one

of everyone, then it didn’t feel strange.

ally like producing, so I hope it’s something

of the guys, and also, very much a female. I

But these are times where there are a lot

I can continue to do. ★

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Ramy

Has your family given you feedback?

Overall, I think they’re very proud and they

YOUS SE F

★

★

★

★

★

really appreciate the show. I think that there are things that they definitely don’t agree with. It’s very helpful that the family portrayed in it is not my real family.

I think my mom thought there was probably too much sex, and my dad, there are a couple of scenes where he didn’t

The comedian’s Hulu show Ramy brings authentic and complex nuance to a Muslim-American millennial story

BY A N T O N I A B LY T H

agree with what we did. But overall, I think they really appreciated that it wasn’t violent, and they appreciated that my character is really trying to do the right thing. I think they really appreciated that we’re not

AMY YOUSSEF DISCOVERED A GAPING hole in comedy. Not only were Muslim people vastly underrepresented, but stories of firstgeneration Americans always seemed to involve a flat-out rejection of parents’ religion or cultural values. Cue hilarious clashes and misunderstandings. Instead, Youssef’s Hulu comedy Ramy explores the experience of a young Egyptian-American Muslim man living in New Jersey, who believes in God and embraces his heritage, while blending them with his American life. Loosely based on Youssef’s own experiences, and borne out of his work as a stand-up comedian, Ramy is a fresh and introspective take.

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making fun of the faith, that clearly the objective is trying to connect with the faith.

You cast your old high school friend Steve Way. How did that come about?

We wanted to have as many rounded and authentic dynamics in the show. And for me, I’ve always loved my relationship with Steve. In the same way that we’re looking with this show to humanize a Muslim family, we want to humanize someone in a situation like Steve’s; someone who has a disability. And there are all these preconceived notions around someone like that, that they are to be treated differently— treated special—and that they can do no

How did you get from stand-up to

Muslim-Americans have this similar

wrong. That love should come their way,

making Ramy?

experience?

and all these things. Then you see the real-

I was opening for Jerrod Carmichael

That weight, of course, you feel it. I remem-

ity of the Steve character, and he’s pretty

while he was doing stand-up for his spe-

ber when it was announced that the show

unlikable. And I think that’s pretty human.

cial. And his show was on the air at the

was being picked up to series, some article

There’s nothing more human than, “Yeah, I

time, and we started really brainstorming.

was sent to me that was like, “This is the

know he’s in a wheelchair, but, man, I don’t

What would it look like to have a Muslim

Muslim family sitcom we’ve all been waiting

think I like him.” And he’s also in a world

family show, and a show that could get

for.” And I remember looking at and just

where Ramy, and his friends, very much

into our details, our nuances? Something

going, “Oh, man, I don’t know. That’s a lot of

believe in God. You have someone like

that was really exciting to me was, how

weight. That’s going to be really impossible.”

Steve, who has a really clear reason to not

could we make a story that looked at

Also, no one has ever been asked to make

believe in God, and it’s a really interesting

someone who believed in God, but in a

the Christian show that really represents

perspective to have come out.

very grounded way, in a way that feels

all Christians. No one would ever say that,

like an everyman, as opposed to what we

because it’s like, “Well, wait, what kind of

Season 1 left on a romantic cliffhanger

see a lot of the time, which are these very

Christian? Are they Evangelical?” I mean,

with Ramy’s cousin. What can we ex-

caricature-ish looks, or the blown-out

there are all these sects. What state are

pect from Season 2?

idea of the priest who is brooding and

they living in? It begs all these questions.

I’m excited to expand. In Season 1, he’s

also is an alcoholic, and does cocaine.

But for some reason, the term “average

struggling with his faith and his desires.

Muslim family” flies. And I think really what

He’s trying to figure out a romantic part-

you’re watching a kid try to separate them-

people are trying to say is “not ISIS”. In

ner, and he’s trying to figure out where he

selves from their culture and their parents

terms of what this show represents, it’s

fits in. And I think Season 2 is going to be

and erase it. You’re actually watching some-

definitely not ISIS. But then under that,

seeing him make some decisions. He’s

one who has a lot of respect for the faith

we get into something that is very, very

been toeing the line and straddling what

and the tradition, and isn’t trying to change

specific. And I think that Arab Muslims who

he wants to do in these first 10 episodes,

it, or manipulate it, but is more trying to

watch this show feel very seen. But then

and I think we’re going to see him make

figure out his place within it.

Muslims who are black—most of the Mus-

some choices and see the repercussions

lims in America—or Muslims who are any of

of those. I’m just excited for the show to

Did you feel pressure to explain that

the various groups, they might only relate to

mature. I think we’ve really found our tone,

you weren’t saying “This is what

certain things. They might watch it and go,

and I think once you’ve hit that, then it

Muslim life is like”? As though all

“What’s going on here? This isn’t me.”

gets really fun. ★

It’s not a first generation story where

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Christina

of content that we’re doing, and we have

A P P L E G AT E CARDELLINI ★

★

need to feel safe with your partner. I think we felt safe enough to do what we needed to do, together and apart, and know that the other person had their back—in life, and also on camera.

Linda ★

to go places that are uncomfortable, you

★

★

You mentioned throwing in a line. Did you do a lot of improv?

Cardellini: We did. We did what was on the page, always...

Applegate: …Always, always. You always have respect for the page.

The Dead to Me stars discuss the bold storytelling moves of Liz Feldman’s series

BY M AT T G RO BA R

Cardellini: And our writers were so fantastic and open.

Applegate: They would just let us go.

“Put down the pipe… penis”; that whole thing was all us. We improved that scene

HEN CHRISTINA APPLEGATE WAS pitched on Dead to Me and its shocking Season 1 finale, she couldn’t help asking, “Can we earn that moment?” Centered on a tightly wound widow and a free spirit who meet in grief support group, the series was a complex meditation on grief, replete with twists, turns and shocking secrets, which didn’t fit into any familiar box. Like Applegate, co-star Linda Cardellini signed on in a leap of faith, feeling like the series took real risks with its storytelling. In the end, though, the ability to do so boldly paid off, becoming the show’s greatest asset.

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for a really long time. I could see Mitch [B. Cohn], the boom operator, having to hold this thing like, “Will they stop talking?”

After we had completed the scene as written, we just kept talking.

Cardellini: And they just let us go.

Dead to Me runs the gamut in the themes and ideas it explores. Which were most meaningful to you?

Cardellini: It’s all different layers of grief, and that grief is messy—the grief over things that will happen in life, things that won’t happen in life, things about people that we miss, people who have gone,

The comedy in this show isn’t charac-

took to the work?

people who are sick. I think for me, there’s

ters trying to be funny. It’s contrasts.

Cardellini: Liz [Feldman] was really great

great grief in the idea that I can’t find a

Applegate: Oh no, the worst kind of com-

because you could ask her as much or as

family anywhere, but then I find it, and it’s

edy is trying to be funny. It hurts my heart

little as you wanted. If you said, “I don’t

fraught with so many issues and problems.

when I see people trying to be funny. In

want to know that yet,” she wouldn’t tell

But there’s so much in there.

this, we could not think about the comedy.

you, and if you said, “Tell me everything

Applegate: Everyone’s going to take away

It had to just be people that were kind of

about that,” she would. And it also comes

what they need to hear, but I think that at

funny. Like, when I call Lorna a twat—which

from a really personal place for her, so she

the core of this is support, women holding

was, of course, one of the ad libs out of

would share things with me for my charac-

each other up, people holding each other

my dark, twisted head—that couldn’t have

ter that were really informative, and gave

up when we’re down.

been played. That had to be real.

me more to draw on.

Cardellini: I had a balancing act to do,

Applegate: For me, I don’t know. I’ve

A second season hasn’t yet been an-

as well, because in the first episode, the

lived a parallel life to Jen in a way, so I just

nounced. But do you have hopes as to

audience isn’t in on things that they will

could feel her.

where things might go?

Applegate: Liz has already got it mapped

be in the next episode. Modulating and arcing that, in terms of how much you

You’d only met each other once before

out, for the most part.

know about Judy, and what she’s willing

shooting. How quickly did the bond

Cardellini: Yeah. If we do go back, it will

to let you in on, was really fun.

form between you?

start pretty quickly, so she has a lot of

Applegate: I think from the second we

ideas percolating. I keep coming up with

How much did you know about where

met, we trusted each other.

ideas, but I don’t know.

the show was going?

Cardellini: I know it sounds corny, but I

Applegate: She likes to think about

Applegate: On this show, we would table

was going to say the same thing.

things; I’ll think about it when I get the call

read like four episodes at a time, so there

Applegate: We knew who the other

sheet for the next day [laughs]. And then

really wasn’t a lot of mystery.

person was at the core by just our first

my brain will switch off from being mom

meeting. We didn’t talk about the show at

to creative brain. But you know me: I can’t

lunch. But because we’re doing the kind

multitask with that.★

How did that impact the approach you

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I N D E A D L I N E ’ S S T U D I O S P A C E AT T H E C A N N E S F I L M F E S T I VA L T H E H O T T E S T N A M E S I N I N T E R N AT I O N A L C I N E M A D I S C U S S E D T H E I R L AT E S T M O V I E S A N D S AT F O R P O R T R A I T S

P HOTO G R APH S

BY

V I OL ETA

SOFIA

PRESENTED BY

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TARON EGERTON Rocketman

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CHLOË SEVIGNY

The Dead Don’t Die

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VASILISA PERELYGINA

Beanpole

LEVAN AKIN LEVAN GELBAKHIANI BACHI VALISHVILI And Then We Danced

YOLONDA ROSS Bull

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SOFIA QUIROS

Land of Ashes

WERNER HERZOG

Family Romance, LLC

LORCAN FINNEGAN JESSE EISENBERG Vivarium

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LADJ LY

Les MisĂŠrables

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ROBERT PATTINSON ROBERT EGGERS WILLEM DAFOE

The Lighthouse

WU KE-XI

Nina Wu

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PRIYANKA CHOPRA DAN KRAUSS 5B

DANIS TANOVIC

The Postcard Killings

Visit Deadline.com/Cannes2019 to watch video interviews from the Deadline Studio at the Cannes Film Festival.

The Deadline Studio is presented by Hyundai.

Special thanks to Villa AH Forbes, Axel Huynh and Camillia Price. Video cameras provided by Blackmagic Design.

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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 D E A D L IN E .C O M

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Michael Joseph Nelson, Jorge Ameer & Keith Simanton

Tara Kim

Yolanda Ross

Cocktails with Deadline Disruptors on the Croisette

Fisherman’s Friends perform

M AY 1 7, C A N N E S , F R A N C E Deadline’s annual Cannes cocktail party took place at The Members Club at La Plage 45. See more photos at Deadline.com

A NG E LOS BOUGAS & BE RT IE WATSO N FOR D E A D L IN E H O L LYWO OD

TITLE SPONSOR

Brian Presley

SPONSOR

Alex Cherney

Ali Jazayeri & Viviana Zarragoitia

JoJo Dye & Vincent de Paul

Kherro Ale

Oxana Popkova

Christopher Kukis & Krysanne Katsoolis

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Netflix Scene Stealers

M AY 3 0, N E T F L I X F YS E E AT RA L E I G H S T U D I O, L O S A N G E L E S

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Charlie Barnett

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Christine Kromer

Michael Kelly

E M M A M CI N T Y RE /G E T T Y I M AG ES FOR NE T F LI X

Jharrel Jerome

Deadline moderated a panel featuring some of the most exciting talent in the Netflix family. See more photos at Deadline.com

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