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PRESENTS J U N E 24, 2020 E MMY P R E VI E W/CO ME DY

THE ART OF PROTEST

How comedy has a role to play in the fight for racial justice Plus: GILLIAN ANDERSON Revels in the lessons of Sex Education DIALOGUE: COMEDY Don Cheadle GaTa Jane Levy Maitreyi Ramakrishnan Ramy Youssef

D EA DL I NE .CO M /AWA RDSL I NE

Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini pair up for another season of Dead to Me, the Netflix “traumedy” going from strength to strength

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6

GILLIAN ANDERSON Grapples with the contradictions of Sex Education and playing Margaret Thatcher

12

COMEDY AND THE FIGHT FOR RACIAL JUSTICE What role can humor play in busting prejudices, as protests sweep the nation?

14

TIME WARP The Art of Craft: How the Stranger Things team rebuilt a 1980s mall

18

DYNAMIC DUO Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini reteam as BFFs bonded by murder

26

DIALOGUE: COMEDY Don Cheadle Maitreyi Ramkrishnan GaTa Jane Levy Ramy Youssef

36

FLASH MOB Photos from Deadline’s first-ever Hot Spots event in New Mexico

ON THE COVER Christina Applegate & Linda Cardellini photographed exclusively for Deadline

by Daniel Doperalski ON THIS PAGE Don Cheadle photographed

by Chris Pizzello INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK

Comedy’s fight for racial justice

p. 12

| Building Stranger Things’ mall

p. 14

| The Emmy doc race

p. 16

In Treatment While her character in Sex Education might bubble with contradiction, Gillian Anderson knows just what she wants to see S H U T T E RSTOC K

BY JOE UTICHI

6

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

PHOTOGRAPH BY

Magnus Sundholm

OFF DUTY Anderson in Sex Education with co-star Samantha Spiro.

It might seem an odd admission for

Did she hesitate at the prospect of

were shooting on a stage at the studio,

them. “I kept saying to the director [Ben

and so they mapped it out that way in

Taylor], ‘Wait, she’s driving to the school

the knowledge that, if you suck, you can

to spy on him? No therapist is going to

always come back and shoot it again if

do that,’” she remembers. “And he nod-

you need to. They had already built into

ded, respectfully, and took in my con-

the schedule that I would likely be able

cerns. And nothing changed, because it

to fail, and that it wouldn’t be the end of

shouldn’t have done. That was actually

the day. You really feel held. I knew I was

the essence of who she was. And the

going to be all right.”

many layers of Jean eventually became

an actress who has loomed so large in

grappling with the psyche of a PM many

the public consciousness for more than

consider tyrannical, with a worldview so

25 years since she broke through as

far from her own? “No hesitation at all,”

her most recently released work, in the

It’s a fine analog to explain the

Special Agent Dana Scully on the ’90s

she says. “There are a few things in life

second season of Laurie Nunn’s Netflix

success of Sex Education, which rises

zeitgeist hit The X-Files, before following

where, if they come your way, you just

treat Sex Education, playing a character

above the ambitions of its genre—teen

it up with a string of highly regarded work

know you have to say yes, before the fear

who is grappling with her own conflict-

sex comedy—to impart real lessons

on television, in film and in the theater.

says no. But certainly, as we got closer to

ing ideologies. Indeed, when Anderson

about the complications of finding

And yet, these kinds of contra-

filming, I almost died. My heart has never

first read the part of Jean Milburn, the

one’s sexuality, being frank and open in

beat so fast in all of my life.”

sex therapist mother to Asa Butter-

talking about the issues around sex, and

field’s Otis, who combines her sexually

grappling with the social pressure not

dictions have also loomed large in Anderson’s work of late, most recently

She dove headfirst into research,

Thatcher is also a sharp turn from

the things I enjoyed playing the most.”

in her performance as the former British

buoyed by the research team behind

liberal attitudes with a tendency to

to do either of those things. Anderson

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the

The Crown. And then production

pick through her son’s nightstand, she

is a parent herself, and even now could

upcoming fourth season of The Crown.

began with a weighty scene in which

couldn’t initially reconcile both sides.

never dream of engaging in the kind of

The series wrapped three weeks early in

Thatcher leads her cabinet of parlia-

“As an actor, I think what you’re looking

behavior her character is guilty of. And

March, when the Coronavirus lockdown

ment members. She felt the pressure

for are characters that have dimension,”

yet, she confesses, “You do, as a parent,

began, but Anderson had long since

of summoning the character for the

she says. “But, for some reason, when

sometimes find yourself doing exactly

found her footing as the divisive politi-

first time in such a pivotal moment for

I started reading Jean I was fighting

the things you think you wouldn’t do.”

cian, memorably played by Meryl Streep

Thatcher, and yet the scheduling had

against her complexities.”

in The Iron Lady.

been intentional. “It was a scene they

8

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

In fact, she actively pushed against

In the end, it was the larger message of the series that persuaded Anderson

S E X E DUCAT IO N : COU RT ESY OF N E TF L IX

GILLIAN ANDERSON IS TAKING LOCKDOWN IN HER STRIDE. “I’m an isolator,” she tells me over a Zoom video from her home in London.

“So, it suits me just fine. I’m not quite ready to be released into the big, bad world.”

to sign up. “It makes it okay to be who

can teach her such lessons even now,

cinemas across the UK, announced it

each season, was the surprise. “That

you are, however you are,” she says.

this deep into a long and garlanded

would release its taping of Streetcar for

was the bit I hadn’t planned. The

Sex Education hasn’t hesitated in its

career. She won a Golden Globe in

a limited time on streaming, as part of a

planned bit was that I was going to be

exploration of issues like race, gender

1997 for her turn in The X-Files, and

wider selection from its archive. Ander-

able to jump back and forth between

and sexual identity, safe sex and

might have been defined by a show

son reveled in sharing memories of the

mediums and work in America and

relationships, and it has succeeded

that became such a hit had she not

production on social media, reliving her

England, and to be able to choose

in maintaining its light and acces-

sidestepped the last few seasons and

time with a character who, she admits,

between doing things where I got

sible tone without resorting to the

returned to the UK, where she had

has never quite left her.

paid little to nothing, and then bigger

bawdy, camp humor usually applied

spent much of her early childhood, in

to such material. Indeed, Anderson

2002. She trod the boards in plays such

inhabited before, and she’s certainly in

has been warmed by feedback about

as Michael Weller’s What the Night is

there more than any other character

Britain allowed her to find her way back

how helpful the show has been to its

For and Rebecca Gilman’s The Sweet-

I’ve played,” she says. “I felt, at times,

onto the path she’d envisioned, even

core audience—teenagers—as they

est Swing in Baseball, which turned

like I almost went too far into her, and it

during an era in which roles for women

navigate their own paths through their

her into a West End mainstay. And she

was quite challenging to pull back.”

were not nearly as forthcoming as

sexual awakening. “The fact that kids

earned another Golden Globe nomina-

Watching the play on streaming

who are questioning their sexuality, or

tion as Lady Dedlock in the BBC’s starry

was eye-opening for Anderson; the

incredibly, incredibly lucky,” Anderson

have other questions they’re curious

adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Bleak

definition of the form generally renders

punctuates. The landscape is changing.

about, can watch it, often with their

House, now considered a definitive

it impossible for an actor to watch a

“It’s absolutely shifting for women, and

parents, is beautiful.”

adaptation of the story.

play they’re in as an audience member.

in television that’s been happening for

projects that would pay my mortgage.”

The diversity of roles she found in

those for men. “I have been incredibly,

“I was shocked by how intense I found

a good while now, over the last 10 or 15

family with even younger kids—12-

built to a crescendo that has made

it, even though, obviously, I was there,”

years. That’s the same in Europe and

year-olds, she thinks—watching the

her stage performances some of the

she laughs.

America. Where that is limited is in film,

show together, and the parents telling

hottest tickets in theater. When I tell

the kids they could pause at any point

her that I came to see What the Night is

of all the aspects of the production

to ask any questions they might have.

For in 2002, she jokes that I must have

she missed by performing in the play,

“Interestingly,” she says, “it wasn’t

been the only one. That most certainly

which went some way to making sense

and Anderson believes the real work

during any of the sexual or particularly

couldn’t have been the case for her

of how special she found the experi-

lies ahead. “The thing that needs to be

audacious subject matter that they

2014 turn as Blanche DuBois in Tennes-

ence. “There have been a few times,

addressed more than anything at the

paused. It was mostly about the

see Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire,

as an audience member, where I’ve

moment is actually the degree to which

feelings that came up when characters

nor for her Margot Channing in Ivo van

been left completely speechless by

people of color are actively encouraged

were being bullied.” In other words, not

Hove’s 2019 adaptation of All About

art, or performance, in various forms

and allowed through that door,” she

the innate discovery and acceptance

Eve, both of which earned her Olivier

of culture. It is a thing in and of itself. It

insists. “In the way that the #MeToo

of these characters’ sexuality, but the

Award nominations, with the former

is alchemic, and you can touch it, and

movement has made extraordinary

learned social behaviors that result in

transferring to Broadway in 2016.

feel it. And it is why we do what we

steps forwards in terms of how women

do. It’s why we celebrate what we do.

are able to action their futures, I think

National Theatre Live program, which

It’s why we try and convince people to

the same will need to happen in terms

films West End plays for broadcast in

watch, and to donate, and to keep the-

of expanding diversity in front of and

aters alive, because it can have such a

behind the camera.”

She remembers hearing about a

ST R EE TCAR : A LASTA I R M U I R/S H U T T ERSTOC K; X- FI L ES : M OV I ESTO R E/S H U T T E RSTO CK; N I G H T: N ILS JO RG E N S E N /S H U T T E RSTO CK

“Blanche was like no one I’ve ever

the kind of prejudice that causes so much trauma.

Anderson is delighted that her work

Her theatrical career in the UK has

As lockdown shuttered theaters, the

She saw the particular alchemy

profound impact on people. I think it

needs to be addressed.”

But diversity goes beyond gender,

These aren’t idle words, and they

can do good in the world. I think it can

are shaped by the experience Ander-

change people’s lives.”

son has had on Sex Education, which

There was little design to the volte-

features diverse talent on-screen and

face that first brought Anderson to the

off. She has delighted in what that

stage after she left The X-Files. Instead,

has meant for the telling of stories

it felt like a natural move. “I was very

so frequently absent from television,

lucky in that I had an upbringing in the

and how the specific can also reflect

UK, and everything I had seen in terms

on the universal. “I’m not even sure I

of how often actors were able to move

realized the extent to which it does

back and forth between television,

that until after I’d seen it,” she admits.

film and theater… that just didn’t exist

“You can read so much on a page, and

in the States. I think it has only really

then the minute you start seeing all of

begun to exist in the past five years

the fabulously diverse faces, and really

or so, where you’ll find A-list actors

commit to all the different storylines

that will do television, as opposed to

and the diverse dilemmas, you realize

keeping it at arm’s length.”

how unique and embracing the show

It was just how she always

STAR TURNS Clockwise from top: With co-star Ben Foster in A Streetcar Named Desire; in What the Night is For with Roger Allam; with David Duchovny in The X-Files.

and that’s certainly something that

actually is.”

imagined her career would be, in fact.

She laughs. “I almost feel like I said

And the way it initially panned out, as

yes to spite myself, and then was very

the lead star of a network television

grateful that at least part of me was

drama that ran to 24 or 25 episodes

paying attention at the time.” ★

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

9

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

Out of Sight

COMEDY SERIES

ODDS

1

Schitt’s Creek

5/1

2

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

5/1

3

The Good Place

7/1

4

Curb Your Enthusiasm

17/2

5

Dead to Me

17/2

Love Is Blind creator Chris Coelen on the challenge of crafting a reality series without precedent ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

IN LOVE IS BLIND, CHRIS COELEN ENGINEERED

a social experiment designed to answer two questions: can love conquer all in today’s world? And can people fall in love without ever seeing one another?

Produced by Kinetic Content, the Netflix reality series follows 30 single people as they go on a series of dates within ‘pods’—private chambers linked by an opaque wall—which allow for intimate conversation, free from the distractions of the physical world.

“If you fall in love and chose to get engaged, and that proposal was accepted, you would be allowed to see each other,” the EP explains. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t. And if you got engaged, your wedding would be in four weeks.”

For Coelen, the unpredictability of what would unfold on the show made it both scary and exciting to produce. “There was no guarantee anybody was going to do anything,” he notes. “It’s not a show of gotchas, or producers pulling strings.”

Growing into an unexpected pop culture phenomenon, the social experiments’ results surpassed the expectations of everyone involved. Within a matter of weeks, eight couples got engaged, and two ended up married.

From Coelen’s perspective, the series renders a powerful statement, demonstrating that love can transcend differences between people. “The people who met in the pods felt like they knew the person on the other side of the wall better than they had known anyone in their entire lives,” he says. “I’m really pleased.” —Matt Grobar

GOING GLOBAL Casting directors Bernard Telsey and Adam Caldwell spotlight international talent with Little America

Eugene Levy Schitt’s Creek

37/10

2

Ted Danson The Good Place

9/2

3

Ramy Youssef Ramy

6/1

4

Larry David Curb Your Enthusiasm

6/1

5

Michael Douglas The Kominsky Method

17/2

ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

ODDS

1

Catherine O’Hara Schitt’s Creek

18/5

2

Rachel Brosnahan The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

37/10

3

Christina Applegate Dead to Me

13/2

4

Merritt Wever Run

8/1

5

Pamela Adlon Better Things

9/1

auditions in New York and LA, along with self-tapes from around the world, in pursuit of standout talent.

Exploring the journeys of American

For Telsey, the best part of casting

Little America, casting directors

immigrants, the heartfelt comedy is

Little America was being able to give

Bernard Telsey and Adam Caldwell

based on a collection of true stories

actors their first professional gig, or

were tasked with scouting lesser-

published in Epic Magazine. Bringing

their first chance to be number one

known, international talent, who

cultural advisors onto the project,

on the call sheet. “This one was so

needed to be able to meet very

in hopes of achieving cultural

much about that,” he says. “It’s such

specific language requirements.

authenticity with their casting,

a rewarding feeling.” —Matt Grobar

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

1

Telsey and Caldwell took in-person

On Apple TV+ anthology series

10

ODDS

DISCOVERY Conphidance as Iwegbuna Ikeji.

COMEDY AND THE FIGHT FOR RACIAL JUSTICE As the world continues to protest, what role can humor play in shaping change? BY PETER WHITE

COMEDY 100% CHANGES THINGS,” says Kenya Barris, the creator and star of Netflix’s

potent message about policing in the

sion. Issa Rae’s Insecure just wrapped

United States, the death of George

up its fourth season on HBO, Dear

Floyd and his own experiences. This

White People is returning to Netflix

is the same man who said, in his

for its fourth and final season, Don

2000 HBO special Killin’ Them Softly,

Cheadle fronts Black Monday on

“Every group of brothers should have

Showtime, Ramy Youssef was joined

interesting conversation online about

at least one white guy in it. I’m seri-

by Mahershala Ali for Season 2 of his

race and class.

ous, for safety, because when the

eponymous Hulu series, Lena Waithe

shit goes down, someone is going

has Twenties and Boomerang on BET,

need to talk to the police.”

and Donald Glover’s Atlanta is return-

May killing of George Floyd and the subsequent protests against police brutality.

television comedy can help people

Barris says on both Black-ish and

“take the medicine with a spoonful

#blackAF that he was inspired by

of sugar”.

Richard Pryor to “pull the curtain

#blackAF, which also stars

Barris is not the only comic voice grappling with race issues on televi-

can bring about a meaningful societal shift in light of the

Barris, who also created ABC

special “so powerful” for the way

being very sensitive.”

that it mixed a handful of jokes with a

#blackAF. He is discussing whether the art of laughter

family comedy Black-ish, says that

lauds Dave Chappelle, calling his 8:46

“You need a person whose job it

ing for two more seasons in 2021.

back” and show, “white America and

was to bring you levity to tell you the

Rashida Jones as Barris’ wife,

Black America, and to talk to them

truth,” Barris says. “I think comedy in

pilot Good Girls Gone to HBO before

explores the meaning of being Black

in a really honest way and have the

this day and age has a much harder

becoming a writer on Netflix’s 13 Rea-

and successful and raising kids

other side of the conversation.”

role, but also a much more important

sons Why, says, “Growing up watch-

role. Comedy is more under attack

ing Sex and the City, I always wished

in America. The 10-part scripted

Of Pryor, he says, “His voice

Felischa Marye, who sold comedy

series—Barris’ first scripted series

changed the world and there hasn’t

than ever before in history. We’re in

there were Black shows that took

since signing a major overall deal with

been a new comedic voice like that in

cancel culture, we’re in a time of cell

the same risks, and that’s happening

Netflix—launched on the stream-

45 years.”

phones and social media and people

with shows like Insecure.”

ing service in April. It has started an

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D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

The Shaft and Girls Trip writer also

taking things out of context and

Marye is now making her

it. They think Black writers can only write for Black projects, or that, if you have one Black writer on something, it’s enough. What we’re saying is, no, just hire the best writers. And if you equally look for Black writers, you’re going to find that some of them are way better than your other offerings.

You just have to be open to it.”

Opening up across all genres is also key. Lilly Singh, host of NBC’s A Little Late with Lilly Singh is the first openly bisexual person of color to host a late-night broadcast TV show. “I found comedy to be such a good vehicle to talk about things, and I come from a culture where things are generally not spoken TV TALENT Clockwise, from left: The cast of #BlackAF, Ice Cube in Astronomy Club, Quinta Brunson and Robin Thede in A Black Lady Sketch Show, Tanisha Long, Rasheda Crockett and Angell Conwell in Bigger, Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross in Black-ish.

about,” she says. “I use comedy to talk about mental health and sexism. It’s my way of talking about things that are not too on the nose,

I DON’T THINK WE CAN CHANGE PEOPLE'S HEARTS, BUT I DO THINK WE CAN WAKE PEOPLE UP TO THEIR BIASES.”

Club all entering the Emmy con-

voices, I do love the opportunity

because then people get to put

versation. The genre has been

to get a show, but they need to

their defense mechanisms down.”

predominantly white since Comedy

promote shows. A lot of Hollywod

Singh says authenticity is key,

Central’s Key & Peele won for its

isn’t used to seeing Black faces do

as evidenced by spots on her show

fifth and final season in 2016.

silly things.”

such as Kal Penn discussing the

Astronomy Club’s Caroline Martin

A Black Lady Sketch Show creator

trouble with Indian restaurants,

says having a diversity of shows in

and star Robin Thede agrees that

and Singh and Mindy Kaling trading

the conversation is a positive step

this increased diversity doesn’t

Tamil slang. “Late night hosts have

and “takes the load off your shoul-

feel like a fad, but she calls for full

[historically] been white males and

ders” as the only Black show. “Grow-

parity. “I think that’s part of that call

they’ve had that space for a while.

ing up as sketch comedy nerds, we

to action. That’s part of me saying

There needs to be that space for

would watch Saturday Night Live,

to Hollywood, ‘We’re not asking

other groups of people to put their

where maybe there was one Black

for handouts. We’re asking for you

defenses down and address these

person, and we’d be watching that

to view us equally, as you do with

issues better, and I think comedy is

person and rooting for that person,”

anyone else. We want equity, not

golden for that.”

own comedy, Bigger, which she

she says. “So, for there to be multiple

quotas, or anything like that. We

describes as a modern-day version

shows coming out around the same

literally want to not be discounted,

wood will change as a result of the

of Living Single, for BET+. Executive

time as ours, that was really awe-

because we’re Black people doing

protests. “We’re still so nascent in

produced by Will Packer, the series

some. I’m hoping that having mul-

something that you’re used to only

this moment," he says, "but I feel

follows five thirtysomethings living

tiple shows with different vibes and

white men, typically, doing.”

like the one thing I am seeing is a lot

in Atlanta. Marye says it was able

energy will become the norm. I don’t

to feature important social issues

see us going back from here.”

—ROBIN THEDE, CREATOR, A BLACK LADY SKETCH SHOW

“without draining the comedy out of the rest of the show”.

46 years after Norman Lear’s

Thede recently told a story

Barris is hopeful that Holly-

of unification of cultures. It reminds

about the time she had written a

me of the Civil Rights Movement,

spec script for NBC single-camera

which would not have happened

Milligan, who is currently working on

comedy Parks and Recreation.

if white liberals had not marched alongside Black protestors.”

Her co-creator and co-star Jerah Sherlock Homies, a comedy about

“My agent didn’t submit it to the

Good Times debuted the country’s

an all-Black detective agency set in

showrunner," she said. "And he told

first Black two-parent family sitcom,

Harlem, says he hopes that what’s

me months later, ‘The spec is good,

whelming support from a broad

there is still not a plethora of voices

going on right now isn’t a “fad”,

but it wasn’t a diversity position, so I

swath of society are a step in the

from people of color across the

adding, “I feel like Hollywood goes

didn’t send it.’”

right direction, agrees Marye. “I

500+ scripted series on each year.

through times when it cares about

But there are other rays of hope in

people of color and then it fades

people’s hearts, but I do think that

1968, but it feels different and big-

terms of improving representation

away. I’m hoping that they stick with

we can wake people up to their

ger, and more people that don’t look

on-screen and off.

it now, and it’s nice to be a part of

biases,” Thede, who was also the

like us are fed up.”

that door being kicked open.”

first Black woman to write for a

Black sketch comedy is having a particular moment right now with

Promotion is equally as impor-

“I don’t think we can change

The protests, and the over-

know a lot of us weren’t here for

And of George Floyd himself,

late-night talk show on The Nightly

adds Barris, “It’s sad that someone

programs such as HBO’s A Black

tant as getting a greenlight, he

Show, adds. “It truly is unconscious

had to lose their life in such a grue-

Lady Sketch Show, IFC’s Sherman's

says. “A lot of companies are talking

bias; in so many of these execu-

some and graphic way. He changed

Showcase and Netflix’s Astronomy

about supporting Black and diverse

tives’ minds, they don’t even realize

the world.” ★

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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3

2

4

5

The Art of Craft

How the production design team behind Stranger Things built Starcourt Mall for Season 3

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8

7

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IMAGES AND ARCHITECTURAL PLANS COURTESY OF CHRIS TRUJILLO/NETFLIX

BY MATT GROBAR

NUMBERED Starcourt Mall

The Starcourt food court featured a quintessential selection of ’80s eateries, including Burger King, Great Panda, Orange Julius, Hot Sam and New York Pizza. It was just one key element of the massive mall production designer Chris Trujillo took on for Season 3.

The ice cream store where Steve and Robin work, Scoops Ahoy! was one of several script-specific stores and eateries designed for Stranger Things, which needed to be seamlessly juxtaposed with real period establishments.

Built in Duluth, GA in the ’80s, the Gwinnett Place Mall was selected as a base for Trujillo’s work over a dozen other Georgia malls, given its period charm. Inside, the art department recreated period branding for stores, including J.C. Penney and The Gap.

Before stores like Waldenbooks and RadioShack could be brought to life, the team would have to totally revamp the multi-level mall, which encompassed 1.3 million feet.

1

2

When Trujillo first discovered the space, it was in a state of general dereliction—a confusing architectural mishmash, having been partially remodeled in the ’90s and 2000s.

3

Fully dressed to allow for filming in 360 degrees, The Gap was the largest store recreated for the series, at approximately 3000 square feet. The art department filled this set with more than 2,500 accessories and pieces of apparel.

4

5

The Stranger Things art department fabricated 3 different versions of the massive neon “Starcourt” sign hanging inside the mall atrium.

6

In total, 40 businesses were created for Starcourt, including a retro Time Out Arcade and Star Cinemas, where Stranger Things’ teenagers take in a screening of Day of the Dead.

7

A small army of 50+ carpenters and painters worked for more than 10 weeks to prep the Starcourt Mall. In the end, this set served to broaden the world of Stranger Things, while pushing it into the space of a summer blockbuster, just as The Duffer Brothers intended.

16 vintage rides were sourced for Episode 7’s fun fair, including a three-story funhouse. 10 game stalls were designed and made by hand.

8

Chris Trujillo and his colleagues generated more than 500 pages of art in conceiving Season 3’s sets.

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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TIGER KING

Documentary Smash

categories, including Outstanding

nomination this year for Outstanding

Documentary or Nonfiction Series.

Documentary or Nonfiction Series.

It may be joined by The Last Dance,

Among the other candidates in that

the 10-parter about Michael Jordan

category is traditional powerhouse

and the Chicago Bulls, which picked

American Masters, the long-running

up the mega-hit mantle from Tiger

PBS series that profiles leading

King when it debuted on ESPN April

cultural figures. It could be joined

19. The network wisely moved up the

by fellow PBS series American

docuseries’ release from a planned

Experience—winner of 30 Emmys

June premiere date to satisfy fans

across the decades—a show the

deprived of live sports action as a

network touts as “television’s most-

CORONAVIRUS STAY-AT-HOME ORDERS

result of the pandemic.

watched history series”.

dramatically impacted television viewing habits,

Jordan] as eight [episodes] and it

this year is the arrival of the new

driving up consumption of just about every genre of

grew to 10,” The Last Dance executive

streaming platforms, Disney+, Apple

producer Mike Tollin says. “He

TV+ and HBO Max, all of which would

realized we could delve deep into his

like to burnish their brands with

character and tell the whole story.

nominations. Disney+ could factor

From a narrative standpoint, you

in the Outstanding Documentary

have all these recurring themes, and

or Nonfiction Series nominations

serialized stories.”

with The Imagineering Story, from

Megahits The Last Dance and Tiger King lead the hunt for Emmy nominations

BY MATTHEW CAREY

programming, including documentary. The resulting huge audience numbers and media attention generated by Tiger King and The Last Dance could give those nonfiction series a leg-up as Emmy voters prepare to mark their

“We pitched it [to Michael

ESPN’s two-part documentary

nomination ballots.

A major Emmy development

director Leslie Iwerks, a six-episode

LANCE, about disgraced cyclist

“journey behind the curtains of Walt

moored in their homes, TV remote

Lance Armstrong, could break

Disney Imagineering, the little-known

on “murder, mayhem and madness”

in hand, helped turn the series into a

out of the peloton with multiple

design and development center of

in the eccentric world of big cat

cultural phenomenon.

nominations. Both LANCE, directed

The Walt Disney Company.” Apple

by Marina Zenovich, and The Last

TV+, meanwhile, enters the fray with

Tiger King, the seven-part series

breeders and private zoo operators,

“I do think we all must assume

dropped on Netflix March 20, just as

that that’s part of it,” Goode states.

Dance, directed by Jason Hehir, are

two doc series—Visibility: Out on

lockdown orders were being imposed

“For sure.”

part of ESPN’s acclaimed 30 for 30

Television and Home—and two doc

Tiger King is contending for

series, which stands an excellent

features, The Elephant Queen and

Emmy nominations in multiple

chance of earning another Emmy

Beastie Boys Story.

across much of the U.S. Director Eric Goode is the first to say people

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applying this year, expect American Factory—winner of the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature—to be called often when Emmy nominations are announced. The Netflix film directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert stands a strong chance of earning nods for Outstanding Documentary or AMERICAN FACTORY

APOLLO 11

Nonfiction Special, and in all the craft categories. The same could well prove true for fellow Oscar nominated docs The Edge of Democracy (Netflix) and The Cave (National Geographic). St. Louis Superman, an Oscar nominee in the short doc category, is being submitted for Emmy consideration after qualifying with a broadcast premiere on the MTV networks.

The Emmys also offer a shot at the spotlight for documentaries that fell short of Oscar nominations.

Among those is Apollo 11 from CNN Films, which made the Oscar shortlist but not the final

BEASTIE BOYS STORY

KILLER INSIDE: THE MIND OF AARON HERNANDEZ

cut. National Geographic’s Sea of Shadows, about the effort to protect the last few remaining

Murder in the Bayou (Showtime).

THIS WASN’T JUST A MOVIE TO EDUCATE THE WORLD AND GET AN AUDIENCE. THIS WAS A MOVIE SO WE COULD SAVE A SPECIES —RICHARD LADKANI, DIRECTOR, SEA OF SHADOWS

vaquita whales from extinction,

True crime features that

thinks that may improve its chances

didn’t make the Oscar shortlist last

could earn Emmy nominations

for nominations. “It was part sports

year, but now has a new chance at

for Outstanding Documentary or

doc, it was part pop culture, it was

recognition with the Emmys.

Nonfiction Special include two from

part true crime, then there was the

HBO: Who Killed Garrett Phillips?

sexuality angle [about Hernandez],”

educate the world and get an

and I Love You, Now Die. In the past,

he notes. “So, I think it was very

audience or something,” director

the Emmys have honored true

relatable and approachable to

Richard Ladkani says. “This was a

crime docs—HBO’s The Jinx: The

many people. I’m hoping this one

movie so we could save a species.”

Life and Deaths of Robert Durst won

can break through at the Emmys,

The Emmys give hope to docs

two Emmys and Netflix’s Making

as opposed to just a ‘regular’ true

that flew below the radar or did not

a Murderer won four: best series,

crime doc series.”

have the money to launch an Oscar

directing, editing and writing. Still,

This is the last year films recog-

“This wasn’t just a movie to

campaign. HBO’s The Sentence

some documentary filmmakers

nized by the Oscars will be allowed

didn’t get shortlisted for the Oscars

think Emmy voters don’t give the

a second bite of the apple—going

last year, but it wound up winning

true crime genre its due.

for television’s highest honor on top

the Emmy for Exceptional Merit in

of the film industry’s big prize.

Documentary Filmmaking. This year,

“It’s difficult for true crime stuff

The nonfiction scene this Emmy

elements beyond simply crime. He

to get nominated,” asserts Erin Lee

“The Television Academy

Carr, director of I Love You, Now Die.

ruled in March that effective in

in Three Movements is being

“I hope that that changes.”

2021, programs that have been

submitted for Exceptional Merit,

nominated for an Oscar will no

a special juried category that’s

HBO’s Moonlight Sonata: Deafness

season is notable for all the true

Geno McDermott, director of

crime content, documenting an

Killer Inside, believes the disturbing

longer be eligible for the Emmys

perhaps the most prestigious honor

array of misdeeds from murder to

nature of the subject matter can

competition,” the TV Academy

for documentaries at the Emmys.

fraud. On the series side, along with

affect awards prospects. “There’s

reaffirmed in a statement last

Tiger King, the contenders include

just an apparent darkness around

month. Double-dipping has been a

I feel very honored to be considered

Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The

true crime, so it’s hard to celebrate

particular issue in the documentary

for this,” director Irene Taylor

Lost Children and McMillion$ (HBO);

it,” McDermott says.

categories—last year, for instance,

Brodsky says. “Yeah, I’m thrilled.”

Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron

His series, about the New

Free Solo scored half a dozen

“It’s a peer-reviewed award, and

Documentary filmmakers far

Hernandez, The Innocence Files,

England Patriots star who was

Emmys just a few months after

and wide hope to share that thrill

Don’t F**k with Cats and The Trials

convicted of murder and later killed

claiming the documentary Oscar.

when the Emmy nominations are

of Gabriel Fernandez (Netflix); and

himself in prison, contains thematic

With the rule change not

announced on July 28. ★

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

17

Murder, mischief and mayhem unite Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini in Liz Feldman’s hit “traumedy” Dead to Me, about a friendship forged in darkness.

As the show’s second season generates even more stellar notices than the first, Peter White meets Applegate and Cardellini to find out why it resonates so strongly.

Photograph by Dan Doperalski for Deadline

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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N

etflix dramatic comedy Dead to Me doubled down on darkness in its second season. This is quite an achievement for a show that started out with a hit-and-run and a sham friendship formed at a grief support group between a widow and the woman who was driving the car.

Christina Applegate, who plays mother, widow and realtor Jen Harding, and Linda Cardellini, who plays driver, health care assistant and emotional pudding cup fan Judy Hale, are forced to face a whole new set of challenges after the death of James Marsden’s crooked Greek Mafia lawyer Steve Wood.

Firstly, the pair must figure out what to do with the dead body; then, they must avoid getting caught, deal with Wood’s twin brother Ben—who, in pure telenovela-style, is also played by Marsden—and work on recalibrating their own relationship.

Throw in a couple of new love interests, including a tryst between Judy and Natalie Morales’ Michelle, and a prison appearance from Katey Sagal, who played Christina Applegate’s mother on Married… with Children.

Created by Liz Feldman and produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Gloria Sanchez Productions, the half-hour comedy hopes to build on Applegate’s nomination last year for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (she was beaten

by Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge).

Now, from their respective lockdown bubbles, Deadline reunites Applegate and Cardellini for a long discussion of the show.

“Are we Zooming?” jokes Applegate. “Does anyone have to get a gown?”

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THICK AS THIEVES From top: Applegate and Cardellini bond as Jen and Judy; an awkward meeting with their victim's identical twin (James Marsden); the partners in crime hit the road together.

"Jen and Judy only have each other to rely on in the worst of times, and they end up not being able to live without each other because they need each other to get them through something that they can’t share with anybody else."

— Linda Cardellini

How did you feel about where you started Season 2?

Linda Cardellini: Judy has decided that she would kill herself because that’s what Jen has asked. She goes from that to then being saved

by Jen and her telling her to come home, which is a word that is very important to Judy; the idea of having a home and having a family.

She is now part of something that she could have never imagined and that puts her in such a complicated place. It evens the footing between the two women, because they both have something to do with the loss of the other one's significant other.

In terms of her mourning for Steve, that relationship is very toxic and I thought the idea of mourning a toxic relationship was interesting because I haven’t really seen it done like that. Jen and Judy only have each other to rely on in the worst of times, and they end up not being able to live without each other because they need each other to get them through something that they can’t share with anybody else.

Christina Applegate: Jen was amped up. It’s exhausting because she was already kind of amped up, and now there’s another level of conflict, and her muscles are just in knots all over her body and her soul and her heart.

What did you think when you found out James Marsden was returning as Steve’s twin?

Applegate: When Liz told me that there was going to be a twin, I was like, “You’re punking me right now, right?” She said, “Just trust me.”

Then I watched my beautiful friend, James Marsden, just fucking sell it. He just beautifully fell into it, and I think that that was the biggest surprise, obviously, for the season. We wanted James back. He’s a delightful human being and a great actor. It was like either we were going to just have him back for a bunch of flashbacks or find another way to get him in this.

Cardellini: I loved it. When Liz first told me about it, I just laughed, and I thought that it was going to be so much fun to pull off. As out there as you think it is, the really fun part is to earn all of that. He’s so great. He’s so wonderful to work with too, and he’s such a team player. I love all the people who got to return in the second season, it’s just so much fun

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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to have them with us. You really do become

The moment when Linda is breaking down

a family, because you work so hard and such

while eating a pudding cup seems to be a

long hours with each other. I really think Liz is

great example of that.

so fantastic at taking those kinds of twists and

Cardellini: That was actually improv. I

making them seem so well-earned, so natural.

thought, I’m just going to open this up and see if it makes anybody laugh. Then we kept that.

Where do you think the relationship between Jen and Judy stands at the

How much of the show is improvised?

beginning of Season 2?

Applegate: We always do as written, and then

Applegate: I think that unfortunately Jen was

it’ll be just those moments when Liz will say,

very manipulative with Judy in the second

“Hey, can you guys just do your Jen and Judy

season at the beginning because she needed

thing?” Then we’ll just kind of come up with

her to fix this. It was very selfish. And I think

weird shit. It happened a couple of times, and

towards the end, she realized how much she

then they just saw how comfortable we were

needs her, and how much value Judy plays in

with it, and then it kind of became like their

her life, to her whole family, and the relation-

own language.

ship with her kids, and trying to figure out how

Cardellini: The wonderful thing is that Liz has

to be a better mom, and then getting that

created these characters that are so specific.

second chance to be a mom.

I feel like she’s really given us ownership of

Cardellini: When it rains, it pours. Judy’s in

them, but we go to her for everything. I mean,

the middle of a storm cloud. For me, one of

you see the two of us on screen, but she’s

the challenges of the character that I haven’t

also right there with us for any questions that

had to face with other characters is that she

we have and for anything. It’s really her vision

doesn’t get angry. It’s something that was

that we are proudly executing. We always

decided early on, that she has a hard time

get what’s on the page, but the fact that she

showing her anger.

has given over to us these characters, we are allowed to do whatever we feel in the moment.

It’s a very dark show about grief but there’s still an element of comedy to it. How do you

You’ve both done lots of comedy before.

balance that?

How is this different?

Applegate: The comedy obviously comes out

Applegate: When you’re on a sitcom and

of the tragedy. It’s not saying jokes. It’s coming

you’re in front of an audience, it’s vaudeville.

out of the awkwardness of life, the pain of life,

That’s kind of how I look at it. It’s a dance

the messiness of life. For the viewer, it’s funny,

between you and those 200 people, and you

but for the characters, it’s not. Their imperfec-

need to get an audible reaction out of them.

tion and their messiness is what I think people

It’s not canned laughter. I consider that kind of

relate to, and the comedy always kind of forms

like the vaudevillian form of comedy. Then you

out of that. I think that some of our funniest

do something like a Samantha Who?, which

stuff is when it’s just me and Linda, basically

has got its own tone, and then an Anchorman

just ranting.

lives in its own bizarre kind of realm. I always

Cardellini: It’s a delicate balance. At first

feel like comedy is twinkling above reality.

when we were tasked with it, we weren’t sure

This is unlike anything I’ve ever done; it’s its

exactly how to do it because on the page it

own genre really. We always call it a traumedy

can go many different ways. It can go very

because it’s not a black comedy, it’s not a

broad, you can go very dark, and the idea that

dramedy. It’s people in trauma.

it’s sort of in this inbetween zone is really fun. I

Cardellini: It’s different to being on the old

hadn’t really done anything like that. The really

network schedule, which used to keep you for

delicious part about Judy is that she takes

about nine months. On the Netflix schedule,

these things that are almost hard to believe,

because it’s 10 episodes, as opposed to 24

and makes them seem so natural to her

or 26, like I might have done during ER, it’s a

character. And that, to me, is really fun.

shorter schedule, so you do have more time

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"This is unlike anything I’ve ever done; it’s its own genre really.

We always call it a traumedy because it’s not a black comedy, it’s not a dramedy.

It’s people in trauma."

— Christina Applegate

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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HAPPY FAMILY

From top: With Jen's sons Henry (Luke Roessler) and Charlie (Sam McCarthy); discussing scenes with Liz Feldman; on the beach with Michelle (Natalie Morales) and Nick (Brandon Scott).

in the year to do something else. The idea of being able to play different roles is what it’s all about to me. I love the idea that I get to dive into this great female-led show with two strong colleagues, and I get to be on the screen and work really hard and go sort of stretch all of my muscles in that way, and then I love the idea that I can then go do a movie in the interim between seasons.

It’s a very personal story for creator Liz Feldman. Can you talk about her process and working with her?

Applegate: She’s incredible. She’s so handson, which is wonderful because that’s her vision. She works really well with the directors, which are all female. We only had one male director, Abe Sylvia, who’s incredible. He was one of our producers too. But he, fortunately for him, sold a show, and moved back to New York. So, this year, it was all females. What that means on a set and how it’s run is very different than anything I’ve ever been a part of.

Liz is really the driving force behind everything.

She oversees everything. She oversees every script. She oversees the editing. She’s there keeping us on track and she’s just a lovely human being.

Cardellini: It is truly a team effort and Liz trusts who she hires, she trusted us with the

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"The comedy obviously comes out of the tragedy. It’s not saying jokes.

It’s coming out of the awkwardness of life, the pain of life, the messiness of life.

For the viewer, it’s funny, but for the characters, it’s not."— Christina Applegate

We were so happy to have her. I think that character is a glimpse into Judy’s life that nobody ever gets. You don’t really see Judy’s background so much. I think it’s an interesting idea that you can have this mother who, clearly they have similarities, but just by being born to her, she’s learned some things.

But they’re two completely different people.

Judy’s not as manipulative in some ways as her mother, but she has learned to manipulate from her mother.

That final scene is quite shocking with the car crash, the really surprising reveal of who is driving the car, Jen’s son finding out who his mother is, and a dog seemingly digging up Steve’s body. So what do you think happens next?

Applegate: I have no idea what’s going to happen next. I mean, we haven’t been picked

material, and she trusts us going forward.

my balloon. But I love the little, tiny moments

up or anything, but it’s not really the landscape

Applegate: She’s the reason I did it. I was

where you think you’ve got it pegged and they

right now, right? But given if we do go back, if

looking to go on an ensemble show, like

do something completely different.

any of us go back to work ever again, I don’t know what’s going to happen.

working two days a week. That was what I was really looking for. [But now] I’m working

The line, “Sometimes justice works itself

18-hour days, and not seeing my child for three

out,” after Jen confesses to Detective

really injured, so I didn’t say, “Fuck me.” That

months. To go from my dream job, which was

Perez, seems important; more so given

was all added. Because I think originally, they

like Ed O’Neill’s schedule on Modern Family,

what’s going on in the country right now.

wanted you to think that I was toast. But I think

to that, it was not what I had expected or

Applegate: Given what’s going on, yeah. It’s

that would have upset people. So, they added

desired, it but ended up being very satisfying.

so painful, I just feel so helpless. Not that you

me saying, “What happened?” and, “Fuck me,”

should smash someone’s head and then bury

again, so that you know that there’s another

There’s a scene where Jen is dissolving

them in the woods, and then get off; not to say

chapter to all of this.

a rat in the bathtub, and for a moment,

that’s a good thing. But humanity sometimes

Cardellini: I loved it. The question of what

I thought you were going to go full

has to take precedence over something else.

happens next is always sort of the fun part of

Breaking Bad.

Originally, [in the car crash scene] I was

the show. I am definitely looking forward to,

Applegate: We wanted you to feel that way.

Katey Sagal turns up this season but she’s

if there is a third season, seeing where that

That was the intent. The intent was she’s now

playing Judy’s mother. How was that?

goes, and what that does to them, and if they

completely unraveled. She’s gone completely

Applegate: I was so bummed. I didn’t get

know who hit them, and when they do know

fucking nutso. But the reality is, who could do

to see her or work with her. I finally got a day

who hit them, what happens. There are a lot of

that? Jen just can’t. She was losing her mind.

off the day they did all their scenes. I’m very

unanswered questions.

So that’s why the scene after that was her

good friends with a lot of the crew. One of my

just completely breaking down, almost like a

favorite people in the world, Mitch [B. Cohn],

Are you confident that there will definitely

scared little child.

who’s our boom operator, would always get

be a third season?

Cardellini: I love that about the way that they

me peanut butter cups when I was having kind

Cardellini: I am cautiously optimistic. That’s

do the show. They take you somewhere where

of a hard day. He’d hide him in my mic pack

sort of a skill I’ve learned in this industry after

you think you know where you’re going and

and stuff. I texted him, and I said, “You take

all this time. I hope so. And if not, we’ve given it

then it goes in a different direction. I remem-

care of Katey today.” She ended up texting me

our all, and people have enjoyed it, and that’s

ber feeling that way about the balloon floating

a picture of her in front of all this candy that he

something too. I have been on many shows

down in the first season, and thinking, Oh, I

had gotten for her. It was so sweet.

that have not lasted long, and ones that have

know what this is. Then it turns out that it’s not

Cardellini: How lucky am I? It was so great.

been very short-lived, so you never know. ★

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D THE DIALOGUE

EMMY CONTENDERS/ C O M E DY

Don

way codified in our business, outside of things like diversity mandates, and the recognition of the

CHEADLE

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disparity that we have in certain positions, we’ll be able to point to when and why it happened, but that remains to be seen en masse. I don’t know if that’s going to happen industry-wide because we’re still in this moment and people are not sure what to do. Obviously, the concern is things tend to revert and go back to the way they

The Black Monday actor on how the show reflects current times and his belief that real change will come

BY D I N O - R AY R A M O S

were because we are humans. It’s hard for us to keep this sort of attention span around things that we’re passionate about.

The forces that didn’t want change to happen

FROM PLAYING THE UNHINGED MOUSE in Devil in a Blue Dress, to battling Thanos as War Machine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Don Cheadle’s resume is a diverse array of characters, but none of them are quite like Mo Monroe in Showtime’s Black Monday. Cheadle plays the coke-snorting, self-destructive broker navigating the stock market crash of October 19, 1987, which of course came to be known as ‘Black Monday’. Now in its second season, Cheadle discusses how the series reflects the current landscape, and how the global pandemic and America’s civil unrest will affect the industry going forward.

in the first place don’t sleep. They’re not kicking back. And they’re like, “Okay, how are we going to come out of this still running shit?” That’s always the challenge in these moments: not to let that energy abate, not to go back to sleep.

What is it about Black Monday that really appealed to you in the beginning?

I love the distance that the period piece gives us, which allows us to look through a particular lens and see how far we’ve come, and how far we have not come. I think we’re seeing this played out in our news right now. Since Trump has been President, it has made our show incredibly

How do you think Black Monday can

to make an ungodly amount of money if

bridged with that sort of perspective. It was

serve as a cautionary tale, or a refer-

you cheat the right way… You pay the right

dealing with the wish fulfillment of a group of

ence for us to learn from?

people off and get away with it.

people that probably would not really exist at

Some people come up and they’re like, Black Monday spotlights cyclical

but the ability to use this different grouping of

people say it’s a primer for how you’ve got to

behavior that has strained the country

actors and characters to try to tell a very, in some

get it done. It just depends on who you ask.

in more ways than one. Right now, there

ways, American story about greed and loyalty, or

Some people think that sounds [like] the

is a shift with protests stemming from

disloyalty, and play with that. I just thought it was

greatest, most fun time in the world, and it’s

the death of George Floyd and a call to

a great opportunity.

not. People’s lives are destroyed. The show

action over racial inequality. How do you

is a comedy and we’re doing it for jokes, but

think all of this is going to be reflected in

Your character Mo is an anti-hero, but was

it’s being really pushed.

storytelling and the industry?

there a part of him you connected with?

I believe all that we know is that it will. I

Well, I think in some ways when you play these

was saying, even with all the regulations,

don’t know if we have enough evidence

anti-heroes—not just for the people who are

that this is cyclical stuff. The stock market

to be able to point to how it will. For some

playing them, but the enjoyment of watching

crash and those kinds of things are cyclical

people, it was already a part of what we

them—you get to live vicariously through their

because we’ve never fixed the inherent

were attempting to do. I’ve had a diversity

actions and ways that they do things that you

problems in society that address the highs

mandate with this crew that I’ve put

would never do or say, but sometimes you feel

and the lows and the haves and the have-

together, and shows that I work on for years.

like it. Mo is driven by his id. He doesn’t have a

nots, and those who are able to take advan-

My sets tend to look like the world and the

filter, and he really hasn’t recognized those sort

tage of every opportunity and those who

United States. You have a lot of people who

of niceties that prevent us from doing things

will never have opportunities. It’s not like it’s

have the positions and keys that wouldn’t

that we know would feel good, but we probably

something that’s foreign. The one thing that

necessarily be getting the opportunity.

shouldn’t do. I have a very smart friend who said

In one of the books that I read the author

we’ve never really excised from the process, I NV I S I ON /AP/S H U T T E RSTOC K

that time. I don’t know if they would exist now,

“Wow, that’s a cautionary tale,” and other

and you can’t, is human greed.

I think people are realizing, “Oh shit. I

a wise statement: “If it feels good, don’t do it.”

didn’t know we were a part of the problem.”

Hopefully from soup to nuts, every aspect of

How has making the show evolved for you?

angle, wherever there’s an opportunity to

every business will ask, “Where have I leaned

I couldn’t have anticipated, other than just

get over on something, people are going to

into this bias and where have I not done my

understanding the metrics by which you get

be looking for it, and that’s a business par-

part?” And not just, “Be a good person.” A

things done, how much the workload would be.

ticularly designed to allow for it because the

good person means actually trying to take

That is very, very difficult. How that pressure and

upside is so huge. It’s worth it. If the game

things apart that aren’t working. It’s trying

the frenetic energy of that would lend itself to the

was not going to be that big, it wouldn’t be

to attack injustice wherever you can, where

narrative. I think that it’s a very sweaty show. It

worth going for that huge risk, but you stand

you are. So, if those things become in some

feels like everybody’s on coke [laughs]. ★

So, wherever there’s a way to shoot an

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M a i t re y i

of myself to the role while also staying true to the character without totally changing Devi. And there’s that sense of authentic-

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ity. I know Lang and Mindy think I have a really unique voice. I don’t know what they hear in it, but okay. They said I brought my own swagger and spunk to it, and I was like, “Okay, I guess I’m cool.”

The brand new teen actress brings her singular talent and charisma to Mindy Kaling’s Never Have I Ever

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

Did you bring other personal quirks?

Yeah. This is loosely based off of Mindy’s childhood, but she wasn’t a kid in the mod-

EFORE TAKING THE LEAD in Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher’s Netflix comedy, Never Have I Ever, the now 18-year-old Maitreyi Ramakrishnan had done absolutely no television work at all, or even much acting of any kind. And yet she’s taken viewers by storm with her portrayal of Devi, a confident-butdorky, extrovert-but-cerebral teen dealing with her father’s death, a strained relationship with her mother, and a burning crush on the hottest boy in school. Ramakrishnan was rehearsing her high school theatre production of Chicago at home in Mississauga, Ontario, when she saw first Kaling’s open call audition on Twitter and decided to go for it.

B

ern day, like how it is now with cellphones in classrooms and all the slang that we have. So, there’s a little bit of a gap there, of course. When it came to slang, Mindy and Lang always let me try new things. If I felt like, “Oh, I don’t think kids would really say that,” they would never get offended. They’d be like, “Yeah, well, what do you think should go there?” That went for me and the rest of the cast. And we were always able to take a bunch of takes, trying new things, really exploring and seeing what works best. And on top of it, while filming, when I was just talking to the other cast members and saying my own slang, as I normally do, they started picking up on those words and asking what

Devi is wonderfully different to all the

and we live with a lot of people. So, we

they meant and started writing them into

stereotypical characters we see in high

wouldn’t get a quiet space. So, we figured,

the script, which was really cool. When Devi

school comedies. Unfortunately, most

let’s go to the library, rent out a little room,

says “What’s popping?” that is just me. I al-

of the time, we see Asian kids repre-

and film it there. A week later, they asked me

ways say “What’s popping?” I would say that

sented as shy and nerdy, but Devi has

to send in some more self-tapes. I honestly

all the time to my cast members, and slowly,

this refreshing confidence. What did you

thought that it didn’t really mean anything.

I would see it more and more in the script.

think when you first read the script?

I was like, “Oh, okay. It’s probably standard,

Also things like “slapped”. Teaching them

I thought it was awesome. Like you said,

I guess.” But I didn’t know any different.

what that means. Like you got slapped. But

it’s usually depicted that Asian characters

And after I sent in four more self-tapes, so

it’s not a negative word. It actually means,

are shy, unconfident, and have this crazy

now six in total, they asked me to go to LA

“That’s cool.” Like, “That slaps.”

amount of insecurities and that’s their big-

to do a screen test. At that point I was like,

gest personality trait. But on top of it, usually

“Whoa, wait. Hold on. I’ve never even been

The TikTok scene is so perfect. Tell me

the Asian characters are sidekicks, we’re side

to LA before.” That was when we met Mindy,

about shooting that?

pieces to somebody else’s story. So, it’s of

and it was the first time I was ever seeing a

Oh my God. That was so hard. I love to

course amazing to see that the South Asian

celebrity. I was like, “Wait, whoa, I’ve seen her

dance, but am I the most skilled dancer in

girl is the focus, and it’s refreshing to see

on TV before.” But instantly I got it together. I

the world? Probably not. No, definitely not.

really. But also, I think my favorite thing about

was like, “Don’t be weird. She’s a person. She

We were learning that dance in the span of

the character is that she knows she’s smart

probably wants to live a normal life. Don’t

a couple of hours. And me, Lee [Rodriguez],

and she doesn’t dumb herself down, which

be weird about it.” I got myself together

and Ramona [Young] would practice when-

is the case with a lot of female characters,

instantly, to make sure I could do the best

ever we could. And then when it came to

especially in young adult movies and TV.

possible job I could.

the actual dance, it was so interesting to see

There’s always this idea that the girl had to dumb herself down for a guy, but Devi is

What do you think made them choose

favorite scenes to film. The crew, the lighting

super smart and she knows she’s smart. And

you? Have they told you?

guys, the sound guys, everybody got really

she likes to be smart, which I think is great.

Yeah, it’s very odd. I had to ask them. You’ve

into it. They would be dancing on the front

got to know why you’re picked out of all of

porch of Devi’s house, having dance-offs.

As a complete newcomer, what was the

these people from around the world—over

audition experience like?

15,000 apparently. What they said was

What would you like to see happen if

For the first part of it, you had to make a

that I didn’t try to act like I’ve seen other

there’s a Season 2?

self-tape. My best friend and I actually went

actors act as teenagers on TV. I didn’t try to

I would love to see Devi love herself. I think

to our community center library, because

impersonate somebody else’s style or what

that’s an important message that not just

neither of us have a blank wall in our house,

has already been done. I brought a little bit

high school teenage girls could learn.

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Daniel Prakopcyk

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how it was filmed. It was probably one of my

G ATA

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How close is it to your life, especially when you explain your bipolar disorder?

Yeah, that was based on a real-life experience. Dicky takes his rap career very serious. Unlike other rappers, he has a

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rehearsal hall that he rents out for weeks at

Rapper Lil Dicky’s real-life hype man GaTa took on acting for the first time, and became the heart and soul of Dave

BY S T E V I E WO N G

a time, so we can perform our songs and make sure we’re on point. One day, I came to rehearsal, and I was a little bit lethargic, lazy, I wasn’t there, I wasn’t focusing, because

O ONE COULD IMAGINE that the comedy Dave, about an aspiring, neurotic white rapper named Lil Dicky, would become such a huge breakout hit. It’s based on comedian/rapper Dave Burd (aka Lil Dicky)’s experiences, as he tries to become the best rapper of all time, alongside his enthusiastic (and real-life) hype man, Davionte “GaTa” Ganter, who becomes an integral part of the crew. During one standout epsiode, GaTa admits to being bipolar. Here, he discusses the decision to talk about his condition, the response to that episode, and how he feels about this politicially pivotal time.

N

I was so heavily... I don’t want to say it... I was on my medicine. My medicine still had effects from the next day and they saw that.

So, I had no choice but to open up and tell my team the truth, because I’m here to do a job. I’m here to be a hype man, but right now I’m laid out on the couch. I just had to open up to them. I really lived that moment.

What kind of response did you get?

I’m getting emotional right now because, when the episode came out, I’m in my neighborhood on Crenshaw and 120th, where I grew up at. An older Black lady comes up to me, she’s crying, and she’s telling me like, “Yo, I was going to commit suicide. I watched

Dave is a bona fide hit. When did you

Did you know that he was developing

[Dave] and your episode really touched

realize that people were watching ?

a show and that he wanted to have a

me.” So, just every day I wake up, man, it

Week by week, as every episode dropped,

character very similar to you?

just makes me feel good. Because I was

I could just feel the audience growing. But I

He told me that he was preparing to make

embarrassed at first to take this medication.

knew people were really watching the show

a TV show based on him being a rapper and

It made me feel so good to share my story

when I made it to the LA Times Calendar. I

it was going to be realistic. And he told me

like that.

framed it.

that he was going to have a hype man based around my character. I had to audition to

We are going through a pivotal moment

Fans of Lil Dicky knew you already as his

play myself. And I wound up getting the job.

with the Black community, how is this

on-stage hype man. How did you start

I’m so thankful for it too, man. It wasn’t easy.

political time for you?

working together?

When did you hear about the “Hype

blowing thing for the world to wait this

with artists like Tyga, Fall Out Boy, Gym Class

Man” episode that focuses on you and

long to shed light on something that’s

Heroes. I was on tour with those artists,

your mental health?

been happening for over 400-plus years.

traveling the world with them. Once that

Well Dicky approached me. He said, “I want

Historically, the system in America is just so

stopped, I kept my relationships strong and

to make a well-rounded TV show and get

fucked up. So, it really makes me sad. Me

healthy. So, one day, I was down bad, I was

emotional and touch people. Based off your

growing up, I was never raised to be racist.

broke, and one of the managers that I used

life and your experiences, man, I feel like

But coming from where I come from, how

to work with hit me up like, “Yo, I got this new

your story is the perfect story to do that.”

the cops harassed people of my color, it

artist that I want you to work with, his name

At first, I had to backpedal. I’m like, “Hold

instilled a little bit of fear in me. I would be

is Lil Dicky.” We met at a recording studio and

on, you about to expose my mental... My

kind of scared to get pulled over, even if my

I’m going to be honest, he really kind of didn’t

state of mind. And it’s a stigma around this

license was legit.

like my aura. I came with a fake camera man,

bro. People going to be judging me, man.

I’ve been lucky, I’ve been around the

a fake personal assistant. I was trying to

I’m embarrassed about this. I wasn’t even

world and I get to tap into so many different

make my image look larger than life. But for

comfortable, really at first, telling you about

cultures. But at the same time, it really does

the most part, I really loved his music. He’s

this. So, you about to put this out there.” And

hurt me as a Black man, to see our life not

a very talented, highly-skilled rapper. It just

then I had to think about it. I had the support

valued the way it should be. And it sucks

took a while for our relationship to develop.

system of [my manager] Michael Hertz, my

because I’m on a path and I’m perceived

And then fast forward to today, man,

mom, my sister, Dicky, telling me, “You’re

as a successful Black man, so white people

we’re best friends, bro, because opposites

going to be inspiring people. You’re going to

don’t see me as a threat no more. And that’s

attract. Me coming from South Central Los

be touching people. There’s a million people

what kills me. “Oh, if I wasn’t on TV, or if I

Angeles, him coming from the suburbs of

in the world just like you.” So, that’s what

wasn’t next to Dicky, or if I wasn’t [featured]

Philadelphia. That’s my best friend in real life.

made me want to share the story. But I’m

in the LA Times, you would be looking at me

That’s what’s up.

not going to lie, at first, I didn’t want to do it.

like a threat." ★

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I went to protest because it’s a mind-

In the first half of my career, I was working

Jane

singing and dancing, so they had to find an actor who they thought could do the tonal shifts in the show. I think that it was basically

LEVY

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just a spreadsheet of actors and I checked the boxes [laughs].

Once you understood that Zoey’s story was a version of Austin’s personal

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experience with his late father’s PSP

In musical series Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, the actress takes on the biggest challenge of her career

BY S T E V I E WO N G

(Progressive Supranuclear Palsy), did you use him as a sounding board to help create your version of Zoey?

We did talk about Austin’s personal experience, but he gave us a lot of

N THE MUSICAL DRAMEDY FANTASY Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, lead actress Jane Levy took on the principal role of Zoey, a young computer programmer who discovers she not only has the ability to hear people’s innermost thoughts, but that, even more surprisingly, they come to her through the medium of song and dance. Premiering during the winter, the show quickly gained many passionate followers who were looking for a bit of heartfelt escapism during the COVID-19 quarantine. Here, just days before the announcement of a second season, Jane Levy chatted about the most extraordinary role of her career so far.

I

freedom to interpret the way that we were instinctually inclined. Austin gave us room to fill out these characters for ourselves.

Along the way, with each episode, you just go deeper and deeper into this character, and the line between you, the actor, and the character start to blur a little bit. Plus, I think the writer begins to hear your voice more, when they’re writing for you.

Is your performance also affected by the extremely talented ensemble cast?

Definitely. I am so affected by the people around me. I had incredible scene partners in Peter Gallagher, Skylar Astin, Alex Newell, John Clarence Stewart, Lauren Graham,

A lot of people discovered Zoey’s

audience as you have with Zoey?

Mary Steenburgen, the list goes on, oh my

Extraordinary Playlist during lockdown.

No, I haven’t. I felt like I was working

God. And eventually, it just becomes a great

How was it for you to see your show as a

differently than I’ve ever done while making

collaboration between the actors’ singing

source of solace during this period?

this show. I was just deeply connected to

and Mandy Moore’s choreography.

It means so much to me to hear that the

her journey of getting this special gift. But

show offered comfort or joy. We had no idea

the core of Zoey is her relationship between

It’s surprising to hear you didn’t grow up

that our show was going to come out during

her and her dying father, and it was really

a musical theater nerd.

a global pandemic, and it was so gratifying

emotional. I felt, for lack of a better way to

Well, I will say that I did musicals as a kid, but

and humbling that this work that we did

explain it, like I had given this project my

I don’t know anything about musical theater.

offered anything to anyone during this time.

whole heart. And that process was painful,

I’m working with a cast of real heavy hitters

but I was able to do that because I was

and I am the numb nuts at the center of it

Why do you think it caught the hearts of

working with people who were doing the

all who’s like, “What? Who? Why?” When I

so many fans?

same thing. [Creator] Austin Winsberg

was a kid, I did a lot of dance. I danced ballet

It’s a feel-good show even though it deals

and [choreographer] Mandy Moore were

and I was on the hip-hop dance team in high

with real, heavy issues. I think ultimately,

really interested in telling a story about love

school. I also come from a very musically-

afterwards, it’s a show where you feel

and loss. And not just in a cute, network

inclined family. My mom sang jazz in college

like those tears you shed opened you up

television, singing and dancing way, but in an

and my dad went to conservatory for guitar,

a little bit more. Or, you have a cathartic

honest, messy, tragic but also beautiful, way.

so it’s in my DNA. I guess maybe now I could

experience, where you work through some

I’m really, really proud of the show we made,

say I’m a musical theater person. Or maybe

of your own grief. Whether it’s grief that

and I feel so connected to the audience

just a musical TV person, though I find the

happened before COVID, or the grief of the

where I’m inspired to keep going.

singing so hard [laughs].

release. And it’s been such an honor. Truly,

Austin Winsberg chose you as Zoey

Which begs the question, why did you

I still can’t believe that I’m on a show that

right from the beginning. Did you work

take a role where you have to sing?

people watch.

with him prior to taking on the role?

Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy singing. But

No, and I don’t think it was anything that

after doing the show, I realized, Wow, that

You’ve been on popular television

spectacular. Honestly, they had a list of

is something that’s very hard. And I think

shows before (Suburgatory, Castle

actors, and there was a lot of things that this

the reason it’s so hard is because you have

Rock), but have you ever experienced

actor had to be able to do. We switch from

to be relaxed to be good at it. And I am the

this kind of connection with your

farcical comedy to real drama, plus there’s

opposite of relaxed. ★

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pandemic, I think it’s a show that allows for

Ramy

this show on the brand of awkward comedy.

I think it’s actually genuinely awkward,

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because of what we get into, and I think that’s what excites me with the show. So, it’s cool to be able to genuinely earn the word ‘awkward’.

Where did you want to go in the direction of Season 2?

The comedic mastermind behind Ramy talks Season 2’s alignment with current events

BY M AT T G RO BA R

It’s always a tricky balance, doing a second season, because you want to keep the elements that work, but you also need to change things up, because you don’t really want it to get repetitive. I felt like a

N ITS FIRST SEASON, Hulu comedy Ramy garnered widespread acclaim, striking a chord with its portrait of a first-generation American Muslim, his family and his politically-divided New Jersey community.

Released in May, Season 2 resonated all the more powerfully, its themes speaking to events playing out on the world stage. “I think we’re in a time right now where there’s a lack of compassion and humanity,” says creator, director and star Ramy Youssef. “So to have that, even just on the most basic level, is really important, and it obviously exists in this show in a very pronounced way.”

I

lot of Season 1 was very aspirational for my character—him trying to figure out who he is—and that Season 2, as opposed to being aspirational, should be a bit more transformational. We should see him with the reality of who he is, realizing that there are things he needs to change. For us, it was really trying to see him get closer to his faith, to be transformed by it, and obviously, that’s really heightened with the relationship that we have between him and Sheikh Ali. What inspired you to write the part of Sheikh Ali for Mahershala Ali? The idea to have the Sheikh character is

How do you think the series resonates

no idea that would happen. We even have

something we had always planned. There

with the world we’re living in now?

a joke about this Sheikh mentioning white

was actually even an idea of it being a

Well, I think there’s a few fronts. On one

people in Minnesota that we never, ever

sheikh that Ramy met in Egypt [in Season

front, just by the simple existence of the

could have imagined would have resonance.

1]. Then, organically, I just started talking

characters of Sheikh Ali (Mahershala Ali)

So, it’s definitely been a couple of strange

with Mahershala, who was a fan of Season

and Zainab (MaameYaa Boafo), I think we

instances of synchronicity that no one could

1. As a practicing Muslim himself, he really

have two awesome Black characters that

have expected.

just appreciated the story, and appreciated seeing faith portrayed the way that it

a way that is very exciting to me. That’s

At its heart, Ramy seems to be a

was on our show. So, it became a thing

something that I think, in many ways, speaks

show about awkward conversations,

where I pretty quickly realized he would

to the time we’re in right now.

suggesting that rather than running

be interested in being involved. Then, we

away from these exchanges, we should

pivoted up, having this plot line towards

looking at anti-Blackness, in even communi-

participate in them openly. In this way,

the end of the season, and making it more

ties of diversity. This is a Muslim community,

perhaps, we might learn, grow, and

of our main plot for the season, and we

a community that’s been maligned in many

become better people.

really felt like that benefited the show, too,

different ways, but they have anti-Black-

I do think that’s a big part of it, because I

because it was kind of where we were

ness, too. Looking at that, and really analyz-

think really what we’re doing is, we’re kind of

headed anyway. So, it was exciting for us to

ing that, we can’t simplify the conversation

catching people at their vulnerability, right?

be able to do it quicker.

and just make it this binary of black-and-

Vulnerability is always going to be awkward,

white. There’s a lot of work to do, and that’s

and I think part of why that happens in this

The show focuses heavily on the family

something that we do address on the show

show is because we’re looking at things that

members, as much as it does Ramy

this season.

people don’t usually talk about, but people

himself. Why is that so important?

really care a lot about. We’re looking at faith,

I’m just so inspired by the actors who play

Season 2 also touches on peaceful

and sex, and these are really intimate things

them. I mean, they’re so amazing. Even

protesting, which obviously couldn’t be

that are not talked about as openly as you

though the show is called Ramy, I’ve always

more relevant right now—though you

would want them to be. So, I definitely

really viewed it as an ensemble show. I can

shot the season last year.

resonate with that.

do a solo perspective in stand-up, so if I’m

Then, I think there’s also this element of

Yeah, it’s crazy. It’s been a crazy thing that

I think ‘awkward comedy’ is a thing, in a

going into a narrative show, I want to do

all these protests are breaking out, and then

sense, but really genuine awkwardness has

things I can only do in that format. The idea

some of the key imagery that really starts

to come out of showing stuff that you don’t

of branching out into other characters was a

off the season is protests. We obviously had

want to show, in a real way. We don’t build

priority to me from the jump. ★

34

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

PHOTOGRAPH BY

Chris Pizzello

I NV I S I ON /AP/S H U T T E RSTOC K

really speak to the Muslim experience, in

On Location - Albuquerque panel

Roswell, New Mexico’s Jeanine Mason & Nathan Parsons

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller

Albuquerque Rail Yards tour

Deadline Hot Spots: New Mexico M A RC H 7 - 9, 2 02 0 A L B U Q U E R Q U E & S A N TA F E , N E W M E X I C O An impressive array of New Mexican talent gathered at Hotel Chaco for Deadline’s inaugural Hot Spots event.

See more photos at HotSpots.Deadline.com

Keynote: NBCUniversal with Vans Stevenson & Brian O’Leary

Diversity & Inclusion in New Mexico panel

Better Call Saul’s Patrick Fabian & Rhea Seahorn

36

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

Netflix: A Fireside Chat with Momita Sengupta & Patty Whitcher

P H OTOS BY JAXA ND F LUX .CO M

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