Deadline Hollywood - AwardsLine - 08/21/19 by Deadline Hollywood

PRESENTS AU G U ST 21, 2019 E M M Y N OM I N E ES / PA RT 2

JUSTICE

30 years after the Central Park Five were accused of a crime they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t commit, Ava DuVernay and the Emmy-nominated lead cast of When They See Us set the record straight

NATASHA LYONNE

Ruling the roost in Russian Doll

HUGH GRANT

On the films that make him cry

Jessica Lange Bill Hader Paul Dano Billy Porter Bob Odenkirk Gwendoline Christie

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NATASHA LYONNE Asks life’s big questions with dark comedy Russian Doll

HUGH GRANT His political dreams, the roles he’d reprise, and crying over Finding Nemo

THE MAKING OF MRS. MAISEL On set with creative dynamic duo Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino

WHEN THEY SEE US Ava DuVernay, Jharrel Jerome, Niecy Nash and Aunjanue Ellis discuss the shattering series

DIALOGUE: Billy Porter Gwendoline Christie Bill Hader Jessica Lange Paul Dano Bob Odenkirk

FLASH MOB Deadline presents AwardsLine Screening Series, FYC events and more... ON THE COVER Aunjanue Ellis, Ava DuVernay, Jharrel Jerome and Niecy Nash photographed exclusively for Deadline by Josh Telles ON THIS PAGE Bill Hader photographed exclusively for Deadline by Josh Telles

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On My Screen: Hugh Grant

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| On Set: The Marvelous Mrs.Maisel

p. 16

| Fosse/Verdon’s origin story p. 18

Rinse and Repeat Natasha Lyonne’s dark comedy Russian Doll reflects not only her own rocky path, but also an existential learning curve we can all appreciate BY AN TO NI A B LYTH

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CELEBRATE LOVE

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES

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LIFE IN PIECES As the cynical Nadia in Russian Doll, Lyonne lives life on repeat.

movies—and it was the Scorsese/ Coppola heyday.” Lyonne also loved Rocky, watching it over and over. She credits that

NATASHA LYONNE HAS BEEN SHUTTLING BETWEEN NEW YORK’S BOROUGHS of late. Starting out in Brooklyn with a stint directing on Hulu’s High Fidelity reboot series starring Zoë Kravitz in the John Cusack role, today Lyonne is in Queens helming an episode of Awkwafina’s as-yet untitled Comedy Central show. But for Lyonne, all of this is a homecoming—both literally and figuratively. Literally, because she is a through-andthrough New Yorker, with the broad accent to match. Figuratively, because these latest

VHS collection with giving her the raspy New York voice that has become her trademark. “I think that’s even why I even started talking funny and having a tough-guy accent,” she says. “I think I was developing a personality around those films without realizing it.” Estranged from her father and

directing gigs speak to a long-held childhood dream. They are also the just desserts of a

living a largely independent life,

person so talented and so sharp-minded that she earned herself a Woody Allen role at

at 16, Lyonne took what she calls

just 16, was accepted into film school at the same age, and has seemingly left a distinct impression upon a slew of highly influential people throughout her life.

her encyclopedic knowledge and understanding of film and got herself a place at Tisch. “I was a film and philosophy double major, and I really thought that I was going to read all

Indeed, Lyonne cites Nora Ephron as one of her key supporters. A

proaching her to make what would

just six years old, she was cast in the

these philosophical works and I was

eventually become Russian Doll.

CBS show Pee-wee’s Playhouse, but

going to make movies about them.

the films she loved watching were of

And then I dropped out.”

few years after finding widespread

With 11 nominations for Russian

fame in the American Pie franchise

Doll overall, the Netflix series about

an entirely different ilk. By eight, she

It wouldn’t be until much later

as the sardonically hilarious Jessica,

a woman who can’t stop dying and

was obsessively deconstructing The

that Lyonne would fully acknowledge

Lyonne found herself battling a pro-

coming back is undeniably worth

Godfather, Taxi Driver, and Scarface.

her writing ability, with those key

found addiction problem. But she

watching, and easily shrugs off light-

Part of this somewhat ill-advised

influential women in her life pushing

beat it, and then went on to be cast

weight Groundhog Day comparisons.

childhood viewing was down to the

her to embrace her talents. “I know

in plays by both Mike Leigh and Eph-

Lyonne, her longtime friend Poehler,

family’s limited library, she says. “My

for certain that without Nora and

ron. The latter—along with her sister

and Leslye Headland co-created

father was a boxing promoter in

Delia Ephron, there’s no way Russian

Delia—put Lyonne in Love, Loss and

the show—which has already been

the ’80s. He wanted to be the Don

Doll would have happened,” she says.

What I Wore, and became a source

granted a second season—while

King of Israel and bring Mike Tyson

“We were doing this play for so long.

of encouragement in Lyonne’s life.

Lyonne also plays the lead role and

to the Tel Aviv Hilton. We were from

I remember Nora giving me the keys

Add to that, Orange is the New

directed the season finale.

New York, but we lived [in Israel]

to her Bel-Air house and saying, ‘Go

for two years, and I think they only

stay there if you’re in LA and you’re

Black creator Jenji Kohan’s decision

While she was a child actor,

to cast her in the key role of Nicky

Lyonne seemed also to always have

brought a handful of VHS movies

broke.’ I was like, Why is she giving

Nichols, and Amy Poehler ap-

the mind of a writer and director. At

with them—their favorite tough guy

me the keys to her house? I think

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tectonic plate-shifting experience in life, it’s very hard to change the way we’re wired. At a certain point that becomes crucial if we’re going to move from a nihilistic experience of life to a more connected experience of life. From a selfdestructive perspective, I would often reference All That Jazz when talking about Russian Doll, because it’s really a self-examination seen through its lightly-fictionalized yet autobiographical circumstances.” The story speaks to more than those who’ve been in crisis though. It’s for anyone who’s ever questioned the meaning of their life, why they repeat the same mistakes, and the nature of personal evolution. “I’m definitely someone who’s fascinated by big questions,” Lyonne says. “I think we’re all wondering it was their specific confidence in

similar things, and what’s funny is,

me. I still thought of myself as an

the bigger the questions get, the

untrustworthy person. I mean, this

more universal they become.”

was Nora Ephron, slowly building in

Will Nadia answer more of those

me a sense of self. It wasn’t coming

big questions in Season 2? “We

from my childhood.” Kohan, she says, did the same for her on Orange is the New Black. And

pitched it as a three-season show,” MORTAL COIL Nadia searches for philosophical answers.

she says. “It’s always been woven into the fabric of how we’ve seen it.

then Poehler, too, joined the chorus

I’m delighted for all the people that

of encouragement. “She was like, ‘No

think it wrapped itself up in a sat-

Natasha, you’re a writer.’ They kept telling me, as I would describe sce-

isfying way. I do think that we have Russian Doll had been in the ether

narios, ‘Why aren’t you writing this

for some time before it found its

down?’ I was just some school drop-

Netflix home. With a 15-year-long

out. I think in many ways I enjoyed

friendship between them, Poehler

having an underdog narrative for

and Lyonne made an NBC pilot

myself because it was safe there. It’s

called Old Soul, which contained ele-

a lot scarier jumping off a cliff, with a

ments of what would become Rus-

much greater risk of failure.”

sian Doll. While it didn’t get picked

But equally, as a woman poten-

up, it evolved. With Leslye Headland

tially wanting to write and direct,

on board, Russian Doll as we know it

Lyonne felt the risk of failure all too

came together.

keenly. “I think about what it would

Lyonne plays Nadia, a woman

a very specific sense about what follows. There’s excitement for see-

WE’RE ALL WONDERING THE SAME THINGS... THE BIGGER THE QUESTIONS GET, THE MORE UNIVERSAL THEY BECOME.”

ing how those big ideas that seem so crystallized now will ultimately evolve as we start fleshing them out and materializing them.” With an episode of Hulu’s Shrill yet to direct, and future feature plans forming in her mind, the writerly, filmobsessed person at Lyonne’s core can play her hand at last. “I’m getting it all back in,” she says. “My teenage

have been like to have a mea-

wishing she wasn’t at her own 36th

sure of confidence or opportunity

birthday party. Standing in a weirdly

younger, because I think there is a

genitalia-themed bathroom, hating

gendered aspect to that,” she says.

her life, she leaves the party early, only

Russian Doll teaches profound,

do-over for that young girl who got

“I’ll never forget playing poker with

to be killed in an accident. Game over.

deeply-rooted self-realization and

into Tisch all those years ago. “I’m

Nora Ephron, and her describing the

Only it’s not. Suddenly we’re back in

redemption; it shows us our human

really looking forward to it,” she

fear. If you just make one flop, no

that bathroom with her again. And

resistance to change, even in the

says. “I have a draft of it, a script

matter how many hits you’ve made,

again. She can’t stop dying, and then

face of the strongest evidence of all:

that I’ve written. It’s something

as a woman, they won’t really let

coming back to that same starting

certain death.

I’ve been able to see in my mind’s

you direct again. And I think that

point. Ultimately, Nadia must puzzle

Nadia is, Lyonne says, a semi-

really stuck with me. That’s probably

through why this is happening to her;

autobiographical creation. Certainly,

feels like I’m making peace in many

playing subliminally on the minds of

why life keeps throwing her the same

the character’s crisis seems to reso-

ways with a really troubled inner

many female directors. ‘I’d better get

day and the same brutal lessons over

nate with Lyonne’s own experience.

child self. I’m able to calm her

this right, and continue to get this

and over. But far from Groundhog

“Existentially speaking, until we

down. ‘See, I told you you’re going

right, or I won’t get another chance.’”

Day’s feel-good ‘be nicer’ message,

have some sort of a real systemic,

to do all this stuff, kid.’” ★

self is in seventh heaven.” If she can make a feature, it really will be like she’s getting a

eye since childhood, so it almost

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“THE PERFECT LIVE-MUSICAL. ” –

O I T A R E D I S N O Y C M M E R U O Y R FO ®

NOMINATIONS INCLUDING

OUTSTANDING VARIETY SPECIAL (LIVE)

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CHARTED TERRITORY

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

Mockumentary Mash How What We Do in the Shadows cinematographer D.J. Stipsen honed the series’ tongue-in-cheek style

D.J. STIPSEN, THE CINEMATOGRAPHER BEHIND FX comedy What We Do in the Shadows, says he would have been “petrified” to take on the gig, had he not already undergone a “baptism by fire” on the 2015 film of the same name. On set with writer/directors Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, the DP had to work out, “exactly how to shoot a mockumentary vampire film that was loaded with stunts, wire work and VFX.” As first-time Emmy nominee Stipsen explains, there are several requirements for successfully pulling off a mockumentary look. Shooting with zoom lenses, he needed his operators, “to act like it was their first gig. They had to arrive at things just a little bit late, like they were finding it. They zoomed in like they were surprised at what they were seeing.” The television series features ample improv, and lighting also became a challenge. Shot predominantly within one large interior set—standing in for the vampiric Staten Island abode—the series was lit to allow its actors total freedom. “Taika and Jemaine want the ability to go and follow the characters through the entire house, so you have to light the entire house, and allow the cameras to go wherever they want,” Stipsen says. “Because of that, you have to develop a style where you can light a close-up and a wide shot at the same time.” —Matt Grobar

UNCHAINED MELODY

The Handmaid’s Tale composer Adam Taylor takes the sound of the dystopian series from fear to hope

ODDS

Veep

5/1

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

11/2

Fleabag

6/1

Barry

6/1

Russian Doll

13/2

The Good Place

13/2

Schitt’s Creek

7/1

DRAMA SERIES

ODDS

Game of Thrones

4/1

Killing Eve

6/1

Better Call Saul

7/1

Ozark

15/2

Pose

8/1

Succession

17/2

This Is Us

9/1

Bodyguard

19/2

LIMITED SERIES

ODDS

When They See Us

17/5

Chernobyl

37/10

Escape at Dannemora

4/1

Fosse/Verdon

9/2

Sharp Objects

9/2

echo” to evoke the despair and dread of a woman stripped of her most basic rights under a fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship. By the end of Season 2 of Bruce Miller’s series, Elisabeth Moss’s character Offred is headed toward rebellion, with the intention of defeating Gilead—and subsequently, Taylor’s score gravitated toward hope. “Season 1 was more about tonality and setting atmospheres,” he

IN SEASON 1 OF THE HANDMAID’S TALE,

says. “Season 2 was atmospheric, with

composer and now first-time Emmy nominee Adam Taylor

some melody, and a couple of main

established a “really big and unusual” sound, which he

themes interspersed throughout. Then

would gradually move against in the seasons to come.

in Season 3, it’s far more melodic. The

That, “creepy, drone-y, otherworldly and alien” palette

foundations are cracking. Revolution is

featured synths and sirens processed through an “old tape

on the way.” —Matt Grobar

COMEDY SERIES

TV MOVIE

ODDS

Deadwood: The Movie

17/5

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch

19/5

Brexit

4/1

My Dinner with Hervé

9/2

King Lear

9/2

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On My Screen: Hugh Grant With a first Emmy nomination under his belt, the star of A Very English Scandal explores the dark recesses of his film and TV memories BY JOE UTICHI

THE BEST ADVICE I EVER RECEIVED Mike Newell, who directed Four Weddings and a Funeral, was a bit mad, but very good. His mantra was always, “Freshen it up, darlings. Freshen it up.” I think that’s pretty good advice, actually. I would give that same advice to a young actor. Death is repeating what you rehearsed so perfectly in the mirror the night before. The camera hates it. If you can invent something new on the spot, and improvise, even if only mentally, the camera likes it that much better. Have a new thought.

H UG H G RA NT/V I OL ETA SO F IA

IT SEEMS UNLIKELY THAT, AT 58, HUGH GRANT IS celebrating his first Emmy nomination after a career spanning more than three decades, and which started on the small screen. Indeed, after his big breakthrough in 1994’s Four Weddings and a Funeral, he became such a big star that much of his earlier, lesser-known TV work was hastily rushed out onto video with his face dominating the packaging, so hot was the market for all things Grant. But in the shockwave of stardom that followed Four Weddings, Grant mainly kept his sights locked on the big screen. That makes Amazon’s A Very English Scandal Grant’s first major television project since his career took flight, as television’s golden age continues to erode notions of a classist separation between the forms. And the nomination itself—for Lead Actor, Limited Series—is no surprise. As Jeremy Thorpe, the British politician forced to stand trial on conspiracy to murder his gay ex-lover, to keep their affair from becoming public in an age when homosexuality was a criminal act, Grant’s performance is a tour de force, at turns darkly comic and frighteningly Machiavellian. He plays with the idealized British charm innate to his most famous roles and subverts it with the kind of gusto that suggests he’d been waiting for a character like this to come for years. So with a watershed nomination for a landmark role in his long, distinguished career—which of us doesn’t have a favorite Hugh Grant performance?—it’s only fitting to ask Grant to delve into his history in film and television, and share his favorite parts, guilty pleasures and the ones that got away.

MY FIRST FILM LESSON I was cast in a television thing about Scott of the Antarctic [The Last Place on Earth]. This was in the mid-’80s. I was a complete new boy. Suddenly I was flown out to the Northern Territories of Canada, onto the sea ice with all these rather good actors. I’d driven my Ski-Doo way out onto the ice, and in the scene, I had to peer into the distance with a snow machine blowing snow in my face, and then walk back to the tent where everyone was dying. I did this. I walked back to the tent, they called cut, and I told them, “Well, I’ve done my bit.” So, I called for the man with the SkiDoo and went all the way back to the hotel. I didn’t even know that you were supposed to do more than one take, let alone more than one angle. I had to be hauled back from the hotel, and I’d kept everyone waiting for an hour. They were freezing their bollocks off. I was just too frightened to ask what I was meant to do next.

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THE PART I ALWAYS WANTED I’m very surprised I haven’t yet been cast in a war film, because I think I’d be marvelous. I’d look so nice in a uniform. I would have been great, I think, in those films made in the ’50s. One of my favorites is that David Niven film made during the war, The Way Ahead. It was made as a propaganda film. Things are going very badly for his platoon, and he says, “Stainer, do you still have that squeezebox of yours?” “Yes sir, I believe I have.” “Well, then, play it. And the rest of you, for heaven’s sake, sing.” And they all sing along to “Lily of Laguna”. Very moving. I could have done that. I should have done that sort of thing. I feel it’s in my blood.

MY DREAM PROJECT I have always had a plan to play my grandfather in his war story, but I’m too old now. Maybe I’ll just write and direct it instead. When the British were defeated, and had to be evacuated through Dunkirk, Churchill needed to keep the French fighting. One division was left in France: the 51st Highland Division, which included my grandfather. They were hopelessly under-equipped, like the whole British Army. Lightyears behind the Nazis. Eventually, they were surrounded in a seaside town, with Rommel on the top of the cliffs, pounding the life out of them. It was a huge massacre, but they fought on. Brave, brave men. Eventually they had to make the call to surrender. The chain of command had been passed down as far as my grandfather—he was in charge when they surrendered—and they were carted off to P.O.W. camps. My grandfather never really got over it. It marked a moment when the old standards of honor, to never surrender, became the modern standards of honor, where it was more honorable to save your men if you couldn’t win. I always thought that was an interesting debate.

THE MOST FUN I’VE HAD ON SET I don’t know that acting is ever a pleasure, but in the old days, before I got a bit of success—before Four Weddings—films used to be fun. Frankly, you were grateful it was being made at all, and you were getting paid. There was never any real chance of anybody seeing it, so you could have fun, get drunk, and chat up your co-stars or the crew. Film units used to be really fun, especially if you were on location. Nobody had smartphones, so you really got to know one another. Everyone was having affairs and drinking all night. It’s so different now. There’s no misbehavior anymore. Actresses come out of their trailers on time. That’s boring. We used to love all the tantrums. I still like to throw in a mini tantrum, just to keep everyone going. One per film.

THE CO-STAR I’VE TORTURED MOST I clearly want Ben Whishaw dead. Cloud Atlas came first. He played my wife in that, and I’ve clearly done terrible things to my wife. That’s Ben abuse number one. In Paddington 2 I put him in prison, and then tried to kill him on a train. Then, in A Very English Scandal, I seduce him, rape him, and try having him murdered. He’s been very nice about it.

RE X /S H U T T ERSTO CK

MY TOUGHEST CHALLENGE YET I struggle with them all, to tell the truth, but I remember being alarmingly lost when I agreed to play six different characters in the Wachowskis’ film Cloud Atlas. I thought it would be amusing and different, and I think it is kind of a masterpiece; so beautiful and brave as fuck. But look, one of them, I’m a futuristic cannibal. How different. Suddenly, there I am on a mountaintop in Germany, dressed in a kilt, all made up with tattoos on my face, and I’ve got one of the Wachowskis saying to me, “Come on, man, just look at him like you want to fucking eat him.” I thought… I don’t know what that looks like. Give me a witty line and I’m all right, but on that, I remember being very, very lost. And I think I might have been a bit shit as that cannibal.

THE FILMS THAT MAKE ME CRY Every film. I have just reached that age. If anyone holds hands in a film, either out of love or support, I blub. They don’t even have to be real. I cry at a lot of cartoons, which I watch with my children. Finding Nemo, I’m a wreck. But I realized I wasn’t alone when I was watching it on an airplane. I looked around in embarrassment as I blubbed and I realized the whole cabin was blubbing. All these businessmen in their suits. But literally, whatever the last film I saw was, I cried. It’s why I have to avoid them now; because I find them too moving. Watching films takes me into the abyss.

THE CHARACTER THAT’S MOST LIKE ME My friends have always said that Daniel Cleaver in Bridget Jones’ Diary was most like me. I think that’s a little harsh. But I did have fun with that character. Particularly on the first one; I think the second was a bit more of a challenge because the script was never quite right. But it was a lovely 180-degree swing from Mr. Diffident—that stutter-y, love-sick puppy who was, as I’ve often had to say in interviews, never me. People thought it was, but that character was all Richard Curtis. Funnily enough, I just did a miniseries with Nicole Kidman, called The Undoing. I hesitate to say too much without giving away some very big spoilers, but I think that’s pretty close to me, actually. You’ll have to wait and see what that is.

LINES PEOPLE QUOTE AT ME I don’t think I’ve ever said anything memorable in a film. A lot of taxi drivers in London will say, “Fuhgeddaboudit,” referring to Mickey Blue Eyes. They like that scene, so I get that shouted at me a bit. You can usually tell the films people are going to bring up. Sometimes you see some real weirdos coming towards you with wild eyes, and you know they’ve seen Lair of the White Worm. “Great movie, man.” They take a lot of drugs, those guys.

MY DESERT ISLAND MOVIES It’s a very odd, eclectic, motley list, I’m afraid. I mean, I love violence, so Goodfellas would be in there. Casino. The Godfather. Once Upon a Time in America. But then I’d also have to have The Sound of Music. I don’t think I could live without that. My Swedish wife is used to real men. She comes from the north of Sweden, where men don’t even drink tea, because that’s considered too girly. I was caught by her once, watching The Sound of Music and singing along with the Mother Superior. And honestly, our marriage has never really been the same since.

THE ROLE I’D REPRISE Well, there’s a certain sort of person who walks up and says they loved me as the Prime Minister in Love, Actually. I think I’d be a marvelous prime minister in real life, though some of my policies might seem a little eccentric to most people. I’d ban headphones; particularly earbuds. Anyone wearing earbuds, I think we should have the police machine gun them on the spot. Leaf blowers, too. Anyone who uses a leaf blower, or hires someone to use one, should be compelled to wear it rectally, with it switched on. Maybe that’s a little extreme. I told you I probably wouldn’t win an election.

MY KARAOKE PLAYLIST I’m crap at music, really. I don’t know any. So, karaoke fills me with dread. I did once play that ’80s popstar in Music and Lyrics. That song I did, “PoP! Goes My Heart”, is sometimes on the karaoke playlist, so I sing my own song, which is very sad. My showstopper, though, is “Sixteen Going on Seventeen”, of course.

MY GUILTY PLEASURES Antiques Roadshow. It’s just fascinating; the look of disappointment on people’s faces when it’s not worth what they thought it was. That show is an antique itself now. Secretly, I’d kind of like to be on Strictly Come Dancing [the British version of Dancing with the Stars]. It’d be beneath my dignity, obviously, but I would, really. I’ve developed rather a taste for dancing. I had to dance in Paddington 2, and in Love, Actually and other things, and it’s lovely. It’s a simple form of entertainment and there’s not enough of it. I’ve never done a proper musical, like those old Hollywood ones, and that’s what you need. I think the time has come. Remake The Sound of Music, maybe?

WHO’D PLAY ME IN MY LIFE STORY Colin Firth, obviously. It’s the part he’s always wanted. Deep down, he knows that’s who he wants to be. ★

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On Set:

THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL Amy Sherman-Palladino, creator of the comedy juggernaut, and Dan Palladino, her co-writer and director, discuss the “film school” gift Amazon gave them, and handling the sticky end of Season 3. BY ST E V I E WO N G

THE ACCOLADES CAME ALMOST INSTANTLY. Within weeks of their series being released on Amazon Prime Video in November 2017, the team behind The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel were clutching Golden Globes for Best Musical or Comedy Television Series and Best Performance by an Actress for their lead Rachel Brosnahan.

hard. We don’t have one person here who’s phoning it in. Everybody is really gunning for the best they can possibly do. So that number [of nominations] just means even more of the work is being acknowledged and that is great. And for Amazon—who go, ‘OK, it’s really expensive. There are so many skirts, and cars, and the wigs—it’s fake hair, is it really sup-

“Nobody really knew who we were in that room,”

grins Sherman-Palladino, during a brief break in

posed to be that expensive?’ 20 Emmy nomina-

remembers Daniel Palladino, co-writer, director and

writing. She’s wearing her signature hat, featuring a

tions gives them a sense that they’re not insane.

husband to the show’s creator Amy Sherman-Palla-

solitary match sticking out from its band. “I’m still

Even though they’re a little insane.”

dino. “We were sitting in the very back of the TV sec-

angry about Lauren Graham not getting nominated.

tion, behind the movie section, near the bread rolls.”

I should let it go but I won’t. Because that’s me.”

“The busboy was putting trays down right on top

She’s referring to the star of the much-loved

The insanity that is Mrs. Maisel begins with an early 1960s New York that no longer exists, so recreating this world requires extensive set decoration,

of us,” laughs Sherman-Palladino. “But then they

Gilmore Girls, which, during its seven-season net-

precise costumes and a creative team both in front

announced our name and I just remember all these

work run amassed a passionate fanbase obsessed

of and behind the camera that completely under-

faces turning towards us going, ‘Maisel what?’”

with its hyper-fast dialogue and quirky but emo-

stands the rhythm and heartbeat of the show.

Since then, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has been a consistent awards darling—picking up another Golden Globe this year, wins in the Screen Actors

tional humor. The show, in fact, only ever took home one Emmy (for makeup, in 2004). When the Amazon-produced Mrs. Maisel came

After Miriam ‘Midge’ Maisel (Brosnahan) found her voice through stand-up comedy in Season 1, Season 2 saw her fully embrace her ambition to

Guild, Directors Guild and Producers Guild, plus

into being, it was as if the Sherman-Palladino vision

make it in a predominantly-male environment.

eight Emmys, including nods for Outstanding Writ-

had finally been matched with a studio that could

With the help of her lovably grumpy manager Susie

ing for a Comedy Series and Outstanding Directing

offer the pair the resources to make the show they

(Emmy winner Alex Borstein), Midge navigates life

for a Comedy Series.

envisaged. Which makes its 20 nominations proof

as an upper crust, Upper West Side, scandalously

that staying true to their vision was worth the wait

separated Jewish housewife.

Yet all those wins, and the just-announced 20 total Emmy nominations, are the last thing on this duo’s minds as they forge ahead on Maisel’s last

in the end. “[The nominations] really make people work

Last year, the show packed its bags and headed to both Paris and the Catskills, bringing the City of Lights

few weeks of Season 3 production, shooting be-

really hard here,” Sherman-Palladino says. “The

and the Borscht Belt into Maisel world. The creators

tween two massive sound stages in Brooklyn.

devil is in the details on our show. Our sets, our

knew they had to get those location switches exactly

costumes, and our cinematography. Everything is so

right. “If you watch sitcoms, even great ones that then

“My whole career, I’ve never had awards. Never,”

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The devil is in the details on our show. Our sets, our costumes, and our cinematography. Everything is so hard. We don’t have a single person who’s phoning it in.”

we can say, ‘We’d like to do something where we come downstairs and we walk all the way through the Garment District and we don’t want to cut. How do we do that?’” Mrs. Maisel is a new world. “Comedy’s always ALL IN THE FAMILY From left: The crew focus in on Brosnahan and Borstein (seated); creator ShermanPalladino observes, and director Palladino advises Tony Shalhoub.

been the stepchild of production values,” she continues. “We came out of sitcom, and that’s really economical. But we felt like no one was really trying to take the visuals and a certain camera style that can enhance comedy. That was our gamble, and Amazon placed their bet on us and they gave us film school.” Almost on cue, Palladino is called back to work, since he’s on director duties for today’s epi-

suddenly go on location, it feels really foreign and the

asking someone with the same initials as her for a

sode. Meanwhile, there are still some final Season

actors can be really awkward,” Sherman-Palladino

dance, or even Lenny Bruce (Luke Kirby) stalking

3 plot points that are nagging at Sherman-Palla-

says. “Like ‘Blossom goes to Paris’. You’re like, ‘What

on stage for a make-or-break performance. All of

dino’s mind.

the fuck are you doing in Paris?’”

these moments pushed the veteran storytellers to

“There’s too much space,” Palladino explains, “But this is a show that we felt early on we could

career highs. “We have this sort of ‘let’s put on a show’

“I’m finishing an outline today for a script that I should’ve started writing three weeks ago for the last episode,” she says. “We don’t believe in doing

take just about anywhere. And these characters, if

mentality,” says Palladino, “and with a great budget,

everything ahead of time. As you go through pro-

we put them in the right situations, are going to look

we’re able to learn things that we couldn’t learn

duction, you learn what sets work, what storylines

comfortable and feel comfortable.”

before. It’s on-the-job training for us. We were solely

are feeling good, or where you need to lean into

writers for most of our careers, until we realized that

something you didn’t think you were going to have

at our heart we are a New York show,” Sherman-

we couldn’t stand having our scripts butchered by

to lean into. It’s great at the beginning and then

Palladino says. “There was always some storyline

other directors.”

toward the end, we want to kill ourselves.

“But we always come back to New York, because

or character coming back. That’s part of why those

“On Gilmore Girls,” remembers Sherman-Palla-

“And other people want to kill us as well,” laughs

[excursions] worked as well as they did, because we

dino, “once every two years, it’d be like, ‘We’ve got

didn’t just transport the characters and let them go.

a crane!’ And everybody stands around the crane

There’s always that umbilical cord.”

and looks at the crane and it’s like, ‘Oh my God, it

deadpans Sherman-Palladino, “You’ve really got

Even in unfamiliar surroundings, Mrs. Maisel still

Palladino as he readies to take the helm. “We parade the security guards around,”

goes up and there’s wheels!’ But here we have this

to have some muscle behind you toward the last

delivered the fun, eye-opening, one-shot takes

cinematographer David Mullen, who is this mad

couple of episodes.”

that have become the series’ trademark. Magic

genius, and Jim McConkey, who is the best Steadi-

moments such as the family chaotically arriving

cam operator walking the mean streets of New York

grilled cheese sandwich from the on-set food truck

at their Catskills summer cottage; Midge bizarrely

today. So, we have these masters of industry and

on the way out. ★

And they’re off, with one final pointer: try the

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Take This Waltz With Michelle Williams and Sam Rockwell as its leads, a winning creative team and Verdon’s own daughter on board as EP, FX’s limited series Fosse/Verdon goes deep into the tricky truth of America’s legendary dance duo. BY A N T H O N Y D ’A L E SSA N D RO

ally exploded, and it actually felt like, rather than how do we get around this awkward, awful part of the story, it was like, no, that’s actually the story!” Not only was Verdon relied upon by Fosse, but

When you’re walking backwards, and you roll your shoulder backwards, it’s not a seduction—it’s a con.”

she arguably made him a brand. From a young age, Fosse wanted to be Fred Astaire, but he himself didn’t have that X-factor. He choreographed Pajama Game and won a Tony in 1954, followed by George Abbott’s Damn Yankees on stage in 1955. It was around this time that he met Gwen, and in 1960, the pair were married. Fosse would go on

IT’S ONE OF THE FIRST IMPRESSIONS

It’s often said that behind every great man,

to choreograph the film version of Damn Yankees,

we get of Michelle Williams’ Gwen Verdon as

there’s a great woman, but in the tumultuous

and even appeared in the film, partnering with

she dispenses advice to a group of tired dancers

relationship of Fosse and Verdon, that’s an un-

Verdon for the elaborate mambo “Who’s Got the

performing “Big Spender” during her husband Bob

derstatement. Making matters worse behind the

Pain?” —a number that Williams describes as one

Fosse’s 1969 film Sweet Charity. It’s a moment in

scenes, Fosse was a notorious lothario, bedding

of “the most challenging” in the series.

the first episode of FX’s Fosse/Verdon, up for 17

dancers from his productions. When it came to

Primetime Emmys, which shows how, not God, but

creating the quintessential series for the #MeToo

highlights as ‘jazz-hands’, turned-in knees, and

Verdon, was always in the details of the choreog-

and Time’s Up era, FX couldn’t hope for a better

the use of hats (he was himself balding). And

rapher-turned-filmmaker’s theatrical and cinema

choice in Fosse/Verdon.

while it’s largely unknown exactly what moves

canon. To this day, Fosse remains the only enter-

“Gwen used to say she knew how to ‘speak

The Fosse dance style was known for such

she laid claim to, given the collaborative nature

tainer to win the triple crown of an Oscar, Emmy

Bob’,” says Fosse/Verdon EP Joel Fields. “But I

of choreography, Levenson says, “There’s a very

and Tony in the same year—1973—all before he

think that was her way of navigating all of her

stark line between before Gwen and after Gwen in

checked into a mental hospital feeling suicidal.

contributions, because one of the things she

terms of Bob’s own choreography.”

“There wasn’t a dance that she couldn’t

had to do, given who he was and given what the

In addition to being portrayed in the series as a

dance, everything was in her repertoire,” Williams

times were, was not to take too much credit,

fresh pair of eyes for Fosse, on sets, in dance stu-

says of Verdon’s range. Unlike Fosse, she was a

and to make it seem as if she was just there as a

dios and editing rooms, Verdon is shown to be a

trained choreographer, mentored by ‘Father of

spokesperson for his genius. Because the myth of

liaison between Fosse and the Hollywood studios.

Theatrical Jazz Dance’, Jack Cole.

the sole genius is so powerful and so important

In the first episode “Life is a Cabaret”, producer

in society, and at that time, the myth of the sole

Cy Feuer (Paul Reiser) gives Fosse a difficult

male genius was even more dominant.”

time on the Cabaret set, berating him for burn-

“Gwen was best at describing the dances to other dancers,” Williams says. “So, when she would demonstrate a move, like, say, moving her index fin-

Co-creator Steven Levenson adds, “When

ing through $20 million on Sweet Charity to little

ger in a small circle, she should say, ‘There’s a right

Tommy [Kail] and I first started talking about the

box office results, and dragging his feet with the

way, and there’s a wrong way to do it. It’s not just

project, we were very nervous because we felt

current shoot. Earlier, when Fosse pitches himself

moving your finger in a small circle. It’s the feeling

Bob clearly was somebody who abused his power

for Cabaret, Feuer wants to know if Verdon will be

with which you do it, like you’re tickling an angel’s

in many ways, and we just didn’t know: How do

around to tame the genius. She finally arrives to

bottom.’ She was very adept at using language to

you tell that story? Is that a story that people

the Munich set, prepped, with a ruffled satin shirt

get a very specific interpretation out of a dancer.”

want to hear? And it was right when #MeToo re-

in hand for star Liza Minnelli and together with

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light touch requires such talent and precision and care.” They were also Williams’ eyes on the monitor, in case anything ever needed to be fixed. “I don’t like to look at monitors, or watch myself perform in any way, because it takes me out of my internal experience, and it puts me in an external experience.” There’s not a window that Williams doesn’t open onto Verdon’s life in the show, from leaving her young son from her first marriage in the care of her parents so she could pursue a showbiz career, to dealing with Fosse’s feeble condition while he was in a mental DANCE PARTNERS From left: Rockwell as Fosse, Williams at work as Verdon.

hospital. Not only did Verdon deal with Fosse warts and all, well after the divorce, but she was open-armed to his girlfriends, in particular the then young Pippin dancer Ann Reinking. In Fosse/ Verdon, Reinking is played by Margaret Qualley, getting herself a supporting nom.

Fosse, she argues with Feuer that the gorilla suit

and a bible. Just prior to his involvement, Kail got

for the song “If You Could See Her” isn’t perfect.

Sam Rockwell interested, who was keen to do a

how, over a long weekend, Verdon reaches across

If there’s a sign of her dedication to perfection,

project set in 1970s New York. Then Williams had

the table to make Reinking an ally, for reasons

this is it: she literally goes the distance within a

a connection to the Fosse-verse, having played

practical and personal. Verdon hopes Reinking will

72-hour period to travel round-trip to New York to

Sally Bowles in a 2014-15 Broadway production

assist her in persuading Fosse to abandon plans

pick up the right costume. Returning at the end of

of Cabaret. It was clear Williams had an affinity

to make Lenny, hoping he’ll instead direct Chicago

episode, mission accomplished, she finds Fosse in

for the role, but there was an even sweeter part

on Broadway—a production that would ultimately

bed with one of the production’s dancers.

to this FX series: equal gender pay—a situation

be a cash cow for the Fosses. Verdon predicted

unlike the salary disparity she experienced on

Lenny would fail, which would in turn take a toll on

as a co-EP on the series and is portrayed on the

Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World, in which

Fosse’s mental state.

show at three different ages. “Every time she would

her co-star Mark Wahlberg was paid $1.5 million

talk about her dad, her mom was always part of

for reshoots, versus her $80 per diem totaling less

to the other women in Bob’s life,” Levenson says,

the story,” Levenson says. “If you begin to look back

than $1,000.

“mostly because she knew who she was: She

Nicole Fosse, the couple’s only daughter, served

at anything about Bob, you just read between the

Episode 5—“Where Am I Going?”—shows

“Gwen had a very sophisticated relationship

“I found out I got the job, and the next call I

knew the value that she brought to him, and she

lines: Gwen was always there.” And the importance

received was that they were going to pay me what

knew that she was indispensable.” In fact, there

of Verdon’s presence cannot be understated.

they paid Sam,” Williams says. “There was no ne-

was a period during Fosse’s stay in a hospital

“Gwen’s involvement was not just in the work, but

gotiating, no fighting about it, it was just given.”

when incredibly, Verdon organized a schedule for

in keeping Bob alive, frankly, and keeping him sane,

Williams promptly began working on all aspects

the women who would visit him, so they wouldn’t

and knowing how to keep him grounded. She did a

of the dance for the series; however, there were

lot of what we would now call emotional labor, for

times the cast wouldn’t know until one episode

which she was never compensated.”

before that they’d have to learn certain numbers.

to the very end, when, while walking with her to

In talking with Nicole Fosse, Williams says

a revival of Sweet Charity in Washington D.C., he

Fosse/Verdon began with Sam Wasson’s door-

run into each other and erupt into fights. Verdon’s unconditional love for Fosse lasted

stopper of a biography, Fosse, which George Stel-

one of the takeaways was, “She said, ‘You know,

collapsed from a heart attack. “I think of them as

zner brought to FX in 2013. Lin-Manuel Miranda

my mother had an unusual way of emphasizing

being soulmates,” Williams says. “I think of them as

soon boarded as producer and would eventually

things.’ Like instead of saying ‘Broadway’, she’d

being twins. They understood each other in a deep

play Roy Scheider in an episode centering on All

say ‘Broooadwaaay’. Gwen would pick a non-

way because they both had these fractured, trou-

That Jazz. (Scheider actually played a womaniz-

operative word to really splash out.” It was a ca-

bled, abbreviated childhoods, and they also shared

ing, drug-addicted version of Fosse in the movie).

dence that further plunged Williams into charac-

a love of the same art. She wanted to stay tied to

Miranda then asked Kail, his Hamilton director,

ter. Playing Verdon from the ages of 29 to 64 also

Bob because they shared a child and because they

to board the project, as he’d already directed

meant Williams needed to encompass a lifetime

shared this art, but she didn’t want to stay tied to

plenty of television, including 2 Broke Girls and the

of verbal styling. “I started working on the dialect

the behavior. She didn’t want to stay tied to being

Grease Live! musical. Kail and Levenson knew of

and the speech patterns and where she held her

cheated on, lied to, and the addictions that Bob

each other from the New York theater scene and

breath and also how to age her voice,” she says.

cycled through. So, in some ways, Gwen’s story

had bonded soon after meeting at a La La Land

The hair and makeup team, Nicole Bridgeford

is a triumphant one, because she broke free of a

screening. “The common thread through this proj-

and Jackie Risotto, were a vital force in getting

certain kind of prison of his behavior and yet, at

ect has been people saying ‘Yes’ before you even

Verdon exactly right. There were “hours of con-

the same time, he died in her arms.”

finish the sentence,” Levenson says.

versations and trials and adjustments”, Williams

Fourteen months later, Levenson had a script,

recalls. “To do that kind of aging work with such a

Ultimately, Williams says, “There was something indestructible between the two of them.” ★ D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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AVA D U V E R N AY ’ S L I M I T E D S E R I E S A B O U T T H E C E N T R A L PA R K F I V E , W H E N T H E Y S E E U S, R E L AT E S O N E O F T H E M O S T S H A M E F U L C H A P T E R S I N A M E R I C A’ S J U D I C I A L H I S T O R Y W I T H A P O T E N C Y T H AT R E W R I T E S T H E N A R R AT I V E . D O M I N I C PAT T E N M E E T S D U V E R N AY A N D S TA R S J H A R R E L J E R O M E , A U N J A N U E E L L I S A N D N I E C Y N A S H , T O C E L E B R AT E T H E S H O W ’ S P L E T H O R A O F E M M Y N O M I N AT I O N S . PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSH TELLES

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Ava DuVernay 22

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“For me personally it was the hardest shoot I ever did… But it wasn’t anything to do with the work, it was the subject matter.” —Ava DuVernay

n April 1989, the lives of five young men of color were irrevocably and horrifically changed. Wrongly accused of raping a white female jogger, they were first arbitrarily rounded up by police simply for being in the area, then pushed into false confessions that would ultimately land them a collective name that resonates in the memory of America: The Central Park Five.

Sentenced to five to 15 years, Kevin Richard-

In 2014, the Five reached a multi-million-

became one of the streamer’s most-watched

son, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, Raymond

dollar settlement with the City of New York.

Santana and Korey Wise lost so much more than

That restitution was followed by soon-to-be

series this year. And thus, the truth will out. A subsequent 16 Emmy nominations

their youths, and their fates were set in no small

candidate Trump’s decision to call the settle-

include Outstanding Limited Series and duel

part by full-page ads in the

nods for DuVernay herself,

New York papers calling for

while Jharrel Jerome—playing

their death penalty—paid for

Korey Wise as both a teen

by one Donald Trump, real

and an adult—is nominated

estate developer.

for Outstanding Lead Actor.

Widespread misunder-

Aunjanue Ellis and Niecy

standing of the slang ‘wilin’

Nash are Outstanding Lead

out’—which essentially just

Actress contenders for

means heading out as a group

their performances as the

to have a good time—added

mothers of Yusef Salaam

to the miasma of racism that

and Wise. Asante Blackk,

condemned the young men.

John Leguizamo, Michael K.

It was quickly turned into the

Williams, Marsha Stepha-

term ‘wilding’, becoming an

nie Blake, Vera Farmiga and

NYPD and media buzzword

cinematographer Bradford

that conveniently suggested

Young are also among the

the teenagers were out-of-

When They See Us team rec-

control and out for blood,

ognized by the Academy.

rather than simply hanging

DuVernay, the direc-

out with friends. Over a decade later, in 2002, a one-time fellow inmate of Wise’s at a maximum-security prison revealed that he had in fact been the Cen-

tor behind Selma and the THE END OF INNOCENCE Jharrel Jerome as Korey Wise, who was wrongly arrested after simply helping out a friend.

tral Park rapist that night. Despite some pushback

Oscar- and Emmy-nominated documentary 13th, has put together yet another piece of work that has the power to change lives and has us all questioning the status quo. As with all great

from police and prosecutors on reopening the

accomplishments, the work behind the show

case, DNA evidence confirmed the serial rapist

ment a “disgrace”—a stance he reiterated as the

was complex, labor-intensive and deeply, utterly

and murderer’s confession. Though they received

Republican nominee for President in 2016.

involving. DuVernay, Moonlight’s Jerome, Love-

far less coverage for their exoneration than they

Now, Ava DuVernay has given those young

craft County’s Ellis, and Claws’ Nash found that

did for their arrests and trial beforehand, the Five

men the voices they always deserved. Direct-

getting the series exactly right comprised many

saw their convictions vacated and their names

ing, co-writing and producing the limited series

stages, not least getting to the raw heart of the

removed from the sex offender registry.

When They See Us for Netflix, DuVernay’s work

story and the men at its core. D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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Ava DuVernay was in her teens when the Central Park jogger attack occurred. As she readied to go to work on 13th, social media opened a door to the past... Ava DuVernay: I remember hearing about it at the time, and it was a big case. It was a big case for the black community; it was a big case nationally for a while. I remember the adults speaking about it, particularly around the word ‘wilding’. It was a word that intrigued me. I wanted to know what it meant. So that stuck with me. Then I got this tweet from Raymond Santana, and it was right around springtime of 2015 and Selma. He said, “What’s your next film going to be on? #thecentralparkfive.” And he said, “#fingerscrossed”. I wouldn’t have known him by name, but his Twitter account said Central Park Five. That’s what his handle was. That’s the only reason why it caught my attention. I just watched Sarah Burns’ 2012 documentary on the subject—maybe the year before—so it really caught my attention. I actually DMed him back. I said when I was in New York next, I’d look him up. And I actually did. Aunjanue Ellis: I knew about the case, and New York was hopping for a while with these injustices. You had Abner Louima, and you had Amadou Diallo. There were all these high-profile cases that happened, and it was very, very intense for a moment. And then they just sort of disappeared. But you know, I was there when those things happened. So, I know what it’s like for that to be in the air in New York City. It’s like you have all this raw emotion that comes from that experience and you don’t have nowhere to do anything with it, you know?

IN THE FRAME From above: William Sadler as Detective Sheehan; Jerome as Wise with Asante Blackk as Kevin Richardson; Ethan Herisse as Yusef Salaam with Aunjanue Ellis as his mother Sharon Salaam.

Jharrel Jerome: I wasn’t even close to being born. I was born in ’97. DuVernay: In comparison to what had happened to them in ’89, when they were freed and their names cleared, it was really just a blip on the radar. Many people we talked to as we were working on this, a lot of people still thought they were guilty, and they just timed out; [had] gotten out. They didn’t really understand the nuances of what actually occurred. You’d be surprised at how many people were like, “I never even knew.” Niecy Nash: I didn’t know about the case until I became an adult, and when I saw it for the first time with some media coverage, instantly I was rocked to my core, and I felt like I was carrying a burden for people I did not know. Anytime it was revisited, like on an anniversary or something, and then if the dust came up again, I would watch it tops to tails, whatever the reporting was. Even though I already saw them talk about that before, [it was] No, I’m going to watch it again.

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

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Jharrel Jerome

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After completing Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, in the summer of 2018, DuVernay hit the streets of New York hard to make the late spring release date Netflix had penciled in for When They See Us...

Nash: I reached out, as soon as I heard about it. I

DuVernay: I feel very emotionally connected to

which is also why I made sure we had support, that

said, “I have to be a part of this narrative.” I was so

anyone who I work with as an actor with my pieces.

we had counselors close by.

passionate about it. I would have been anybody. I

I feel that I have a responsibility towards them, and

would have been someone who said, “Step this way,

they have a responsibility towards me. I respect

Nash: I left with my shoulders low many a day. I

ma’am,” just to be in it.

them and I expect to be respected.

remember filming the prison scene where Jharrel’s

Ellis: I feel that folks who care about black people

they do, the things that they put themselves through,

to touch his mother, and I’m screaming, “Don’t let

feel that way all of the time. We feel that helpless-

even if they are portraying characters. Your same

them break you, Korey.” And he’s saying, “Mama,

ness. We know this injustice has happened to these

mind, whatever dreams you’re pulling from, memories,

come see me more.” Our emotions were at a fever

children; what do we do with it? So, the opportunity

legacy, study, all that, it’s your heartbeat that’s on

pitch, and then it was over and, “That’s a wrap

to be a part of something that I feel is restorative

that screen. That is a gift that I feel actors give. So, I’ve

tonight for Jharrel and Niecy.” What do you do with

justice for these young men is huge for me.

become really tied to them, and sometimes on very

all of these emotions? We just walked back to the

special occasions that work, that intimacy that hap-

trailer shaking.

I love actors; I really love them. The things that

Nash: Let me just say that I feel like for me the

pens on set and while we’re working, spills over into

casting of Jharrel Jerome was a gift. You know, I’ve

real life. That’s a joy when it happens.

been in this business a long time. I’ve worked with

Korey decides he’s going to reach across and try

Jerome: For me, honestly, Korey himself was my counselor. He was my therapist every time he was

a lot of people, but there is something to be said

Ellis: This could have been a cute series, but that’s

on set. It was just needing his presence, need-

for an immediate connection that I think mani-

not what this was about because that’s not where

ing a smile, knowing that he’s OK today, he’s alive,

fested on camera, in a very real way. I just leaned

Ava lives. Her work has intention. I feel like every-

he’s strong today. That’s definitely what kept me

all the way into that part of it. I have a son and it

body who came to set every day wanted to do the

grounded in the work and allowed me to go home

was easy to look in Jharrel’s face and see my own

best as they could because they wanted to live

with a better head on my shoulders. To know that

child, you know?

up to that intention. We all walked in the door like,

there was a hotline—somebody to call—it was such

Look, we are here to work today, not just to act.

a safety that I’ve never felt before on set.

want to do is protect your child. But there was no

Nash: Ava makes you feel like she is the most con-

Ellis: Here’s the thing: I was playing a character that

way for me to do that. I couldn’t protect him in the

nected to you out of everybody else. Then when you

I believed in. You’re not reenacting, you are playing

court; I couldn’t protect him in prison.

see her talking to somebody else, and you can see

a character, and I honor that. There’s where I begin

the connection across the room, you’re like, “She

and Sharon Salaam ends, but there’s that shared

connected to them too?”

space too.

DuVernay: It’s not done purposely, it’s just I’m

ment, and unfortunately that movement was her

wildly interested in each person.

own son. I see her as I see Angela Davis and Assata

The scenes in prison were very hard on me emotionally, because as a parent, the one thing you

Jerome: I took a lot from the script and trusted that Ava got those moments from Korey’s mind himself. In the conversations I’ve had with Korey, we didn’t spend a lot of time speaking about any of his experiences, really. I don’t think I’ve ever heard

Mrs. Salaam was a warrior looking for a move-

There were a couple of actors who I just like

Shakur; that is what runs through her veins.

his own personal opinion on the entire story actu-

them as people—their spirit, their energy, their

ally. I just got to know him by who he is today. His

leaning in, their wanting to do it—that I chose even

laam, you know, people talk about this responsibility

aura, his spirit, the way he will see any woman in

though technically I was going to have to work with

that black people are supposed to take on, which is

the street and call them a queen and hug them.

them a little bit more. Everyone got up to exactly

forgiving injustice when it happens to them. How do

The way he matches his clothes with his sneakers

the place they needed to be, but I really don’t cast

you feel about that?” And she said, “Well, in order

and his hats. You know, he’s such a youthful spirit,

just on talent, you cast on spirit.

for me to forgive, I would have to forget. And in

and spending time with him today helped me tap into the younger parts of him mainly. I think to tap into the older parts, it was a lot

I think the joy of directing for me is I get to hand-

I remember we were talking, and I said, “Mrs. Sa-

order for that moment of forgetfulness to happen,

pick each and every person. Who I want to spend

someone would have to take something and cut it

the days with, who I want to invite into something

out of my brain.” She said, “I live this every day of my

of Ava’s writing and her spending time with me as

that I’ve already been working on for four years, you

life.” That changed me. I wanted to do her justice; I

a director.

know what I mean? So, it is really, really intimate—

wanted to do justice for all of them.

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

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

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Niecy Nash

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The aftermath of the series’ debut saw outrage directed toward those involved in the prosecution and an unrepentant Donald Trump. Emotions remained raw too for cast and crew... DuVernay: For me personally it was the hardest shoot I ever did. Emotion-

meaningless—because it doesn’t change culture, it doesn’t change hearts, it

ally, I was depressed through the whole thing. I was in New York working on

doesn’t change minds. You change a heart, you change a mind. You are power-

this material. The cast was massive. I was producing it as well. I was a writer.

ful, you are powerful, you are powerful.

So many moving parts, but it wasn’t anything to do with the work, it was the subject matter. I remember being in the van one day early in the shoot, and I said to my

So the fact that I was a part of something that changed this country, and the person who occupies the White House was forced to answer for what he did because of this series, that’s what’s going to stay with me—the fact is that I

driver—who was great—“What day is it?” He said, “Tuesday.” I said, “No,

just wasn’t acting, I was a part of work that will be lasting. And that was a part of

what day out of 66 is it?” And he said, “I don’t think you want to know.” I

something that was transformational, I hope.

said, “Are we in the double digits yet?” He said, “No, ma’am, it’s day eight.” And I was like, Oh, God.

Nash: I feel like at this point several things have happened; good things. One,

But, as it went on, the thing that I learned is that I can endure something

people have been made accountable. Two, these boys have gotten an outpouring

that feels like it was unendurable at the time, because the work and the art-

of love that they never would have gotten. Three, there’s nothing like your reputa-

making actually nourished me; it kept me going. It was the thing that was wak-

tion, because when people think you’re a liar and that’s what they think, that nar-

ing me up in the morning, was trying to make these men proud.

rative, it spreads like a wildfire. Now they are really seen for the truth of who they are, and I will never forget that. That will stay with me forever.

Nash: You know, I was very much just in it for the men, so when it came out, I was like, Well let’s sit back and see what the folks are going to say. The reaction—the in-

Jerome: What sticks for me the most is just to know that we get to walk

tense emotions—really caught me off guard. I know it’s hard to see, but I keep say-

away from all this, but those men now have a voice. They now have a chance

ing the same thing to everybody. I said, “If these babies endured this thing, we owe

to inspire. They go to this school and go to that school, speak to these kids

it to them to bear witness. Watch it, muscle through it, figure it out, push through.”

and people will listen to them. That’s real.

Ellis: I hadn’t seen the series until recently; I couldn’t handle it. But when it

DuVernay: It was important to me, once it was done, to show that real story

came out, people started saying to me, “I saw it, I saw it,” and I was glad. I

to the men. I wanted everyone to see it, but especially them because this was

don’t usually tell people to watch anything I’m in, but I wanted people to see

about them and their families.

this because I thought it was important. People watched and I was hearing

I was on my last legs, but we brought them into Netflix, they watched

over and over, “Yo, Jharrel Jerome, Episode 4.” I mean, over and over. And

it and I watched them. I sat behind them in a two-row screening room. I

when I watched it, it was hard, but it was also so beautiful. I felt like a wit-

wasn’t watching the screen; I was watching their faces. And their faces

ness to something incredible.

were illuminated by the light of the screen. It was incredible just to watch all of them going through all the various emotions, to watch them seeing the

Jerome: When it came out on Netflix and there was the strong reaction, the

other men’s stories, because they didn’t really know what the other friend

positive reaction, and then for the world to appreciate the performance, I was

had gone through.

just very, very overwhelmed. I wake up and it hits me, and I shake it off real quick

And then you get to Episode 4 with Korey in prison and, you know, they

and I just go and do my thing, because it freaks me out. But then on the other

were on the floor. Literally, at one point, Raymond got up out of his chair and

side of it, I could not be happier for Korey and the others. I am so damn happy.

sat on the floor to watch. Korey, too, and they were leaning in.

It’s unbelievable that now the world knows their real story.

It was an experience that I’ll never have again, because it just can’t be duplicated. The real people, you’ve worked on a story for four years, done

Nash: The thing that I will never forget, and that has changed me, is looking

this shoot that you thought that you couldn’t make it through. You’ve edited

into the eyes of who we lovingly call the Exonerated Five. Holding them in my

it, you’ve tried to find a way to keep people interested in a story about five

arms. Calling them still to check up on them and see, “How are you doing?

boys of color and injustice enough so that maybe some people will watch it

I just want to make sure you’re doing OK.” That relationship, and being a

and like it. And you get to the end of it, and they embrace you and they cry,

champion for their wellbeing, is what I will carry until they throw dirt on my

and they say, “You did it.” It was that moment that made it all worth it.

face, you know? Jerome: It’s crazy. Ellis: I believe that art is the most powerful force in the world, period, hands down. To me, what happens in the theater of politics is meaningless—utterly

Nash: That is crazy. Ava, you did it again. ★ D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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D THE DIALOGUE

EMMY NOMINEES 2019

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Billy

That’s just how it works. Ryan Murphy’s presence and his

PORTER

★

muscle has assisted our community and it’s beginning to generate the possibility of being bankable. When we can be bankable, then it changes. So many times, I’ve heard there are no stars to do this. It’s like, “We need a star, we need a star, we need a star.” So, we’ve got to start making stars

Pose not only personally resonates with the actor, but it’s finally made the industry recognize his bankable star power BY D I N O - R AY R A M O S

out of the people whose stories then need to be told. That’s a part of the vicious circle. That’s a part of the Catch-22. You’re not giving the black queen a job so that I can become a star, so that I can

ALTHOUGH HE’S BEEN ACTING FOR OVER 30 YEARS, it wasn’t until FX’s Pose that Billy Porter got the widespread notice he deserves. In the groundbreaking, critically-acclaimed series set in the late ’80s New York ball scene of vogueing and strutting, Porter slays as Pray Tell, a resident emcee and father figure who will slap you with the truth and hug you after. The show proved so popular it was remembered by the Academy despite premiering last summer—a long time ago for an Emmy campaign. Renewed for a third season, with its second airing now, surely Porter’s star can only continue to rise.

then tell my story in this major playing field. So, you’re stuck. I was stuck for so long. Now all of a sudden, I can make some money. My name can greenlight queer projects because everybody knows it now. That took me 30 years in this business. I’m going to be 50 in September. No complaints, but just we have to be honest with the business part of it. Was there a moment when you realized you were part of something amazing? I would have to say it was the first two

What most excited you when you

How do you think Pose has affected

episodes that we shot in the fall of 2017,

heard there was a show about the ball

perception of the LGBTQ community

and Ryan Murphy directed both of them

scene in New York?

and the HIV stigma?

because he was setting the tone. We were

I was the most excited that finally, LGBT

I really don’t know. I mean, my hope is

finding the language. I just knew at that

queer people of color were going to

that it creates empathy, and it creates

point. I was like, “Right, this ain’t some low

be at the forefront of the storytelling,

a conversation that moves us forward.

budget, we’re going to throw it up against

because as a black gay man in this busi-

That’s my hope. From what I see and hear

the wall and see if it sticks bullshit. This

ness, that has never been the case in

on the ground, people seem to really be

is the white people coming in and going,

the mainstream. I was also really excited

responding positively to it. I’m not sure

‘We doing this like we do it for the white

that Ryan Murphy was doing it, because

if we’re not just simply preaching to the

people.’” Sorry, but that’s the truth. Tell the

he’s the man that has the power to ac-

choir still. I don’t really have control over

truth, shame the devil. That’s when I knew.

tually make it happen. I was truly excited

that. I would hope that we would be able

I was like, “Oh, they’re spending money on

by those two things. I just think he’s a

to maybe affect some people who never

us like they spend it on the white people.”

genius and I’ve been trying to work with

heard of this before and create a space

him for decades.

for change. That would be my hope.

Did you have any concerns or reserva-

Have you seen any movement of the

20 years ago when I looked at what I

tions about the series?

inclusion needle since the show?

was doing, and I looked at my future,

No, I don’t have reservations about the

I don’t have time to look around. That’s

and I chose myself. I chose my authen-

choices that I make. Once I make them,

not my business. My business is to just

ticity over the possibility of whatever

I make them. I knew we were in good

show up and be a representative of

masculine version of myself could have

hands. It’s Ryan fucking Murphy. What

what’s going on and do my part to make

garnered. Therefore, I believe that Pose

reservations are you going to have?

the change. I don’t mean to sound flip-

came to me as a result of those choices.

He knows what he’s doing, he knows

pant about that but trying to figure all

I’m one of five black men in the busi-

how to do it, and he knows how to

of that out slows me down; it slows my

ness who are working consistently who

create the team and the space to do it

work down.

can say, “I chose this 25 years ago. I’ve

Has Pose changed you as an actor? I think that the change came, for me,

properly, as the whole world has seen.

been gay, I didn’t just get gay.” I didn’t

I saw who he was surrounding himself

masquerades as being inclusive. There’s

just come out, I’ve been out. I took all the

with. Steven Canals created the show.

a lot of talk about it, but there’s very little

hits that came with that because you

[Ryan] took it and said, “OK, now I have

that’s done until they can see the money.

all weren’t coming for me for decades. I

the power to make this happen.” That

It’s all about money. It’s all about com-

think the change is that Pose has made

already relinquishes any reservations I

merce. If you’re going to bring in the coins,

me bankable. Pose has made me see

would have.

then we’re going to be diverse, period.

how people see the money. ★

PHOTOGRAPH BY

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What I do know is that the industry

Mark Mann

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

8/16/19 10:44 AM

Gwendoline

CHRISTIE

★

crew in Belfast. I was very emotional. That was a standout moment for Brienne. She had only just been knighted at Jaime’s insistence. The juxtaposition of the two was brutal. When I read that scene, I felt incredibly upset about it on the character’s behalf. And then I realized I had moved into that space

The Lord Commander of the Kingsguard celebrates a long overdue Emmy nomination as she takes to the London stage BY J O E U T I C H I

where I feel deeply, deeply protective of this character. I was also thrilled about it as an actor, because it meant getting to use some real acting muscles. It was a brilliant scene. Nikolaj and I had worked on the

EASON 8 OF GAME OF THRONES WAS as cruel to Brienne of Tarth as it was kind. In the moments prior to the big Battle of Winterfell, she was knighted by her longtime paramour Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), and the pair consummated their relationship, before Jaime abandoned her to run back to his sister, Cersei. But as the dust settled, she was also made Lord Commander of Bran Stark’s Kingsguard, surpassing her seasons-long dreams. Christie’s first Emmy nomination for the role comes as she returns to the London stage in a new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

relationship between Brienne and Jaime for seven years, and I knew we were going to thoroughly enjoy playing that out. I did feel angry for the character in that moment, but what was brilliant is that she goes straight back to work, and ultimately, she supersedes her ambition. She wanted to be a member of Renly’s Kingsguard, and in the end she becomes Lord Commander of Bran’s Kingsguard. She’s in charge. When Jaime runs off after consummating their relationship, people were hurt for her. Did you understand that? Yeah. But I liked that Brienne elects to have that experience. It was a very deliberate

There are a total of 10 acting nomina-

emotional. I thought I was doing fine, and

moment where she chose to activate the

tions for Game of Thrones’ final season.

then I went up to speak to David [Benioff]

sexual experience. She takes control of the

Emmy night is going to be quite a party...

and Dan [Weiss] to say thanks. They said,

situation, and she takes responsibility for it.

I know [laughs]. It’s an amazing way to end

“How are you?” I went, “I’m fine.” And then

I think it was good for her to allow herself

the show that has changed all of our lives.

I totally broke down. I think the idea of it all

to be emotional. She allows herself to

It’s changed our lives beyond all compre-

ending suddenly hit me.

display it. It doesn’t make her any weaker

hension, really. I’m delighted that so many of us got nominated.

You really don’t want to get in touch

just because she is capable of feeling great

with that feeling, because you know you’ve

pain. I’ve actually always felt that Brienne

got 10 months of really hard shooting

lives in a rich and sensitive emotional

There was a documentary released

ahead of you. There was a huge sense of

world. That coupled with this incredible

about the production of this final sea-

loss, and a deep sadness, but I wasn’t go-

physical strength, and moral strength, is

son. The footage from that final table

ing to indulge in that emotion.

what makes her so interesting and human.

It was. I remember my first point of con-

Was that a feeling you were able to

You’re on the London stage with A

tact with the show was, in Season 2, at the

successfully tamp down as you shot

Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by

readthrough. I remember sitting there, and

the season, or did it come back?

Nicholas Hytner. The action happens

I had watched the first season, and it was

I didn’t subscribe to it at all during shoot-

around standing audience members.

sort of bewildering to me to be surrounded

ing. I stayed focused on trying to bring

It was intimidating, because I’ve never

by all these people that I recognized.

something to life. Every moment, to me,

done anything like that before. It’s been

You start to see it come to life. And I had

felt like an opportunity. It was hard. The

nine years since I was last on stage, and

loved that first season. It was wonder-

conditions were hard. The material was

that was all proscenium arch-style. The

ful to have everybody together for that

challenging. I was so absorbed in all of

audience are very separate. But I think

final readthrough. Some people—most

that, and I think everyone else was too.

that there is something very smart about

read was extremely emotional.

people—have read all the scripts. A couple of people wait until the day.

It was only when it got to the last day

changing the way in which it’s viewed as

of the Winterfell shoot, which was my last

an audience, because the way in which

day of shooting in Belfast, where it bubbled

we are viewing our entertainment has

Had you?

up. It was also the scene in which Jaime

also changed. I think Game of Thrones was

Of course. I didn’t stop. I read from the

and Brienne part for the last time. There

probably one of the last shows on televi-

beginning right through to the end, as

was a bit more to do in Spain, but it would

sion where, en masse, people were watch-

soon as I got them. It was deeply, deeply

be the last time I worked with some of that

ing the same thing at the same time. ★

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

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Violeta Sofia

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Bill

he runs away. We’re in the writers’ rooms and [co-creator Alec Berg] and I think,

HADER

★

“Why wouldn’t he say Barry did this?’” You could feel it in the writers’ room: that changes the whole show, so let’s find a reason why Fuches wouldn’t say that. We were getting into dumb conversations over why Cousineau doesn’t hear Fuches’ revelation. Then, I remember our

How the multi-hyphenate created an Emmy-nominated episode of Barry worthy of a big-budget action movie BY A N T H O N Y D ’A L E S SA N D RO

writer Liz Sarnoff exclaimed, “Fuches would say that, and Cousineau is going to hear him, and what’s a better ending to the season than Cousineau finding out?”

ITH FOUR EMMY NOMINATIONS FOR his work on Barry this year—comedy series, acting, writing and directing—Season 2 of the HBO series really allowed Bill Hader to show his riveting helming finesse across two episodes: “ronny/lily” and the finale “berkman/block”. In the nominated “ronny/ lily”, Hader’s hitman Barry is trying to take out martial arts maven Ronny Proxin, only to be ambushed by the guy’s daughter, Lily, an 11-year old karate dynamo. It’s a great chase sequence that begins in a smoky, blasé, suburban home, and continues onto the street and into a grocery store. It’s just one example of Hader’s many achievements.

Do you see Barry continuing for a finite number of seasons? Ask me one day, I’ll say, “Yeah, I think it’s a finite number of seasons, but I don’t know how many.” Then, ask me today and I’ll say, “We’re just taking it season-by-season.” There’s a plot I pitched, and I put it up on the board, and in both seasons, it’s gotten pushed off the board because we had so much story before it. I can’t say what the storyline is. I’m going to try and put it in Season 3. I always put it up there, but it’s a nice thing because it is like a big curve; it’s a big turning point for Barry. I saw Alec a couple weeks ago and we have no idea what [Season 3 will be]. I’m

What was the genesis for “ronny/lily”?

What were some of your inspirations in

like, “Man, we really wrote ourselves into a

Going into Season 2, we knew that we

making the chase sequence?

corner.” And he’s like, “I know.”

wanted Loach [John Pirruccello] to work

Throughout Season 2, I watched a lot of

with Fuches [Stephen Root] and corner

Andrzej Wajda’s war films: A Generation,

Tell us about your audition for SNL.

Barry. Then Loach wants Barry to kill his ex-

Kanal, and Ashes and Diamonds. He uses

What impersonations did you do?

wife’s new boyfriend, Ronny Proxin.

wide lenses and natural light. So, I showed

I did Vinny Vedecci, the Italian talk show

that to our DP Paula Huidobro. We

host, and it was him doing impressions.

“Wade, stunt girl,” because Wade Allen

watched some of those films and Roma

The morning of my audition, they called

knew this amazing girl; he had this video

had just come out. I can’t not watch the

and said, “Hey, you have to do a political

on his phone of her running across the roof

ending of “ronny/lily” when Barry is walk-

impression and it can’t be George Bush,”

of a house and jumping onto a moving car.

ing toward Fuches and it’s this big, wide

who was the president at the time. So, I

Then I had written down “Fight in Rite Aid”.

dolly shot [and think] clearly we had seen

just turned on the TV in my hotel room in

I thought it would be great because it’s

Roma the week before.

New York and my audition is in like two

On one page of my notebook, I wrote,

very cinematic.

When Fuches crashes the cop car, I

hours. There’s parliament on C-SPAN and

remember that was like The Blues Broth-

I’m watching Tony Blair. So I watched him

How did the plot come together?

ers. And then there’s a shot in the Rite

for a little bit and then I call my friend who

So, I have all these things as we’re outlin-

Aid fight where Ronny goes to kick Barry

is British. And I go, “Alright, who’s this?”

ing, and I thought, Wouldn’t it be great if

and he misses him and crashes into

He was like, “Is that supposed to be Tony

Barry has to go kill Ronny Proxin? What

stuff—that’s a very Blake Edwards-type

Blair?” Then I go to my audition. I thought I

if this little girl was his daughter, she was

shot. He would always do that, not so

was going to pass out. I ended up wait-

hiding and Barry has to kill a child? Then

much in Pink Panther movies, but in 10.

ing for two hours while other people went

you realize, Oh, she’s not from this world

ahead of me, but you could hear their audi-

and she mortally wounds him. That would

How did you come to Cousineau [Hen-

tions being pumped in [the waiting room]

be fun. Then, they have to get stitches;

ry Winkler]’s eureka in the finale?

so you were hearing other people do other

they’re going to have to go to a Rite Aid. So,

In the writing, we got to a place where

things. There was a great impression-

the little girl goes into the Rite Aid. No, that

Fuches takes Cousineau out in the woods

ist named James Adomian doing George

would be crazy. What if Ronny is not dead

to show him Janice’s body. Fuches pops

Bush. He was unreal. Later, I learned there

and he’s back in the Rite Aid? That’s great.

the trunk, shows him her body, and he’s

was a knob I could have turned down in

Within the span of a minute the episode

going to shoot him in the back of the head,

the dressing room so I wouldn’t have to

came together in my head.

but he can’t because he’s not like Barry—

hear the other auditions. ★

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

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Jessica

this stuff.” So, my characters always seem to escape that area, that genre of horror,

LANGE

★

which I was very grateful for. And to me that’s never the scariest part, anyhow. It’s the human psyche, isn’t it? That’s the most horrifying. You’ve said before you would retire; do you think you’re hooked?

The American Horror Story alum on reprising a previous role, and her newest Ryan Murphy project The Politician BY NA D I A N E O P H Y T O U

Well, what I don’t want to ever do, and which I did a lot, is waste my time doing stuff I should’ve just said no to. And I’m sure a lot of actors feel that way, when you have a career that spans almost 40 years.

ESSICA LANGE HASN’T BEEN A REGULAR on American Horror Story in four years, but all it took for her to snag her ninth Emmy nomination was just a few minutes on screen over two episodes in Season 8, Apocalypse. For this short but brilliant turn reprising her Season 1 role as Constance Langdon, Lange could potentially win her fourth Emmy statuette, adding to the two Oscars on her mantelpiece. American Horror Story has put Lange on the Emmy map as a repeat winner—she already won for the chain-smoking, nosy neighbor Constance role in 2012, and in 2014, took home the gold for playing Fiona Goode in American Horror Story: Coven.

Why did I do that? Why did I ever waste my time? But there’s always a part of you that says, “I should work. I really should work. I’ll find a way to make it worthwhile; I’ll find a way to make this work.” And that I know I’m never going to do again because time gets way too precious. I wish I hadn’t done a third of the films that I wasted my time on, but that’s old news. But don’t you think everything leads you to where you need to be, maybe? No, I think there’s an inevitability about how you make decisions. I have really deep regrets. It’s not about what I didn’t do, but what I did; what I wasted my time doing.

In Apocalypse, you play a character you

with the death scene. It was great. I have

left behind seasons ago. Did you think

to give them complete credit for it.

you’d ever go back to Constance?

What keeps you coming back to Murphy? His new project The Politician is

Never. No, because the premise was,

The writers have given you some of the

your third time working with him.

you do one season, you would play that

best insulting lines to say over the years.

Because I love his imagination. I think he

character, and then that was it. That

Do you still remember any of those?

is a rare talent and I love the way he thinks

was finished. You move onto the other.

I think maybe my favorite, certainly of

and what he creates. I completely appreci-

The way Ryan brought this up, I know he

Constance, was in Season 1 with Franny,

ate it. And he has created, for me, the four

had toyed with the idea of bringing the

where I said to her, “Don’t make me kill

characters in American Horror Story, as

different characters back in for a reprisal

you again.” It’s so camp, but it works.

well as giving me the opportunity to play

season. But this one, it came out of the blue for me.

Joan Crawford, which has become one of You’ve played four American Horror

my favorites. And then this [The Politician],

Story women. Would you want to re-

which is so out there. I’m not supposed to

How did you get into her mindset again?

visit any of the others?

talk about it, but it’s nuts; it’s really crazy.

Because I never watch anything I do and

Well, probably my favorite character of the

I’ve never seen any of these seasons, I had

four seasons was Elsa in Freak Show. I just

You’ve played so many amazing parts.

to, for the first time, look at something

loved her. Again, I didn’t watch it, so I can’t

Is there a role you still want to tackle?

that I had done. I couldn’t remember—of

compare the finished product with the oth-

I would love to go back on stage again,

course, it’s been eight years—the specific

er seasons. But the doing of it—there was

but I don’t know what play that would

accent, the mannerisms, behavior, the way

something magical for me in that season...

be. It’s hard. I played the roles that I really

she looked. I had to recreate that, with the

the gifts just kept piling up and piling up.

desperately always dreamed about: Mary

help of hair and makeup and costume and

Tyrone and Blanche DuBois. And right now,

everything else. But it was kind of shock-

Has your appreciation of the horror

there’s also the problem of age. I’m too old

ing when I went back and looked at it. I

genre changed since you started this?

to play some of the parts that I would’ve

thought, Wow, so that was that character.

Well, you know, I think Ryan understood

wanted to play, like Martha in Virginia

But it was great fun, it really was, especially

and the writers understood early on, I think

Woolf, or Hannah in Night of the Iguana. I

because the writers know me. We love

I made myself clear that I wasn’t going to

would’ve loved to have played those parts,

each other. I appreciate everything they do

get into any kind of gory [stuff], I’m not

but I can’t anymore. That time passed. I

so much, and they’re writing for you, which

going to do that. And I said, “I don’t want

can’t have a grandfather. He’d have to be

is so unique. They did themselves proud

to kill anybody. I don’t want to, none of

a-hundred-and-fucking-20-years-old. ★

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

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Paul

just visiting prisons. The second you walk in, the temperature, the smell, the echoes of other inmates, the safety protocol, the

DA N O

★

regimented lifestyle. It’s not rehabilitation when you’re in a maximum-security prison. It is punishment. How did you handle trusting Sweat’s

★

words, given his unreliable nature, and

Escape at Dannemora involved shooting in a real prison, meeting real convicts and a mission to present the truth BY M AT T G RO BA R

his crimes? That’s a tough question to answer because Richard Matt is no longer with us, and I don’t think Tilly wanted to talk, or we didn’t talk to her. So really, you’re only getting

RESH FROM HIS WILDLIFE DIRECTORIAL debut, Paul Dano found himself headed to prison. In Showtime’s limited series Escape at Dannemora, Dano plays real-life convict David Sweat, who escaped from New York’s Clinton Correctional Facility in 2015. Meeting with Sweat in preparation for the shoot, Dano delved deep into the portrayal of the man who was ultimately recaptured and whose prison breakout cost the life of his fellow escapee Richard Matt (Benicio Del Toro). The role earned Dano his first Emmy nomination, as he began to write his next feature project.

one person’s side of the story. And what is that story? I think as an actor, at the end of the day, my job is to take what hits me that I can put through the written material and the story that we’re telling, rather than just be telling the story that the inspector general wrote, or that David Sweat told us. It is a version of the story, and nobody will ever know every hard fact about it. Were you able to spend time with Patricia or Benicio prior to filming? I didn’t spend that much time with Patricia beforehand, and I just found her to be such an incredible, effortless actor. This incredible transformation, and somehow you

What was the immediate draw of Es-

ences that were taken at the real places; all

don’t see the work. She comes to work,

cape at Dannemora?

the depositions from David Sweat’s arrests

she’s ready, she’s prepared, there’s no fuss,

I was editing Wildlife, which was quite a

in his life. Just a plethora of material. So re-

and you don’t see the work, and that’s

quiet, restrained endeavor. So, when this

ally, it was combing through the facts.

really incredible. And she just couldn’t be a

Then, two really big things happened.

kinder person. I think she’s wonderful.

break and sledgehammers against brick

One is we got to go meet David Sweat—

walls. It felt like the energy that I needed

Ben, Benicio and I—and to walk into a

time together. We did some prep to-

after the edit room, sitting on a couch and

prison and sit across from somebody who

gether; there was probably some crossover

staring at a screen for months.

is incarcerated for life. It’s really heavy.

research that was done together, some

One of the most surprising things about it

prison visits, time with Ben and visiting

director. I think he did a really special job

was how he’s still a person, and that once

Sweat. Benicio’s really fun to act with

with this and I’m a really big fan of his prior

you’re talking to somebody, they’re living

because he’s very alive and unpredict-

directing work. Benicio Del Toro and Patri-

and breathing, they have a history.

able, and it really works for the tension,

Of course, Ben Stiller is an incredible

cia Arquette were already involved, who

Benicio and I got to spend a lot more

the dynamic that we’re creating in these

are pretty special actors, so you’re excited

What did he say that really stuck with

tiny spaces. What is this guy thinking? And

to crack the script open and see what it

you and informed your performance?

what are we going to do next?

is. Brett Johnson and Michael Tolkin had

One of the best things he said was that

really written something that was a page-

you have to put up a front in prison. You’re

Do you have a sense yet of when you’ll

turner, as well as being incredibly detailed,

taking parts of yourself and storing them

be getting behind the camera again?

character-wise and minutiae-wise—the

away, and that was a huge key into, OK,

I’m just starting to write now. I think it’s

sort of petri dish of prison life.

what am I getting rid of in order to survive

going to take a moment. It’s such a big ex-

in here? Because they all said prison is

perience, and I really value the time that’s

How did you prepare for the role?

just an adrenaline drip, constantly. It’s just

not on the clock, financially, because once

It was clear from the get-go, the first time

drip, drip, drip, because something bad

you’re in pre-production, everything is just

we met, that Ben was going to be abso-

can happen every day. That was really in-

about time, time being precious. So actu-

lutely meticulous about details and what

tense—that adrenaline drip image, and the

ally it’s a really nice time to let the process

really happened, and that was a big clue

idea that you have to be somebody you’re

be the process. Because once you decide

into an entry point. We had an incredible

not, or just be one part of yourself, to keep

to put it into a certain gear, it’s so full on. I

amount of research: the inspector gen-

up the front.

love it and I can’t wait, but I imagine it’ll be

eral’s reports; tons of photographic refer-

The other thing that was profound was

a year or two. ★

RE X /S H U T T ERSTO CK

thing came in, it was sex and a prison

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Bob

a part of that, or he could do what he does, which is make a leap inside himself over that

ODENKIRK

★

chasm of grief, and say, “Fuck you. Yeah, sure, it was your fault—fine. It wasn’t mine. I had nothing to do with it. Go ahead and feel bad.” Those are weird moments, and they’re strange choices, but I don’t think they’re entirely impossible, or rare even. I mean, someone can die—someone close to you, who

As Better Call Saul’s Jimmy McGill slides into scam artistry, an upcoming fifth season promises to be his best yet BY M AT T G RO BA R

you love—and you can feel like, “I should be sadder.” And conversely, someone you don’t know can die, and you can start to weep, and you’re like, “I didn’t even know him, but it affects me so much.”

OUR YEARS AND FOUR EMMY nominations into playing Better Call Saul’s good-hearted lawyer Jimmy McGill, Bob Odenkirk is currently deep into Season 5, with McGill continuing his metamorphosis into the Saul Goodman we know from Breaking Bad. Despite playing Goodman for several years, Odenkirk says his deep work with the character began with the McGill incarnation in Better Call Saul. And as he works on the new season, Odenkirk’s passion for the character only grows stronger.

When Bill Hicks died, that changed how I was thinking about my life, and I’d only said hello to Bill backstage at a talk show. I’d never actually talked to him, we just both said hi. We both knew each other’s work, and that was the end of it. But when he passed away, I made choices in my life that were different than everything I’d done before. This season, Jimmy tells Kim he’s keeping his nose clean when in reality, he’s getting into trouble. Why do you think he refuses to stay on the straight and narrow?

As of this year, you’ve spent a decade

And, of course, it’s a lie. Jimmy is broken

I think he’s impatient. He’s a restless soul. A lot

with Jimmy McGill. What has this jour-

in such a way because of Chuck’s choice

of people are, and it’s almost considered a plus,

ney been like for you?

that he’ll end up being Saul pretty much

or a positive, in our modern society. “You should

Well, I don’t know if I count playing Saul on

full-time, I think, in his life. And that’s really

be wanting more, and if you’re not wanting more,

Breaking Bad as being a big part of this jour-

only a part of who he is, the scammy guy

I’m sure you feel like there’s something wrong

ney [laughs]. It was a pretty one-dimen-

who’s just a dealmaker. That’s just a small

with you.” But he does have a restlessness about

sional guy in that show. It was a lot of fun to

part of who he is, but he ends up putting

him that he cannot calm down—and that, I think,

play and a wonderful project to be included

all of his chips in that stack and going all-in

causes a lot of his behavior, and choices that

in, but this thing started for me on Better

on being Saul because he’s just angry,

cause all kinds of trouble for him.

Call Saul, in a big way, and it’s been a real,

and he doesn’t want to think about who

true adventure to places I have never been.

he really was—Jimmy McGill, a good guy

He also seems to have that mentality of

It surprises me and challenges me, and it’s

who wanted to do right for a long time and

not wanting to belong to any club that

crazy. I can’t understand it very easily.

wanted to be respectable, and do some-

would have him as a member.

thing good with his weird talents.

Yes, of course. Absolutely. He can’t get sat-

What first impressions did Season 4’s

isfaction from his brother, and he’s obviously

scripts leave you with?

How did you relate to Jimmy switching

not satisfied with himself. Whatever he is, is

The most interesting thing was how Jimmy

off those emotions?

not good enough in his eyes, to himself. So,

deals with the death of his brother Chuck,

There are things that Jimmy does that are

that’s the bottom line. He’s trying to make

who is the most important person in his life.

strange—leaps in his psyche that aren’t

Kim proud of him, trying to make sure that

His whole life is geared for trying to win his

easy to put together in a mathemati-

she loves him, trying to make people think

brother’s affection and respect. That’s what

cal way, when you’re breaking the script

highly of him. It’s driving him, but the bottom

he’s done with his 30s, and it means every-

down—but I think we all have that in us.

line—as the Buddhists will remind us—is inner

thing to him. So, when his brother commits

You could call it inspiration, or you could

peace. It’s you being at peace with yourself.

suicide, and he thinks back on the interac-

call it a lizard brain moment.

He’s so far away from that, it’s a joke to bring

tion they had—which anyone would do with

When Howard Hamlin comes to his

it up in the context.

their last interaction—and the last thing

apartment and expresses the feeling

Chuck said to him was, “You didn’t mean

that he, Howard, had been the cause of

You’re shooting Season 5 right now. What

that much to me. You never meant that

Chuck’s suicide, because he wouldn’t

can you tell us about it?

much to me,” I think inside, some switch

let Chuck back into the law firm, there

It’s the best season we’ve ever done, it’s going

goes off. All that pain and all the loss he

is a choice there. I could tell him, “You’re

to blow your mind, and I’m not kidding about

feels is just immediately buried under a big,

wrong. We all had something to do with it,

either of those things. It’s fucking awesome. I

“Fuck you. I’m not going to feel bad about

and it was Chuck’s choice in the end.” Or

can’t wait for people to see it. It’s just shatter-

you, for you, anymore, ever again.”

he could share his own feelings of being

ing in every direction, and I love it. ★

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

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EM M Y 2 019 H AN DICAPS / BY P ETE H A M M O N D

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES Barry

Fleabag

HBO’s comedy about a hitman who is also an aspiring actor took the Comedy Series Actor prize for star Bill Hader last year, and was a nominee in the marquee category first time out. Since last year’s Emmys it has only increased its popularity, earning 17 nominations overall this year, second only to Mrs. Maisel in this race. Can it pull off an upset against the two returning champs in Maisel and Veep? It’s a quirky show, but one that clearly appeals to voters, so really, anything is possible and it had a very good sophomore season.

If there is one show that just might be able to pull off a stunning upset here it’s Fleabag, Amazon’s British phenomenon, the recent big winner at the Television Critics Association, and collector of 11 Emmy nominations overall this year after being totally shut out in its first season. Chalk it up to taking a little more time to actually be seen by voters. Obviously, they liked what they saw. Since it’s been wellpublicized that creator and star Phoebe WallerBridge is saying this is the second and final year, it might be the Academy’s only chance to honor it. Will they?

HBO

In a category that largely reflects some fresh blood in this key race, the real attention seems to be on the two past winners going head-to-head for the first time. That is because past three–time winner here, Veep, was not on the air in the last Emmy season and thus ineligible to compete, opening the door for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel to sweep the comedy categories. They are both in the race this year in a category that shows resistance to change, at least recently. It was dominated for five years in a row by Modern Family, and then for three years by Veep. It makes it tougher for the five relatively new shows (at least in this contest) that are also competing for attention.

The Good Place NBC

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

This critical favorite and ethereal series is flying the flag for broadcast commercial TV networks in a category otherwise controlled by cable and streaming nominees. In its third season, it finally made the grade and landed this key nomination. Taking a cue from WallerBridge, producers have announced that the upcoming fourth season will be its last, but still, that gives voters one more chance beyond this year to give it the gold—unlike lastchance-Fleabag. There is still time. Maybe the spirits are with it.

As the defending champ here, and winner of eight Emmys overall in its first season, Mrs. Maisel is the only hour-long in the running, but that didn’t hurt it last year. Voters usually land on one show and reward it in multiple years in this category, but Amazon’s prizewinner has to compete here with Veep. With a leading 20 nominations, six more than last year, it’s clear the Emmy electorate responds to Maisel. However, the fact that writing isn’t one of those nominations gives me pause in predicting a second straight triumph.

34 42

Amazon Prime Video

Russian Doll

Schitt’s Creek

Veep

Easily the most offbeat among this year’s nominees, Netflix’s only hope in this category is about death (and yes, other things) and isn’t a knock-down, drag-out funny show. But the line has been getting grayer recently, so maybe its differences will be a big plus. It’s truly a dark horse here, and a victory in Season 1 would be a stunner. A haul of 13 nominations is impressive though.

Well, finally. In its fifth and penultimate season, voters have recognized this hilarious Canadian series airing on Pop TV, not only giving that quirky wannabe network its first Emmy blast, but also demonstrating the brilliance behind a cult favorite, and perhaps the most consistently funny series on TV. With four nominations overall, the lowest total of any nominee in the category, it is an uphill climb. The fact that it got in at all means I would not count it out, but the formidable competition is imposing to say the least. Nevertheless, wouldn’t it be great?

In its seventh and final season, this three-time champ is back in the game to win a fourth consecutive Comedy Series Emmy for the show. With 68 lifetime Emmy nominations and 17 wins, its current nine nominations could have been higher. But it really delivered this season, firing on all cylinders, and it would seem like the most likely to succeed again here. Veep is the safest bet for your pools, but Fleabag might have a passion vote behind it, so beware.

Netflix

Pop TV

Amazon Prime Video

HBO

PETE’S

WINNER PICK

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OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES Better Call Saul

Only two shows among the very crowded eight Drama Series nominees this season were actually in this race last year—an unusual occurrence. Of course, one of those shows is the seemingly unbeatable Game of Thrones, breaking all nomination records with a remarkable 32 nods this season. What a way to go out. Like Veep, Thrones is a three-time series winner, looking for a fourth and final victory before sailing into TV history. To do that it will have to conquer five shows nominated for the first time here, the only broadcast network entry, and the return of a frequent nominee who was absent last year.

Bodyguard

AMC

Netflix

Although it wasn’t considered in 2018 since it didn’t air a new season during the eligibility period, Breaking Bad’s spinoff is back in contention this year with nine nominations overall, just as it was in every Emmy season since its 2015 debut. Daring to take on the mantle of Breaking Bad and succeed on its own terms as a prequel, the show is a hit thanks not only to a great cast but also its creators/ executive producers Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, who also steered Breaking Bad to Emmy glory. Can they do it again?

One of two shows to represent the streamer here since stalwarts The Crown and Stranger Things weren’t yet eligible in their third seasons, and veteran House of Cards didn’t make the cut in this category (it’s up in a couple of acting slots though). Bodyguard is a bit of a dark horse, since the six-episode series wasn’t really expected to get much more traction other than for its Golden Globe winning star. However, while Richard Madden is surprisingly AWOL in the noms, his show landed as one of the big ones. Go figure. A real longshot though.

Game of Thrones

Killing Eve

BBC America

Netflix

Ozark

Pose

Succession

This Is Us

What more can be said about this show, which landed a record-breaking 32 nominations this season to add to a lifetime total of 160? It looks to be almost impossible to beat in its final season. Despite controversy over how the show ended, with some fans even calling for a complete reshoot of the whole final season, Emmy voters didn’t seem to mind. It is a behemoth if ever there was one.

This BBC series got some real traction last year in its first try, with both acting and writing nominations, but it has really exploded in this second season with nine bids, including its first time in this marquee category. It is a series that definitely has a huge fanbase, and not just with Emmy voters. Still, it seems more likely to score in other categories than this one.

Like Killing Eve, this second-season series upgraded itself into this category after setting the table for success with five nominations last year. Even more than Better Call Saul, this complex and riveting series most evokes the feel of Breaking Bad in brilliantly carrying forward the story of a family careening out of control after being forced to move from the big city into darker times.

This dazzling entry from Ryan Murphy, Steven Canals and Brad Falchuk is set in the Ball Culture world of 1987 New York City. With six total nominations, it impressively landed one of them in this category, despite the fact that it was the first new show eligible for this season, since it debuted just three days after the close of eligibility for last year’s Emmys. Who says Emmy voters don’t have long memories? A win would be a big longshot, but this series is smack in the zeitgeist anyway.

First off, can we say how criminal it is that the actors branch did not recognize this terrific series in key acting categories, especially its star Brian Cox? Nevertheless, it came in under the radar—and in the shadow of HBO stablemate Game of Thrones—with five nominations, including Drama Series. I can’t think of a more deserving show this year. As an almost Shakespearean look at the corporate culture of one family, it truly cannot be beaten. Only the Murdochs would not approve.

As the only broadcast network to make it into this lineup now three years running, and with its other eight cast nominations, voters are clearly saying they are still with this emotional and satisfying drama. However, with no wins here in the last two years, and only actors branch support from the other categories, it would be a shocker to see it actually win.

HBO

PETE’S

WINNER

HBO

NBC

PICK

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

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OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES Chernobyl HBO

Without question, this category has been the one in recent years where television’s greater ambitions have been showcased, and thus, also a category that is uber-competitive. Limited Series in fact could also describe a number of contenders in the regular Drama and Comedy categories as well. Take Amazon’s Fleabag, a Comedy Series contender, or Netflix’s Bodyguard, a Drama Series contender—both have only six-episode runs this season, fewer than most of the Limited Series nominated here. The line between limited and regular series is blurring (2017’s Limited Series winner Big Little Lies will have to compete as a Drama Series next year), and the definitions of the categories will continue to change. At some point the Academy is going to have to address that issue. But nevertheless, here are the five nominees that wholly define themselves as ‘Limited’.

This nail-biting entry is one of HBO’s two hopes for continued dominance in this area. Chronicling one of mankind’s greatest self-created disasters, this is an exceptionally well-told story, serving as a sobering reminder of lurking dangers that could erupt at any given moment. It drew widespread critical acclaim and won 19 Emmy nods—the largest total of any of this year’s Limited Series nominees, which could be a good omen for a win. PETE’S

WINNER PICK

Fosse/Verdon

Sharp Objects

When They See Us

When this limited series revolving around the professional and personal marriage of showbiz dynamos Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon was announced by FX, I was astounded that such an original idea could get made. It didn’t disappoint with its dazzling tour through the lives of these two remarkable artists, and their tumultuous union. With exceptional performances from Michelle Williams and Sam Rockwell, it just doesn’t get much better than this. It has my vote at least.

The network’s second entry in the category this year is also the only one of the five nominees not based on a real-life story. It brings six-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams to television in a big way as a journalist who travels back to her hometown to ostensibly investigate a murder case, but who discovers hidden truths about herself. With Big Little Lies’ Jean-Marc Vallée behind the camera in this adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s book, Sharp Objects was a riveting way to spend a few Sundays.

This Ava DuVernaydirected limited series focuses on the young men known as the Central Park Five, who were accused and convicted of sexual assault. Telling the story of their unjust sentences, and ultimate exoneration, DuVernay has crafted an important, and still extremely timely, cautionary tale that demands to be seen. Its very currency, not to mention its 16 nominations—half of which went to its cast—makes this a frontrunner, especially considering the actors branch is the Academy’s largest.

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HBO

Escape at Dannemora Showtime

Director Ben Stiller proved that his chops were as strong behind the camera as in his comedy work. Taking the true story of a prison break, and the female employee who became their accomplice, and turning it into a televisual page-turner was no easy task. Aided by a principal cast, including Emmy nominees Benicio Del Toro, Paul Dano, and Patricia Arquette, Stiller produced a winner that stays in the mind months after it first aired on Showtime. Will Emmy voters remember it too?

Netflix

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

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WHAT SHOULD WIN?

OUTSTANDING

TELEVISION MOVIE

With so many nominees to choose from,

Bandersnatch (Black Mirror) Netflix

At one time this was one of Emmy’s most sought after and prestigious prizes, but as the Limited Series format became more attractive, and a magnet for top talent, the TV Movie category is just a shell of what it used to be. The numbers say it all. Only one of the five nominees received more than two nominations overall, and three of the nominees find their only Emmy mention right here—not a great indication of widespread support for this form in the Academy, to say the least. Netflix has actually won here a couple of times by plucking episodes from their popular anthology series, Black Mirror, and labeling them ‘movies’. A new rule instituted this year requires an entry to run at least 75 minutes long, which would have disqualified two of the past three winners here.

The only anthology entry this year, and once again from Netflix’s Black Mirror series, this technically innovative ‘movie’, described as an “’80s-set, morally compromising adventure,” uses technology to create an interactive experience, forcing the viewer to make story choices. It’s been done before—most notably in a Steven Soderbergh project for HBO—but not quite to this degree, and that could likely make it the first contender ever to win in this category with this kind of gimmick.

Academy voters (of which I am one) have a tough task just trying to get through all the content and come up with some deserving winners. So, let me help my fellow members as I choose a few that I feel would be great to see up on the Microsoft Stage come September. Although it likely won’t get there, since its network HBO has another little show called Game of Thrones, I would suggest there is no more compelling Drama Series this year than Succession. But maybe it’ll get a win next year. I’d also love to see Eugene Levy and/ or Catherine O’Hara receive an Emmy for Pop TV’s wonderfully funny Schitt’s Creek. However, I’m torn because Phoebe WallerBridge is up against O’Hara, and since this is the first—and only—chance she has to win Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Fleabag, I say go for it, Academy members. Failing a win for Waller-Bridge, she’s also up for Comedy Series Writing. I can tell you there was no better writing on TV this season than this eminently watchable series. Fosse/Verdon was just astounding, and I’d love to see it cash in on some of its 17 nominations, especially for both Michelle Williams’ astounding work as Verdon, and Sam Rockwell’s incarnation of Fosse. And isn’t it about time Robin Wright took home the Emmy for House of Cards? After

Brexit

Deadwood

King Lear

Benedict Cumberbatch, a familiar figure in recent Emmy seasons, stars in this origin story depicting the emergence of Brexit—one of HBO’s three nominees this year. The pay cabler has been the one outlet keeping this category alive, as TV movies fell out of favor on the networks and elsewhere. This is its only nomination, and a win is a longshot at best. Still, Brexit itself is still very much in limbo and in the news, so some momentum could be gained just by being timely, if nothing else.

The TV movie revival of this cult classic Western series received eight nominations this year—by far the biggest total for any of the TV movie nominees. Its sheer number of noms is the key reason it could actually pull off a win, since the entire Academy votes on this prize and clearly there is some significant support here. It remains HBO’s best bet to stop the huge Netflix momentum in this category.

Adding a touch of Shakespeare to the race, this handsomelymounted production stars Anthony Hopkins in the title role, alongside Emma Thompson. This is the kind of prestige package that used to seriously impress Emmy voters, but not so much recently. The biggest roadblock to a win is that Hopkins failed to get an acting nomination in this, perhaps the greatest role written by Shakespeare, and with a performance that was praised by critics. With only one nomination its chances are weak.

HBO

PETE’S

WINNER PICK

Amazon Prime Video

My Dinner with Hervé HBO

Inspired by a true story, this Sacha Gervasi-directed movie chronicles a one-night meeting between struggling journalist Danny Tate, played by Jamie Dornan, and iconic Fantasy Island actor Hervé Villechaize, played by Peter Dinklage. It worked better than you might ever have expected, and turned out to be entertaining in its own right. As HBO’s third entry in this race, it likely won’t make it to the winner’s circle, unless some of Dinklage’s Game of Thrones popularity rubs off on it.

all the trauma surrounding the show, it’s the least the Academy can do. I want to see both Alan Arkin and Michael Douglas win for The Kominsky Method, but I already gave the Emmy to Eugene Levy didn’t I? I will settle for a tie in Lead Actor in a Comedy Series then, and a straight-up win for Arkin. How about This Is Us’ Milo Ventimiglia? He has one of the most challenging roles on TV and seems to be taken for granted, but I can say the same for Bob Odenkirk in Better Call Saul. How about a tie here too? For Variety Special, I want a win for Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear’s All in the Family and The Jeffersons. It’d be great to see Lear up on stage again, this time as the oldest winner ever at 96? In Unstructured Reality Program, Phil Rosenthal’s travel/foodie show, Somebody Feed Phil is exceptional. Finally, there’s Jimmy Kimmel for Variety Talk Series. I know they’ll probably give it to John Oliver again, but Jimmy does it nightly, and nobody does it better.

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Pose AU G U S T 9, PAC I F I C D E S I G N C E N T E R , L O S A N G E L E S

Billy Porter

Angelica Ross

Ryan Murphy and Billy Porter

This Is Us AU G U S T 1 0, 1 H O T E L W E S T H O L LY WO O D, L O S A N G E L E S

Siddhartha Khosla

Sterling K. Brown

Dan Fogelman

Mandy Moore When They See Us creator Ava DuVernay with her cast

Ava DuVernay Justin Hartley

Chris Sullivan and Chrissy Metz

Caleel Harris and Marsha Stephanie Blake

Kris Bowers

When They See Us Ron Cephas Jones

Susan Kelechi Watson

AU G U S T 1 1 , PA RA M O U N T T H E AT R E , L O S A N G E L E S

P OS E : R E X /S H U T T E RSTOC K ; T H I S I S US : RE X /S H UT TE RSTO CK ; WH E N T H E Y S E E US : C H AR LE Y GA LLAY/G E T T Y IM AG ES FO R N E T FLI X

Janet Mock

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

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VIDEO SERIES