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Molly Parker Talks Ballet, Acting, and House of Cards

Molly Parker made a career shift from ballet to acting to an Emmy-nominated role on Netflix’s House of Cards

I’ve seen talented actress Molly Parker in many TV shows and films over the years, but perhaps never been more impressed as a fan than when she appeared as Jackie Sharp on Netflix’s House of Cards. I had the pleasure to speak to Molly briefly about her Emmy-nominated work on the show in the latest season where she continued to give weight to the powerful women in politics dynamic.

I am a fan of the show. My wife says your character is her favorite.

Aw, nice.

So I’ll come to House of Cards shortly, just a little bit of background first, if that’s okay.

Sure.

Forget where you ended up, what are your earliest memories of what you wanted to be when you grew up? Did you know from a very early age?

When I was really young, the first thing I remember I wanted to be was a mermaid. We grew up in Canada, a small town outside of Vancouver. My parents had a small fish market. We had a long display case which you put ice in, and I wanted to be a mermaid and lay on the ice. That’s the first thing I remember to be completely honest. I don’t remember saying I wanted to be an actor until much later, until I was an actor. But nobody who knew me seemed surprised in me being an actor. It didn’t seem to be an option, so maybe I did not have that in my imagination yet. A mermaid seemed much more likely.

Yeah, but an easier profession to get into…

[Laughter]

…But not as well paid I think.

Well, apparently not.

[Laughter]

So ballet was a huge part of your childhood. When and how did acting become the main event? Was it by accident?

Yeah it was a little bit of an accident. I took ballet classes from the age of two until eighteen. Until that time dance, for sure, was the focus of my non-academic life, my extra curricular life. By the time I was in high school I wanted to be in plays. I was in the drama department… that I really loved. I loved dance, but I think I got to the point where I had to be so dedicated. When you’re so young, when I was fifteen or sixteen, I remember thinking I have to make this work all my life. I was not just into in acting, I was interested in biology, and could go to university.

Yeah, so you had a plan B.

Yeah, I had a plan B. When I finished high school I got a bursary, a scholarship, so I took an acting class, and I was hooked. That’s how it happened, something just landed, and I felt it was the most exciting thing I had ever done.

Who inspired you growing up? Did you follow or emulate anyone?

There was a moment when I was maybe thirteen, seeing the film Silkwood. There is a moment between Meryl Streep and Kurt Russell, towards the end of the movie they have had this fight, and she is leaving. She gets down to the car, and he is on the porch or the steps. He turns around, and she just flashes him one breast. Opens her shirt and flashes a breast. They both crack up laughing. It was just a surprising, beautiful moment. I don’t know why, that movie just really moved me, and that moment I was thinking “Oh I want to do it.” Not the nudity, but what happens between two people. You think it is one thing, but it becomes something else. It was the power of it, and the humanity.

I read Condoleezza Rice’s book, which is very long. Read Hilary’s first book, Elizabeth Warren’s book. All of them were heavy hitters, they had written about themselves, and that was fascinating and told me a lot of what it takes to be a woman in power and what it costs and what it’s like for women in the generation of Hilary and women in my generation.

How did you land the role of Jackie Sharp on House of Cards? Is it the type of role you were looking for at the time?

I can’t say I have ever gone around in my career looking for something in particular. In my experience in these 20 years is that the right thing will find you at the right moment if you are open to it. And this is true also with House of Cards. I auditioned for it. I was asked to put something on tape. I know that Beau Willimon [creator] announced he was interested in me for the show. He was a big fan of Deadwood and some of the other things I had done. So I put something on tape for them, and they asked me to do it a second time and asked me to change a few things. They gave me the part. I didn’t know much about the part. They did not share much about who she would be. They had an initial idea of her, and it evolved.

How familiar were you with that zone of political landscape in America? It is quite a heavy subject. How much research did you have to do? Are you political anyway?

I have a general idea. I have a somewhat educated idea just from living in the States for such a long time. Been in Los Angeles for sixteen years. I had some ideas, but I also did a fair amount of research. I read a good number of biographies of women in politics and in power generally. I read Condoleezza Rice’s book, which is very long. Read Hilary’s first book, Elizabeth Warren’s book. All of them were heavy hitters, they had written about themselves, and that was fascinating and told me a lot of what it takes to be a woman in power and what it costs and what it’s like for women in the generation of Hilary and women in my generation. I think it is just such an interesting world to me, and I am very interested in current affairs and international relations, and politics.

Excellent. Did you bring any of your self to the character, or your own personality?

All the characters you play end up with part of you in some way. I tried thinking about if I take away aspects of myself that are not the character. It depends on different areas, like physicality. I tried in the beginning to give Jackie a certain physicality that is not me as she has come from a military background. I wanted to think about physically what that looks like, how one holds themselves. Particularly the woman role and being taken seriously. There is a certain sort of physicality that can express that I thought about that somewhat. And then it always evolved. In television you don’t know what is coming story-wise, unlike a film. In film you can make choices about what comes later. In television the work is like how we live, you don’t know what is coming. Sometimes the writers share with you what’s coming, sometimes they don’t. That is true on all the shows I have worked on. There is a kind of openness one has to have to the possibility that anything can happen. And I like that actually, not knowing what is coming. I have embraced it over the years, it is sort of exciting to not know where you are going in the story. The behavior is much more centered on the present moment, and the character.

Yeah. When the wife and I were watching that last season, my wife asked, “Is Jackie going to go right to the top and knock Underwood off his perch?” When you watch a show you play guessing games. The show is quite leading in that way. Did you think that of your character, did you think “Oh I could be president?”

I think that you never know what is coming, but what is clear is that Robin [Wright] and Kevin [Spacey] are the leads of the show, that is clear all along. The show is very much a story about their relationship and marriage as much as it is a political one. I never ruled out that anything could happen, but I just tried to stay true to the ambitions as I imagined them to be for Jackie – her ambitions were limitless.

How do you all interact behind the scenes? Quite a heavy show. Are you still friends?

I just felt so grateful all along that I was working with such great actors. The writing is really good, and such skilled actors. Such a huge cast, there are some people I have not even worked with, I mean I see them there or we cross paths or in on the same day. Some actors I have not had a scene with in three years. Spent a lot of time with Mahershala Ali [Remy Danto] who is also nominated. I adore him, he is one of the most wonderful people I have worked with, very talented. I worked with Kevin a lot, and Robin.

Congratulations on the Emmy nod. I did call it when I did my predictions.

Oh did you?

Yeah, took me about two hours to go through it, there are a lot of categories. You had to be in there, though, you did not feel like a guest role. It was more of a supporting role. Guest suggests you just popped in, but it was a much bigger role than that.

It was funny that. I was so surprised, especially this year as I had less to do than years passed. It was really surprising, and very nice.

Well, I would like to wish you all the best, I will be keeping my eye out.

Thanks Robin.

House of Cards is available to stream on Netflix.

Melora Hardin Loves What She Does

Melora Hardin has done it all. She’s been involved with more movies and television shows that you can probably recall, but she’s one of the most consistent actresses working today. This year, Hardin earned her first Emmy® nomination for playing the confident Tammy on Amazon’s beloved Transparent. In the show’s second episode, Tammy crashes a party while the scars of her recently dissolved marriage to Sarah Pfefferman (Amy Landecker) haven’t even healed yet. In the hands of a less experienced actress, the appearance in the episode probably wouldn’t have had the emotional heft that Hardin brings to the brief moment.

When I spoke to Hardin about her work on the second season, she talked about the filming process of Transparent with such openness and heart that you could tell the nomination was a welcome addition to an already extraordinary experience.

Congratulations on your first ever Emmy nomination! How does it feel to be nominated with Transparent?

Oh, my God! It’s unbelievably exciting as you can imagine. I was totally shocked and just thrilled.

People say that Transparent is an important show. Is that something that everyone is conscious of while filming the episodes?

I think that we are very aware and very conscious of it because (show creator) Jill Solloway’s intention was to change the world. That’s what she always said when she was going around and pitching to all the major networks. I think that’s been held reverently on set in the making of the show. We start every season with Joan Scheckel who is one of Jill’s mentors. We basically start every season with Joan Scheckel and just doing physical exercises and connecting and talking about the arc of the season—the overarching theme of the season. The idea of doing something important is held absolutely in every moment of making the show. On top of that, the joy of playing such a rich character like Tammy, as an actor, I have the wonderful benefit of feeling that we are doing good in the world as a person.

I’ve always thought that Tammy is very charismatic and very confident

Mmhmm.

Your episode submission was very, very intense and really sad. Was that whole pool scene difficult to shoot because it was such an intense moment?

You know, it’s funny. There is nothing difficult about working on the set of Transparent. It’s so joyful because it’s rich and everything is really held in such love. As actors, what do we want? We want opportunities to stretch and to go places that we don’t go in our everyday lives, and I had that opportunity. It was really quite glorious to be honest (laughs). It feels really good to hook into the truth of a character and allow her to come through me that is, in a way, cathartic.

The show deals a lot with identity—gender and personal. Would you say that Tammy is, at least outwardly, one of the most assured characters on the show?

Oh, yeah, definitely. That was one of the things that I always liked about her. Everybody else was waffling around trying to figure out who they are, but she knows who she is. I’m not saying that she’s not a mess. She’s an addict in season two and has to get herself back together. She’s very clear in her sexuality and who she is. She’s been a lesbian since she was five—knew that since she was born. I don’t think that’s what drove her drink. It was more of other insecurities of being out in the world.

You have such an amazing chemistry with Amy Landecker (who should have been nominated for Supporting Actress). Can you tell me a little bit about working with her?

I’d love to tell you about that! Everyone always asks, “How do you create the chemistry with her?” Creating chemistry with any actor is the same. (Laughs) It takes two people that dive in 150 percent. That’s all it takes. The thing that I can say that I love the most—and there’s a lot I love about her—but the most is that she jumps in with the surprise and risk with both feet. I think we were both very fearless in that together and we kind of held each other safely in that space. We did a lot of very risky stuff together. That’s the thing that creates that chemistry. We both have a lot of fun with each other with our characters and we enjoy each other. We come to it with 100 percent commitment from where the character is coming from. It’s a benefit that she’s a lot of fun.

Has to make it a lot easier. (Laughs)

Yeah.

One of the best moments of the show (and my personal favorite) has to be that long shot that starts the first episode of the second season. I thought that was going to be the entire episode!

(Laughs) It is like an 8 minute shot!

What was your personal favorite thing to film the entire second season?

That moment was really fun, because it was fully improvised. Setting that kind of stage was kind of fun because we got to behave as our character. That was an amazing moment. Also during the wedding when she starts to almost hallucinate and the whole thing becomes kind of a hallucinatory drug experience. We did some really crazy stuff—I can’t actually remember how much of it remembered in the episode. It was also about 105 degrees where we were filming, so everyone was just dripping with sweat and boiling hot and so uncomfortable and it was so great for the scene.

I can just tell through the phone how much you love being on set. I can hear you smiling. You clearly have an affection for this show.

I do have an affection for the whole experience, you know? The characters and what we’re doing in the world and opening up people’s minds and hearts through laughter and love is so incredible. To be honest, it’s so wonderful to be doing stuff that has meaning beyond your own self. To be able to be on a show that’s doing good things in a time right now with a political atmosphere that’s so fear-based. To be on something that’s saying, “No, let’s open up our hearts and embrace how culturally rich and socially diverse we are as a culture–as a country.” It just turns me on as a person. That’s what I want to be saying in the world. I just think that’s a beautiful, beautiful aspect to be in America. To be on a show that’s stretching and challenging people to think differently and feel differently and to embrace the people who have been other-ized to me is really profound.

The trailer for the third season just dropped recently. Can you give us any details about Tammy without spoiling anything?

Well, I can tell you that I’m not in Season 3. (Laughs) There you go! I might be in Season 4, but I’m not in Season 3.

I don’t like that news at all!

I don’t like it either, but that’s the way it is. (Laughs)

I had no idea that you had done some musical theater.

Oh yeah!

I found a video of you as Fantine in Les Miserables, and you’re so great! I was wondering if you’d be down to go into left field with your next project and do a full-fledged musical or TV musical?

Are you kidding? That’d be a dream come true.

Baz Luhrmann has that new Netflix show, The Get Down. We have to work you into something like that.

Exactly. Let’s push that.

I played Roxie on Broadway in Chicago for three months when I was on hiatus from The Office. I am one of those people that there’s nothing more gratifying to than being completely used up. In other words, using everything that I have and bringing it to the table. I have been dancing since I was five. I’ve been singing all my life. I’ve been acting professionally since I was size, so to be able to act, sing and dance all at once eight times a week was heaven on a stick. So you basically don’t even need to pay me, and I’ll show up. (Laughs) When you write your musical, call me back.

I definitely will!

Making The Case: HBO’s ‘All The Way’

In an on-going series, Jazz Tangcay makes the Emmy® case for All the Way to win the Outstanding TV Movie Emmy with a little help from writer Robert Schenkkan. Over the next week, the writers of AwardsDaily TV will pour out their hearts and minds to try and convince Emmy voters to follow their expert opinions.

HBO’s All the Way

Metacritic: 78
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
Number of Nominations: 8
Major Nominations: Television Movie, Lead Actor in a Limited Series / TV Movie (Bryan Cranston), Supporting Actress in a Limited Series / TV Movie (Melissa Leo), Direction (Jay Roach, who directed Cranston in Trumbo)

Robert Schenkkan grew up in Austin, Texas, close to Lyndon B. Johnson’s ranch. Schenkkan’s father at the time was a key figure in bringing public media, TV, and radio to the southwest. His father sought permission from then Senator Lyndon B. Johnson to bring public media to the area. LBJ backed a bill that created a corporation for public broadcast. He was a respected figure in the Schenkkan household, and Robert felt a connection to LBJ and wrote about him.

All The Way was originally commissioned by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2012 with Jack Willis originating the role of LBJ. In 2014, All The Way opened on Broadway with Bryan Cranston in the role and won the Tony Award for Outstanding Play and Best Actor.

This past May, Schenkkan adapted the play for television. All The Way premiered on HBO with Cranston reprising his role in as LBJ. Cranston’s on-screen resemblance to President LBJ is uncanny, and his ability to capture the drawl, right down to Johnson’s slump posture, is a sight to be seen. One wonders how much research Cranston did to capture the mood, be it LBJ’s fierce spirit or fury. He gives us a full view of the character.

The HBO drama covers the first year of LBJ’s presidency following John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Writer Schenkkan needed to be selective with what he covered as there wasn’t enough time to cover it all. “I was interested in LBJ’s relationship with the Civil Rights Movement and how they crossed, how they parted and in the end how they were able to achieve that incredible success,” he said.

From the first day, LBJ was thinking ahead, thinking about his election. He wasn’t the one the people had elected and was critical of himself. The arc is geared towards the election, and the path to re-election was critical. What we see in the show is LBJ’s passionate fight for a cause that was polarizing the South as well as a man who wants to move America forward.

We’ve seen representations of LBJ many times, but this incarnation is deserving of an Emmy win. The experts currently have All The Way ahead of the other political biopic, Confirmation starring Kerry Washington, in the Outstanding TV Movie category. Cranston might have won the Tony Award for the role of LBJ, but he’s up against Courtney B. Vance who fully inhabited his portrayal of Johnnie Cochran in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. Vance will most likely be taking home the Emmy statue on Emmy night thanks to an equally brilliant performance and the probability of a sweep for the Ryan Murphy-produced limited series.

However, there are many fine moments in All The Way. Some of the best include those where LBJ sits with Lady Bird (Melissa Leo) or when he walks down the hallway of the White House. There’s also an awkward exchange with his daughter. Of that particular scene, Schenkkan said the scene was included for the TV adaptation. What you see is a moment where a father truly loves his children, but he doesn’t know them at all. Steven Spielberg, who also produced the TV movie, had advised Roach that the best way to capture the president in intimate moments was by being the most desperate of places when there was no hope. It shows.

Another fine moment occurs between LBJ and Frank Langella who plays the opposition, Senator Richard Russell. “I love you more than I loved my daddy. But if you get in my way, I’ll crush you,” Johnson says to him.

It’s moments like that where Schenkkan’s script reminds us that politics is a game of chess, but all the moves are clever and politics is war. On these scenes, Schenkkan, who is an executive producer, collaborated with director Jay Roach and said, “I’ve never worked with anyone who was so open. He’s such a generous collaboration and a great director. I learned an enormous amount.”

These scenes are moments you will remember when talking about the movie. All The Way excels at humanizing characters such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and LBJ.

Ultimately, All The Way is a great film packed with history, great performances that show true character filled with compassion and courage. So, with over the 1.1 million who tuned in when the show aired in May, let this be your Emmy choice for Outstanding TV Movie.

Jack Riley, Co-Star of ‘Bob Newhart Show,’ Dies at 80

Jack Riley, mainstay to such comedy giants as Bob Newhart and Mel Brooks, died today at 80

Jack Riley, a veteran comic actor of television and film died today at 80 year old. According to multiple reports, Riley passed due to complications of pneumonia and infection. His wife Ginger and two children survive him.

Famous for his deadpan vocal style, Riley was a mainstay of popular 1960s era television shows. He guest starred on such pop culture milestones as I Dream of Jeannie, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, The Partridge Family, and Hogan’s Heroes. His most iconic role, however, came with The Bob Newhart Show. Jack Riley played a neurotic patient of Newhart’s psychologist who suffered from a massive persecution complex. Riley had a career renaissance in the 90’s in Nickelodeon’s animated classic Rugrats as Stu Pickles.

Riley also achieved notoriety for his comic appearances in Mel Brooks’ High Anxiety, History of the World, Part 1 (1981), and Spaceballs.

Emmy Tracker: Will ‘American Crime Story’ Sweep the Lead Races?

Lead Actress in a Limited Series / TV Movie

2016 is Sarah Paulson’s year. Fans know it. Critics know it. With two nominations this year, clearly the Television Academy knows it. After four consecutive losses (and two crushing snubs) fans of Sarah Paulson began to question if she would ever win. Then Ryan Murphy granted her (and us all) the gift of The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. Her performance as Marcia Clark checks off all the right boxes: a buzzed about show, an historical role, and plenty of watercooler moments. Voters know this is her year, and if they gave it two anybody else the online blogosphere will never let them live it down.

As far out ahead as she is, this is the year where she has the strongest competition. Early in the season Kirsten Dunst was the frontrunner for her career renaissance in Fargo, but she will likely suffer from the same snobbery to 1990’s/early 2000’s tabloid stars that cost Christian Slater his first nomination. Lili Taylor gave the most heartwrenching performance of the year (and my personal favorite), but she’ll split the vote with her less deserving costar, Felicity Huffman. Audra McDonald is beloved in the theatre community, but there is no chance that the acting branch is going to award what is essentially a filmed Broadway performance. Plus, she has her arsenal of Tonys to keep her warm at night.

If Emmy voters do decide to ignore Sarah Paulson for a fifth consecutive year, then it will be for Kerry Washington who in any other year would be a lock to win. She’ll pick up some votes for simply starring in a prestige HBO biopic (the network has taken this award 11 of the past 16 years). Washington is also an industry darling, and there are a lot of Scandal fans in the acting branch.

In the end, she likely won’t upset Paulson because no one seemed to love Confirmation as a TV film. Compare that to Sarah Paulson who has been nominated more times than Washington, gave the better performance, and starred in the more well liked program. Voters will be happier to award Paulson.

Current Ranking

Sarah Paulson, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

Kerry Washington, Confirmation

Kirsten Dunst, Fargo

Lili Taylor, American Crime

Audra McDonald, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill

Felicity Huffman, American Crime

Lead Actor in a Limited Series / TV Movie

Every single television journalist and pundit has spent the past six months praising Courtney B. Vance’s performance as Johnnie Cochran, making him the obvious choice to win the Emmy this September. Then just about every one of those pundits decided to predict Bryan Cranston for his portrayal of LBJ in HBO’s All the Way.

Like Kerry Washington, Bryan Cranston checks off all the typical Emmy requirements and to an even higher degree. His work on Breaking Bad has made him quite possibly the most respected actor working in television. Pairing that with HBO’s big biopic of the year based off of the Tony-winning play seems like a done deal in terms of typical voter preferences. Cranston’s only setback is that All The Way isn’t very good. In fact, the TV movie is pretty boring. Courtney B. Vance on the other hand is one of the stars on the biggest television event of the year, and, if last year’s Limited Series/TV movie winners are any indicator, the acting branch might prefer to pick their favorite limited series of the year and just check it off everywhere.

This race has a lot of parallels to the 2014 race when two costars of a major limited series (Billy Bob Thornton and Martin Freeman in Fargo) squared off against the lead of a major HBO film (Mark Ruffalo). In the end, the major upset of the night was from a fan favorite British import (Benedict Cumberbatch). This scenario could play out this year but the three British imports will likely cancel each other out in the end. Idris Elba is coming off a SAG win, and Benedict Cumberbatch is a previous winner. Judging from the overall representation, The Night Manager is probably the most popular amongst the actors this year.

The performance with zero traction this year seems to be the only Oscar winner in the group, Cuba Gooding Jr. Even if he doesn’t have a chance of winning, as the titular character of The People v. O.J. Simpson, there is a risk of him taking votes away from Vance, making it even easier for Cranston to his fifth performance Emmy. So far, Emmy voters in 2016 have proven that they have been paying attention to material and not rewarding people solely on name. Because of that, I am going to cling to Courtney B. Vance.

Current Ranking

Courtney B. Vance, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

Bryan Cranston, All the Way

Tom Hiddleston, The Night Manager

Idris Elba, Luther

Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: The Abominable Bride

Cuba Gooding Jr., The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

Making the Case: Netflix’s ‘Master of None’

In an on-going series, Joey Moser makes the Emmy case for Master of None to win the Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy. Over the next week, the writers of AwardsDaily TV will pour out their hearts and minds to try and convince Emmy voters to follow their expert opinions.

Netflix’s Master of None

Metacritic: 91
Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
Number of Nominations: 4
Nominations: Comedy Series, Lead Actor Comedy Series (Aziz Ansari), Writing (“Parents”), Direction (“Parents”)

When Netflix debuted the comedy Master of None last fall, it seemed that everyone had an idea of what the show might be. Comics have made the transition from big stages to the small screen before with varying success, and the episodes highlight Aziz Ansari’s ease on camera. Not only did Ansari co-create the show with Alan Yang, but the duo wrote all of the episodes in the first season. It’s a quietly ambitious series that recalls the joys of being young and living in New York City. It’s one of the best shows of last year, and it rightfully should be in serious contention for all 4 of the Emmys it’s nominated for.

The most striking thing about Master of None is that it’s not a straightforward comedy. Ansari and Yang could have made this show simpler by focusing on a group of thirtysomethings trying to make it in New York City. Ansari’s Dev is an easygoing actor who is always down for finding the best restaurants in the city. In the first episode, “Plan B,” he explores whether or not he would want to have children after the condom breaks during a late night rendezvous. Dev then spends some time with his friend’s kids and he realizes that the joys of parenthood is probably not something he wants to experience—at least not at this point in his life.

The second episode of the first season, “Parents,” really gives us an idea of what Ansari and Yang want to do with the show, and that’s when you tipped off that Master has an open ear and heart. Dev and his buddy Brian (played by Kelvin Yu), realize that their relationships with their parents aren’t as strong as they should be. The episode flashes back to highlight both fathers coming to America and starting their new lives in this country, and it allows for Ansari’s real-life parents to shine in their roles. It’s criminal that Shaukath Ansari wasn’t nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

The reason why Master of None works better than other similarly themed sitcoms is the thoughtfulness behind it. Dev can be a selfish guy (like when he badgers his girlfriend about keeping “his” apartment clean after she moves in), but he’s more open and considerate than a lot of leading men on television. It’s refreshing to see a male lead of a sitcom that’s not a total douche bag. It also helps that Ansari is a truly capable actor. He’s not self-conscious. He deserves votes just for screaming his head off in a coffee shop for a Skype audition for an alien action drama (“The Sickening…is happening!!!”).

Ansari stands a real chance of winning multiple awards at this year’s ceremony, and I say bring it on. “Parents” was submitted across the board, and it’s the strongest episode of the season. It’s already won the Critics’ Choice for Best Comedy Series (yes, I know that that doesn’t always translate to Emmy gold), and it should be noted that it’s the only nominee for Outstanding Comedy Series that’s nominated for its freshman season. Jeffrey Tambor took Leading Actor last year for Transparent, but his performance in season two was a lot quieter. Ansari’s Dev is lovable, funny, and kinetic. Giving him the trophy for Actor in a Comedy would definitely be an appropriate response to “Indians on TV,” a hilarious condemnation of white actors portraying people of color.

The competition for Outstanding Comedy Series is fierce this year, but Ansari and Yang’s show has the heart along with the laughs. The best, most memorable comedy manages to weave relatable material in with the jokes, and no one does that better in this lineup than Master of None.

AwardsDaily TV’s 1st Annual Predict the Emmys Contest

Emmy-winner Reg E. Cathey on Race, Politics, and ‘House of Cards’

Emmy-winner Reg E. Cathey talks about the career path that led to House of Cards

Not every actor can boast a career like Reg E. Cathey with a filmography including such works as House of Cards, The Wire, Oz, Tank Girl, and Se7en. On top of his performances in film and television, he has always made it a priority to work in classical theatre whenever he is given the opportunity. With a distinctive voice that rivals Morgan Freeman and a commanding, booming laugh that concludes each story, we talked about a range of subjects including his college roommate David Allen Grier, the “tyranny of the douchebag,” and that time he crashed on Joey Ramone’s couch over spring break. We lost track of time and ended up concluding our talk just as he was going into the homophobic history of “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and to my pleasure ended with Cathey singing the song to me himself.

Cathey on his first Emmy win

Every actor has a complicated relationship with winning awards, and they tell themselves they don’t matter. With Reg E. Cathey, it took the Television Academy so many years to recognize him that he was almost at a loss for words on what his first nomination and eventual win actually meant.

“I won an Obie award years ago [for Talk], but after years of struggle there is a point where others’ validation doesn’t matter,” Cathey said. “But winning was mind blowing. Man it was special.”

He was alone the first two times he was nominated, but the third time “was almost better in a weird way,” according to Cathey. The news of his first time found him surrounded by his peers when he received the good news.

“This year I found out while working on a production of The Merchant of Venice in Venice. It’s the 400th-year anniversary of Shakespeare,” Cathey said. “I was working on this show and the cast and crew were congratulating me. It was fabuous. Really an amazing journey I can’t put into words.”

Pulling out of an intense depression

For someone with as distinctive as a presence onscreen as Cathey, it might come as a surprise that there were times when he struggled to find work. He recalls a particularly powerful moment in his life when opportunities and doors seemed to close before him:

“When The Wire ended I thought, ‘FINALLY my career is going to take off.’ But then I didn’t work for two years. I was going through a hard time and my friend took me to see The Country Girl starring Morgan Freeman. After the show the doorman called Morgan and told him he had some visitors. Usually your heroes disappoint you, but he treated us like gods. My friend and I are were going to go out for drinks afterwards and, while walking down the street, another doorman invited us to see Laurence [Fishburne] in Thurgood Marshall. Afterwards Laurence invited us to drinks, and we stayed up until five talking about theatre, film, art. Talking about art really inspired me to get out of depression. It all came from love. Three months later, I was cast in The Shawshank Redemption over in the West End. It all came from love and I learned to tell myself ‘don’t feel bad, things are gonna change.’ That’s what I thought about when I won. ”

His move to NY, love For classical theatre, and The Wire

From the moment he bellowed out “Living in LA were the worst ten fucking years of my existence on this goddamn planet,” I knew his story would be one to which any artist could easily relate:

“When I moved to New York, I did voice work to make a living and only did classical theatre. I worked in Dante’s Inferno for a year. Then was the Scottish play. Next Taming of the Shrew with Allison Janney. I got a call from my friend about wanting me to try out for this show on HBO. I tried to tell him I didn’t want to play a drug dealer, but he interrupted me and said ‘Man shut up! I’m trying to get you money.’ Making a living off of theatre in NYC was hard but kids today have it even harder. Not only was the wolf at my door, but he had his toothbrush. You know… but when it was good it was great. Those were the best years of my career.”

He spent the second half of the 70’s in college at the University of Michigan, and his time in college often felt too good to believe. Even though he insists he can’t sing, he let it slip that he spent a term performing in West Side Story with none other than Madonna (he was a Jet and she was a dancer). He also had plenty of stories to share of his roommate, David Allen Grier.

“In college my roommate David and I went to New York for spring break when everyone else was going to Florida. We crashed on Joey Ramone’s couch. Wild times man. That was the 70s brother,” Cathey said.

His first time On TV

Reg E. Cathey’s prolific career has given him the opportunity to work on a range of films from The Mask to American Psycho and even Pootie Tang. Thirty-five years into his career, he still vividly remembers his first television role.

“My first job on television was Square One TV, a show about math. It had sketches like SNL,” Cathey said.

However, as vividly as he remembers his time on the childrens’ show, he also remembers its disappointing cancellation. Cathey cites the then Secretary of Education, William Bennett, as the chief reason the series was cancelled.

“He said learning shouldn’t be fun,” Cathey said.

“There’s two types of people in the world; cool people and assholes. But the cool people will prevail because they have a secret weapon: faith, hope, and love. With that they’ll defeat the tyranny of the douchebag.” Reg E. Cathey (House of Cards)

Enter House of Cards

As soon as we began talking about his work on House of Cards, Cathey immediately started to reminisce over his scenes with Kevin Spacey.

“When it was just the two of us [Kevin Spacey], it was the easiest job I ever had,” Cathey laughed. “We would do our stuff and laugh, and I would go home every night thinking that this is the best job ever.”

From the very beginning the entire creative team plotted the exact nature of the relationship between Freddy and Frank. In fact, he had no hesitation calling their friendship genuine and not as one-sided as one might think.

“Most definitely they were friends. They loved each other. That relationship was fraught with what America is fraught with: race, white supremacy, self-loathing. It’s all in there,” Cathey said. “It’s funny because it’s something that was thought about in the show but it had to be delicate. It needed to be treated personally and not with metaphors. What part of the Black community does Freddy represent? What part of White Supremacy does Frank represent? What do they reflect without knowing it?”

Freddy’s final scene

Without any definitive answers on whether or not this is the end of Freddy’s arc on House of Cards, we began discussing his big scene of the season. Cathey said he was never 100 percent certain at the end of any given year whether or not he would be returning the next. This year, the difference is that his Season 4 arc felt more conclusive than ever before. After yelling at Frank, we see Freddy beating up on a reporter trying to get information on the President.

After stepping on the recorder he declares, “I don’t snitch! Not to cops. Not to reporters. Not to anybody. Leave me the fuck alone!” and then turns his back and walks down the alley.

“What’s fabulous about that final scene is that because he’s walking away you don’t really know how he feels. That’s the beauty of it,” Cathey said. “Does he really mean what he says? You don’t know if his heart was broken. I have my own personal thoughts but I’m not going to share them.”

House of Cards and our current political climate

The first correlation Cathey made between House of Cards and our own world was a reference to Season 3.

“The scene that stands out for me is Freddy telling his grandson he’ll never be President while audiences currently have a Black president. What is he really saying? What is a way for an uneducated Black man to tell his son to dream without fantasy,” Cathey said.

Watching the scheming politics of House of Cards is almost impossible without thinking of the current American political climate. In fact, the Season 4 similarities were so strong that the show had a major contested convention storyline as we geared up for the possibility of two contested conventions. In terms of our current political racial divide, Cathey had an interesting take.

“I’ve always thought there is mental illness running through our society. It stems from white supremacy,” Cathey said. “Everything is heartbreakingly slow. It’s a mental illness we all suffer from and our current situation is just the latest installment of race in America.”

Of course he has some confidence that eventually everything will end up ok (and goes without saying that he doesn’t believe Trump will be elected). “There’s two types of people in the world; cool people and assholes. But the cool people will prevail because they have a secret weapon: faith, hope, and love. With that they’ll defeat the tyranny of the douchebag.” And the second he ends with douchebag he erupts into his deep boisterous laugh.

As our conversation on race relations began to trail off, he began to recall his childhood, primarily in the American South as well as Germany.

“Growing up my family moved around a lot because of my father being in the military. Well my mom, she had us write book reports on Black history every Saturday. We hated it. We called it mom school,” Cathey said. “The reason she did it was because she didn’t want us to lose our education of who we were. Were never allowed to say ‘They never taught us that in school.’ Years later after she passed away I found a big box where she had saved every report. They were scrawled with notes and corrections.”

The role he still wants to play

For an accomplished stage actor, Reg E. Cathey had an immediate answer for whom he was dying to play.

“Faltstaff. Falstaff. Falstaff! I’ve done him before at the California Shakespeare Company in San Francisco but I want to play him again,” Cathey said.

With such a roaring presence, Reg E. Cathey should have no problem standing out to Emmy voters again.

You can find all four seasons Reg E. Cathey’s performance on House of Cards on Netflix.

‘AHS’ Architect Mark Worthington on His Brilliant Hotel Cortez

Emmy-nominated production designer Mark Worthington’s American Horror Story swan song is an art deco nightmare dream come true.

American Horror Story: Hotel‘s Hotel Cortez as realized by Emmy-nominated production designer Mark Worthington is more than just an art deco fantasia.

It’s a physical manifestation of the many moods, periods, and ghosts within its walls. It’s also something of a human Roach Motel: people check in, but they don’t check out. Relatively hidden within the splendor, though, is an elaborate nod to the hotel’s Spanish namesake, the conquistador Hernán Cortés. He makes an appearance in the hotel’s elevator on an ironwork design of Cortés’s arrival in the New World. A sun rises and sets behind his head, depending on your vantage point. Brilliant gold rays emit from the sun and stream across the lobby, later transforming into moonbeams. Over a glass bar, the moonbeams resolve into a moon over the head of La Malinche, Cortés South American native translator and consort.

None of that detail appeared in the script. Those choices represent the contributions of Mark Worthington’s Emmy-worthy design. And it’s an entirely bad ass design choice.

“My time on American Horror Story has provided me with literally what would otherwise be a career’s worth of production design. Many people are not fortunate enough to not have that level of variety within their whole career, much less inside of one show,” Worthington said. “It is unusual and very exciting to work on a show like that for that reason alone… There’s a DNA to the show that I think is very demonstrable and recognizable. You go from doing an old, beautiful haunted house in L.A. then to this 1960s mental asylum then to New Orleans in the Garden district in an Antebellum mansion to a circus.”

A bloody great career in Ryan Murphy’s Horror

Ironically, Mark Worthington wasn’t the first American Horror Story production designer.

Oscar-nominee Beth Rubino (The Cider House Rules, American Gangster) provided the original design for the famed Season 1’s Murder House, but scheduling conflicts prevented Rubino’s further involvement in the series. At the same time, Worthington’s continuing work on the Once Upon a Time pilot proved challenging given Vancouver’s higher cost of living expenses.

Enter Ryan Murphy.

After a brief audition process, Murphy and Worthington immediately gravitated toward each other. Worthington appreciates Murphy’s creative process, starting without a script but with very strong kernels of the story and character notions. Over time, Murphy and Worthington worked together to hone those ideas through research, sketches, and lots of conversation.

“He has a kind of notion of central space, a central visual idea. Usually, it’s in the form of a space or a building,” Worthington said. “So you’re starting with that iconic anchor to the whole thing. He sees those sets as characters themselves, but you’re starting with that strength of an idea and passion for it.”

Worthington also admired Murphy’s autonomy over the final product. Studio heads didn’t bring notes or helpful suggestions for the series’s direction. It was just Ryan and Mark, working out the look and feel of the horror.

“In every other show I’ve ever done, there were ‘tone meetings’ where you show things to the executives. I’ve never had to do that on Horror Story… The creative center of the show is where it should be. There’s no meddling,” Worthington said.

Mark Worthington — (Photo: Ellen J. Brill/FX)

Designing the Hotel Cortez

The primary design concept for the Hotel Cortez is deeply rooted in art deco. Worthington absorbed as much art deco inspiration as he could, looking to examples from San Francisco to France to the Chrysler Building to the Empire State Building. Art deco thematically heralds scientific progress, modernity, and opulence. Its sharp angles and cold resonance feel perfectly suited for Hotel‘s ghastly, tormented inhabitants.

But the Hotel Cortez ultimately becomes more than its infamous and extravagant lobby. Each space of the hotel personifies the characters that inhabit it.

Take the hotel’s fictitious architect, Mr. March (Evan Peters). His space combines what Worthington calls a “fussy, meticulous” aesthetic with his more hardcore, steely, and torturous side. It’s a combination that echoes the popular Steampunk design movement. Those design elements wildly differ from those that represent Hypodermic Sally (Emmy-nominee Sarah Paulson), a “great, sprawling mess” of a character according to Worthington. Her design elements offered a softer touch to convey the broad, eclectic sense of her character.

“There were touches of Stevie Nicks in her character. Not obvious, deliberate ones,” Worthington said. “But it’s the music that she might listen to, the cultural, or pop influences she might have listened to when she died.”

Worthington also works directly with actors to develop the space in which they create their performance. One design goal, among many, is to take feedback and try and incorporate the interpretations of their characters into the design. He doesn’t shut himself off from inspiration whether from actors or real-world examples of art.

“The ideas can come from anywhere. The idea is to be open when they do arrive, so you’re not precluding things based on your own biases,” Worthington said.

Lucky number seven?

American Horror Story: Hotel marks Mark Worthington’s seventh Emmy nomination. ABC’s Ugly Betty account for two and the rest hail from the AHS series. Shockingly, he has yet to win for his memorable designs. Not for the haunting and cavernous interiors of Asylum. Not for the brilliant Antebellum designs of Coven. Perhaps Hotel‘s exciting opulence will be lucky number seven.

“This one was very special because of the reaction. People were so bowled over by it, especially when they came to see it in person,” Worthington said. “I try to create 360 degree environments as much as possible. I want the actors to feel when they walk on a set that they’re in a space that’s complete. You feel in a way that you’re helping them do their job in creating the character. That set, you really did feel like you’re in an actual hotel.”

Aside from potential Emmy glory, Worthington is now working on CBS’s upcoming Star Trek: Discovery. He ceded production design duties on American Horror Story‘s sixth season in search of something different. Chances are, it’ll be a while yet before Murphy’s horror anthology series hits deep space.

Until then, Worthington has a date at L.A. LIVE’s Microsoft Theater for the Creative Arts Emmy Awards. He’s been there before, but the experience never gets old. The competition, though, remains incredibly stiff. Much like the above-the-line acting and series categories, the crafts categories are filled with the best examples of what television offers today. Worthington’s Hotel designs will compete against those from House of Cards, Penny Dreadful, The Man in the High Castle, and a little plucky Emmy upstart.

“We’re up against Game of Thrones, and we all know what the outcome’s going to be there,” Worthington laughs.

Maybe, but does Game of Thrones have venus flytraps? Did I mention that the columns in the Cortez’s lobby are topped with venus flytraps?

Mark Worthington’s fantastic little design Easter egg is worth an Emmy all on its own.

Making The Case For ‘Mr. Robot’

In the first of an on-going series, Robin Write makes the Emmy case for Mr. Robot to win the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy. Over the next week and a half, the writers of AwardsDaily TV will pour out their hearts and minds to try and convince Emmy voters to follow their expert opinions.

USA Network’s Mr. Robot

Metacritic: 79
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
Number of Nominations: 6
Nominations: Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor Drama Series (Rami Malek), Outstanding Writing (“eps1.0_hellofriend.mov (Pilot)”), Outstanding Music Composition, Outstanding Casting, Outstanding Sound Mixing

It may well be full on corporate drama, but Mad Men this is not. It’s eerie and dark, but it’s not Twin Peaks either. It’s a psychological thriller, sure, but it’s nothing like Hannibal. TV is a continually revitalizing medium. In fact, this is especially true in relation to how the quality is easily out-weighing that of film. We long for what we like, but we also want evolution. We want originality. We want to be knocked out of our socks. We don’t always get what we want, sure, but every now and then something comes close to fitting the bill. Dark drama. Psychological thriller. Whatever your tastes, TV finds a way. Sam Esmail’s creation Mr. Robot can be categorized as the above, but the 10-parter is much more than that. Bringing computer hacking and national security to the forefront as well as the mental, human torments that come with such a relevant, in-our-face source of communication, USA’s Mr. Robot challenges our own paranoia and fears of the modern world.

At the core of the techno-noir-TV-business-trip is a multi-layered narrative thrill-ride, both visually and mentally exhausting. And this is nothing if not a plus point. Mr. Robot has plenty of strong, refreshing ideas not just brewing at the surface but over-flowing through the bloodstream. The mind boggles at times as we get lost in online security and the world of computer hot-wiring, a dark world it seems. But there is a real panache about the whole delivery as characters are dropped to the corners of the frames, emphasizing the atmospheric isolation. It’s pretty cinematic in scope too, a sprinkle of Kubrick at times. Director Niels Arden Oplev, who aptly made the Swedish The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo imprints some real David-Fincher-esque tones on proceedings. Composer Mac Quayle, too, gives off a whiff of the Trent Reznor / Atticus Ross collaboration.

Dug out of a mundane yet well-suited job and swept into a new world of potential anarchy a la Neo in The Matrix (only briefly), young computer whiz Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek) falls into the F-Society crowd. F-Society is a bunch of underground hackers apparently lead by the title character deftly played by Christian Slater. His big plan is to banish all debts by launching a cyber attack on the super-corporation E Corp. Cautious, Elliot treads the water carefully but still clearly wants to splash around here, danger or not. In fact the hacking makes him something of a savior as we are introduced to him (uncover child pornography hoarder or discovering another man’s infidelity) but also proves a source of immense trouble. Elliot’s early dilemma is whether to cave to peer pressure and the buzz of the score. I mean, this is what drives Elliot. This is why they chose him, right? His own self-medicated social anxiety and depression don’t make things easier. Fight or flight.

Elsewhere, the slime-ball-come-murderer Tyrell Wellick is a Senior VP at E Corp, doing whatever he can to upgrade his career status. When at home we get to share the extraordinary relationship he has with his pregnant wife, they appear to speak to each other in Danish, and she does not bat an eyelid to his chaotic behavior. Elliot’s real-world allies include his work colleague and friend from childhood Angela (Portia Doubleday) whose own storyline steps into the sympathetic. And then there is his therapist Dr. Gordon (Gloria Reuben). Elliot taps into their lives too through the electronic world, though he will play the protection card much stronger than the ethical one here. Fearless Darlene (Carly Chaikin), one of Mr. Robot’s more prominent hackers, seems to be on the very edge of bother, actually has an incredible loyalty and determination.

In the midst of some truly excellent and very different performances, this is Malek’s game. An actor we no doubt recognized at first (Short Term 12 here), he relishes the big lead role, taking center stage with those big eyes on that sullen face. He never appears to be moping about or dragging his feet. There is still something warm in his gravelly, subdued voice-over. We hear near-enough every thought in his head, building an instant intrigue and impact.

Subconsciously, too, you have your own moments of doubting what Elliot presents us with to be possibly imagined, or at least to what extent. The hoodie implies more the natural concealment Elliot craves than the mere appearance of a street thug. And just when you might mistake him for a whiny super-nerd with a drug problem in the first episode, he sinks to the floor in tears, curling up into a ball. His loneliness is a sucker punch to your own heart and credit goes to Malek for making this wide-earned sociopath a sympathetic character, a kind of anti-hero. Or someone we route for regardless of impulses or integrity.

Claims that the show’s title might mislead viewers into thinking this is about, well, robots, could be a claim for idiocy too, especially if you have seen the trailers, the posters, the word of mouth, opened your eyes, and your mind. Like walking into an advanced I.T. course, it appears complicated and daunting. You could well get lost. But you want to learn. The anticipation is too much. There is still that longing to be on the right track. The show is executed so well. There is no need for a niche or routine to follow. Your attention is held up high enough throughout, given the acting on display, the stirring music (some outstanding songs), the direction, the writing. And although perhaps we crave a detailed or logical explanation from time to time, it is not like we are being cheated here. I was perfectly happy to get swept up in all the technical drama without being distracted by an overuse of computer jargon.

Mr. Robot‘s paltry six nominations at the Emmys might well signify the lack of favorite status (Golden Globe winner Slater was not even honored), but the nods for Writing, Music, Sound Editing, and Casting are justified, and it could well swoop a couple here. Given the shortlist in the Drama Series category, too, Mr. Robot still remains a contender. Lead Actor nominee Malek, without over-analyzing the other actors in the list, must be a real front-runner. Although Emmy voters are creatures of comfort and like what they know, the breakthrough appeal of Malek, representing this brave new show (already hurtling through Season 2 as we speak), on top of what is an obsessive-compulsive, adventurous, emotive turn of alienation and anxiety from the young actor could force him to the front of the queue. That, or the fact his character’s pet goldfish is named Qwerty. Or greater still, get Emmy voters to re-watch episode six, the best of a very good bunch, as Malek shows us a depth of skill, playing Elliot with a fearless swagger, subtle urgency, and then question in that mesmeric, heat-rending final sequence whether or not he loved Shayla.