Animal Kingdom, TNT’s take on the 2010 Australian drama, is a sunny, twisted delight.
A lot of people aren’t going to like TNT’s Animal Kingdom for the exact reasons I really responded to it. Granted, I have never seen the original 2010 Australian film of the same name which inspired the new TNT series, so maybe that impacted my reactions. Those looking to this Animal Kingdom to be a plot-driven action drama need to modulate their reactions. The finished product, based on the three episodes I’ve seen, is a classic character drama, allowing time for interpersonal relationships to build in unexpected and intriguing ways before a presumed blow-out first season finale.
We know something’s off with the Cody family from the first scene as J (Josh, played by Peaky Blinders‘ Finn Cole) passively watches Press Your Luck as paramedics attend to his overdosed mother. When she dies, J reaches out to his grandmother Janine “Smurf” Cody (Ellen Barkin) for help, and he moves in with her. After meeting his uncles, J is quickly educated on the criminal pastimes of the Cody family, managed by Smurf and largely orchestrated by the adopted Baz (Felicity‘s Scott Speedman).
Directed by John Wells (Southland, August: Osage County), the 2-hour pilot offers a handful of heist sequences admist the delicate character building. This is a tight-knit family, and the series seems to be more concerned with exploring the twisted family dynamics than in intricate plotting, which is completely fine with me. Don’t judge, but I was also intrigued by the weirdly sexual under(over?)tones that run through the series in unexpected, vaguely incestuous, ways. Because of that, Animal Kingdom isn’t really like anything else on TV right now.
Ellen Barkin is the main draw here as Smurf, and she turns in a quirky, fun performance. Hers is the kind of character that wears a dead daughter’s blouse to her funeral and asks her grandson how she looks in it. It’s a fantastically, wildly over the top characterization that appeals to me immensely as a viewer. Also standing out in the cast are the aforementioned Cole and Speedman, two of our entry points into the proceedings. More unexpected, unpredictable, and potentially unhinged (we’ll see about the latter, I suspect) is Shawn Hatosy (Fear the Walking Dead, Southland) as Pope, Smurf’s oldest son who feels left behind thanks to “taking one for the team,” i.e. a prison stint. Hatosy’s performance is a delicate high-wire act, balancing the inherent unpredictability of the character with the need to maintain at least a toe grounded in reality. You may come to the series for Barkin, but you’ll stay for Hatosy.
Overall, Animal Kingdom makes for the perfect summer series. Its sun-drenched SoCal locations are beautifully photographed and provide ample eye candy. What’s most interesting to me is that the breezy SoCal atmosphere is juxtaposed against this dark and twisted pack of lions. Let’s see how it continues to unfold, but for now, I’m all-in on this Animal Kingdom.
Episode 80: Television Academy members have their Emmy ballot. The Water Cooler Podcast gang puts forth their own nominees in the major categories.
This week at the Water Cooler, Joey, Megan, and Clarence each pull out their Emmy ballot and cast their votes as to who they think should be nominated when the 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Award nominations are announced July 14. How much overlap will their be? Was it difficult to fill the slots? Were any of your favorites included in their picks?
Before that, we’ll talk briefly about Sunday night’s Tony Awards ceremony, or the “Hamiltonies.” As always, we close with our TV Flash Forward.
On Friday, June 17, Amazon will unveil their latest crop of television pilots. As with last year, we’ll be covering the new crop of pilots on our June 27 podcast. Make sure you clear your calendar to join in the discussion as we slice and dice our way through them.
Until then, ENJOY!
05:32 – Tony Awards
11:25 – If We Had an Emmy Ballot
54:44 – Flash Forward
ADTV talks to The Leftovers season two star Regina King on acclaimed series and on working with co-star Carrie Coon
The Leftovers‘ critically acclaimed second season saw a shift in setting to Jarden, Texas, a town unaffected by the Sudden Departure. As part of this dynamic new season two of the HBO series, audiences are introduced to the Murphys. The mother, Erika, is played by the brilliant Regina King who, with that recent Emmy win for American Crime, is having a wild ride of success at the moment on American television. I spoke to her about both shows but could not resist digging up the excellent work in Jerry Maguire too.
Damon and Tom Perrotta came up with the idea. What if we have this other family we introduce? What that would be like in our world. There are other families living and doing things the same time as other families in the world. A way of telling that story and what happens when these lives intercept. They had to almost start with a different story, and allow these families to collide, or whichever way you interpret it when you watch it. You almost didn’t miss the Garveys.
AwardsDaily TV: So to warm things up, American TV or any TV in general then. What are you watching at the moment? Or what are you trying to watch?
Regina King: I’m catching up on things. I just finished the final season of Getting On, which I love. That is what I watched last night after the basketball game.
ADTV: You’ve been in the business since 1985’s 227, but your first Emmy nomination and win was last year’s American Crime. Congratulations on that.
RK: Thank you very much.
ADTV: What was that whole Emmy experience like for you? Being a contender.
RK: Well, it was great. I am so proud of the work we did on American Crime. So excited it received that many nominations, and it was nice to bring us one home. I think it was a special year with Viola and Uzo winning. The moment was great on it’s own, but there were so many things that made it shine even brighter. With Taraji (P. Henson) presenting the award to me, we are so tight, and we have known each other for so long and been through so many things together. Not just in the industry, but outside of it. To have my sister give me that made it even more emotional.
Photo courtesy of Van Redin/HBO
ADTV: It was a great show last year. Did that Emmy win open any more new doors for you? Closed any doors?
RK: [Laughter] No, it’s definitely not closed any doors. I don’t know if it has opened any doors. I have been working for thirty years. I’ve developed a lot of great relationships along the way that have opened doors along the way. When I see my name written in something, it has changed the way it is written. Now it’s “award winning actress,” rather than whatever other adjective they use. I will say this, I like “Emmy Award-winning actress” better than “veteran actress.” [Laughter]
ADTV: Absolutely. American Crime offers nightmarish scenarios for parents between school and social media bullying as well as school violence. Did you ever experience any of those issues as your son was growing up?
RK: We did actually. Not so much with the bullying but with the phones and pictures on phones. We have definitely experienced that. You know, like that picture has to be removed from your phone. As really sensitive and emotional of an arc this season was on American Crime, it was much more acceptable in season one. There’s parents with younger kids, and it is a kind of wake-up call.
ADTV: How much can you say about the next iteration of American Crime? Will you be a part of it?
RK: I can’t say anything. Sometimes I get terrible because I don’t know what to say. Especially The Leftovers, it is shrouded in so much mystery. So I have nothing for you on season three, other than I will be part of it.
ADTV: So you’ve got an impressive body of work, with the likes of Southland recently, the current two shows. You were also in 24, obviously you did Ray. But for me, and I don’t know if this is common, but my favorite Regina King performance ever is Marcee in Jerry Maguire. Amazing.
RK: That’s a lot of people’s favorite I think.
ADTV: Yeah you were brilliant in it, very funny.
RK: Oh thank you very much.
ADTV: What do you remember about working on that terrific movie? And that particular time.
RK: I remember that I was actually pregnant when I went to audition for Jerry Maguire. So they got the opportunity to see me, as Regina, and how she dressed as a pregnant woman. I wore athletic things. I never bought maternity clothes. I had my leggings underneath my belly. [Laughter] So they thought that was kind of cool, and that was the template for Marcee. And they shot her in mostly athletic gear. And with her husband being a football player she probably had access to a lot of athletic gear. Reebok was kind of like the sponsor. And the producers wanted her to be more glamorous and put together, which a lot of wives of athletes are. So we had to go back and re-shoot those scenes. Hair and make-up and I decided like why don’t we change her wigs all the time – what if she is that lady? That’s how came up in every scene she had different hair.
ADTV: Now, you and Cuba Gooding Jr could actually be reunited as you both could well be going to the Emmys. You are both in shows that could be nominated.
RK: Right, wouldn’t that be something? And both for shows that are almost the same title.
ADTV: Yeah, there’s a lot of “American” dot dot dot shows around.
RK: A lot of American. The Americans, American Crime Story, American Crime. But I guess The Americans was the first one out of the gate. Yeah, I would love to be reunited with Cuba in front of the camera. I think we have a great chemistry. That is something the audiences wold be interested in seeing, they loved the Tidwells in Jerry Maguire. It would be interesting to see what other characters we could explore. That is one of the things on my wishlist.
ADTV: What with The People v. O.J. Simpson, Fargo, Roots, War and Peace, American Horror Story: Hotel, the list goes on and on, that limited drama category is a volcanic mix. Don’t you think the excellent competition here is indicative of the high quality of TV right now and in recent years in America? And has almost taken over cinema.
RK: Absolutely. Not almost, it has taken over. To be quite frank there is not a lot to choose from in the theatrical films that are interesting. If they are not really embracing art as part of culture, then those are not acceptable. If you are not in L.A. or Austin or New York, those type of cities, people don’t know anything about, say, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. They have never heard of that. On the other side with TV almost everyone has cable, and when TV is cranking out well made material, all you have to do is pay your cable bill. You don’t have people going to the theatre as much. Cable has kind of changed the template that network TV is starting to develop. You have all these shows that have eight, ten, twelve episodes can tell a really concentrated story like a 10-hour movie. Audiences appreciate that, really great story-telling throughout.
Phot courtesy of ABC/Ryan Green
ADTV: Now, when I started watching season two of The Leftovers, the introduction of the Murphy’s straight off the bat was a bit of a curve-ball for audiences. Where was the other cast? Turned out the Murphys were super-critical to the plot this time around, and the show’s new dynamic. What is your take on Erika Murphy? What was her part in the show’s evolution?
RK: Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta came up with the idea. What if we have this other family we introduce? What that would be like in our world. There are other families living and doing things the same time as other families in the world. A way of telling that story and what happens when these lives intercept. They had to almost start with a different story, and allow these families to collide, or whichever way you interpret it when you watch it. You almost didn’t miss the Garveys.
ADTV: Yeah it was a brave move, but it definitely worked.
RK: I am glad it did. I don’t feel that we, the actors that played the Murphys, all looked at it that way.
ADTV: Do you know where The Leftovers season three is headed? I know you maybe don’t know. Are you involved?
RK: I can say with The Leftovers I don’t know. I didn’t know were season two was headed while I was shooting it. [Laughs]
ADTV: I spoke to Carrie Coon about that great scene with just you two, and compared it to that big scene in Heat with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.
RK: Oh wow.
ADTV: When you watch it and Carrie walks out, you almost have to pause. It was a great scene.
RK: Thank you, thank you. I was really excited about doing a scene with her. After season one I really wanted to do something with Carrie Coon, and got the opportunity to do it. As an actor it was so much fun, like two athletes in a championship game.
ADTV: Yeah, it was like a chess game.
RK: Yeah, chess game, tennis match, it was eight pages of she and I. As an actor the more giving you are the better the other actor is. To be able to have that type of scene with an actor who is giving, it was so much fun. In between takes we were cracking jokes. It was pretty awesome, and I would love to work with her again.
ADTV: Actually she said the same thing, and we had a joke about why don’t you do a buddy cop show. That would work I think.
RK: With Carrie and I, I would do whatever we could do together. She is so witty, and I could pay straight really well, so that could work together. Something really dark, we would embrace that either way the project went on the spectrum. We would both love it and just dive in head first.
ADTV: Then we have found your next project.
RK: Yeah. [Laughs]
ADTV: Okay, so between the two seasons of American Crime and The Leftovers, you’re getting the opportunity to play some dramatically diverse roles. What’s next for you? How do you top that lineup?
RK: You know, it is kind of tough. The bar is set so high after working with Damon and Tom. Their writing is definitely in that valedictorian category. They are just at the top of their class. And that energy trickled down to everyone else that was part of the production. I just am going to breathe and continue to spiral to the next great thing.
ADTV: Thank you for talking to us, good luck with Emmys, future projects, and all forms of recognition.
RK: What time is it were you are?
ADTV: About 6pm.
RK: Thank you for taking the time before you have dinner.
ADTV: No worries, I am going to go home and watch Jerry Maguire now. [Laughter]
HBO has renewed The Leftovers for a third and final season of eight episodes which began principal shooting in May 2016.
Animal Kingdom‘s Shawn Hatosy talks to ADTV about what makes his character tick and what it’s like working again with director John Wells.
Critics’ Choice-nominated actor Shawn Hatosy (Southland) returns to television Tuesday night in TNT’s dark and wonderfully twisted new drama Animal Kingdom. Inspired by the 2010 film of the same name, Animal Kingdom tells the story of the Cody family, a criminal family run by ruthless matriarch Smurf (Ellen Barkin), as they negotiate the risks of engaging in criminal activity and the perils of their insular, animalistic family dynamics.
Shawn Hatosy plays Pope, Smurf’s recently released from prison son who has to determine a new place for himself now that his adopted brother Baz (Shawn Speedman) has ascended in the family ranks. As Hatosy describes him, Pope Cody could be either a school teacher or a serial killer. It’s this brilliant tightrope act in Hatosy’s performance that is already garnering raves from preview screenings and could be a source of Emmy contention this time next year.
I recently talked to Shawn Hatosy about what it’s like playing such an unpredictable character and how director John Wells, with whom Hatosy has worked multiple times in the past, helped Hatosy and the rest of the talented cast navigate the impact of Pope Cody.
Photo courtesy of Pinnacle PR.AwardsDaily TV: Shawn Hatosy, we last saw you in Fear the Walking Dead where your character, Cpl. Andrew Adams, was left for dead. Is there a return to the series in the cards for you?
Shawn Hatosy: Well, I think he’s a zombie, [Laughs] but I don’t know. Nobody told me anything. In fact, I remember when that offer was presented to me they said, “Yeah, this is going to be three episodes, and Adams is going to die in the finale.” That show is very secretive with their scripts, so I think we got the draft the day before we were shooting. I got to that part of the script, and I was like, “Wait a minute, he just beat him up. I don’t know if he’s dead or not!” So, I have no idea. Nobody’s mentioned it to me. I’m just assuming he’s a zombie somewhere.
ADTV: I’m looking at the press cast photos for Animal Kingdom, and the main cast is glowering at the camera. It’s quite an intense bunch of actors. Was there any “glower-offs” or competitions to see who could have the most threatening look?
SH: I think they’re just all trying to be like Pope because Pope’s just naturally… that’s just the way I look when I try to [Laughs] take a picture. Pope is king of that dead stare… It’s just a blank, glossed over, shark-eye look. That’s what I was going for when I took the pictures.
Photo courtesy of TNT.ADTV: That’s interesting. I totally picked up on that. You don’t seem to be looking at people as much as studying them. Is that intentional?
SH: Well, his relationships are all complicated, and so I think it’s likely a consequence of how he was raised and his very sheltered relationship with Smurf [Ellen Barkin, his mother on the show]. He has a history of these mental issues, and he’s been managed and he knows it. Also, he’s right out of prison when we meet him in our narrative and he has not been taking the medication that he needs, and we kind of go into that a little bit in the subsequent episodes. It’s unnerving nonetheless.
ADTV: As you mentioned, Pope has just been paroled in the beginning of the series, but he doesn’t say much about the experience. Is this something the show will be exploring further?
SH: We talk about it a bit and delve into that. Of course, the motivating plot point there is that Baz [Scott Speedman] is somewhat responsible for Pope taking the fall, and it also explores Pope’s loyalty to the family because, you know, he kept his mouth shut and he served the time and was quiet. So, there’s that. There’s also that bit of guilt that Baz feels when Pope comes home. It complicates the wires a little bit, twists them up, and adds another level of tension for the family.
ADTV: Absolutely, and it’s a very interesting family. In the pilot, there is zero emotional acknowledgement of Josh’s [Finn Cole] mother’s death, and the remainder of the family is similarly emotionally detached. What’s going on with these people?
SH: Well, we all take our cues from Smurf, and as this story unfolds… well, you see a little bit of it in the pilot… It becomes apparent that Smurf’s relationship with Josh’s mom, Julia, was not the best. We’re kind of walking on egg shells a little bit because we know Smurf hated her, so we just don’t want to upset that… no one wants to upset her. I think, as the story unfolds, you see that there is a very complicated history with Pope, Julia, and Baz which we really do explore. Smurf has to present to Josh that she cares about Julia to the best that she can, and it comes off very cold. We all know what’s really going on there.
ADTV: In the pilot, one of the most intense scenes happens when Pope watches Josh’s girlfriend as she sleeps, then carries her to the bedroom and lays her down on his bed. You’re really uncertain of what his next move was going to be. What’s going on in his mind as this scene unfolds?
SH: That’s one of my favorite scenes of the series… we’re on episode 10 now… because it just shows so much about this show, I think. It kind of captures the essence of it because there’s no dialogue. It’s just this action. It’s unnerving. It’s uncomfortable, and you’re right, you don’t know what he’s going to do. I mean, some people view that scene completely differently. Lynn, our wardrobe designer, she’s like, “What do you mean, he was going to rape her. That’s what he was going to do!” And then some other people were like, “Well, no, maybe he was just caring for her because she looked uncomfortable.” I really like that kind of ambiguous notion. But, for me, Pope is as unpredictable as they get. As the series unfolds, he is loyal and that is in regards to the family. He would do anything for them, anything that he’s asked to do for them, including going to jail. I also think that, if I’m doing my job right, you’ll see that there’s more to it than just this darkness. The history and the trauma, I think it will lend itself to the viewers to see him in a little bit more of a sympathetic way. I know it sounds crazy [Laughs], but I think that’s true of Pope.
Photo courtesy of TNT.ADTV: Pope has this incredible pent-up aggression – there’s mental illness there too – that barely simmers below the surface. Where do you think this comes from?
SH: I think it is just the way that Smurf has controlled them and her hold on them. If you look at Baz in being a childhood friend of Pope’s who she took in and adopted and now Baz is Pope’s brother… He’s also in the hierarchy kind of climbed the ladder and now he’s captain of the team. So, that is a major hangup for Pope, and I think that’s sort of responsible for that anger and aggression, and, as I see it, you’re stronger in packs within the family, so a new mouth to feed [Josh] has come in and you want him on your side. And also, you have to keep him close because we’re trying to determine whether or not he’s somebody that we can trust. So, I think there’s a little bit of competition between all of us to see how the teams are going to line up.
ADTV: So, as an actor, did you use any particular tricks to get yourself in such an aggressive state?
SH: Well, I don’t see it as aggression. He is, by nature, because of this family – they’re animals – but there’s that kind of aggression. I think Pope for the most part doesn’t really allow himself to get to that point. I wouldn’t call him a hot head or anything like that. That is one thing that John Wells [director of the first two episodes and producer of the series] was really cool about helping me with just always letting the cast know… you just never really know when Pope is going to go off… It helps me as an actor seeing people react to me in character, and I think, in the way that he looks at people too as we were talking about before, it doesn’t feel good to him to be managed. And then you’re introducing Josh / Jay into it…
ADTV: Talk about the relationship between Pope and Jay. It looks like a constant fraternity hazing on the surface, but there’s just something deeper there between the two of them.
SH: Yeah, we sort of delved into the whole history of Jay’s mom and Smurf. This history is revealed, and it is a fact that Pope was a lot closer to Julia than it seems at first, and he was actually pretty devastated when she left the Cody house. So, there’s that connection. In the pilot, he tells Jay that “Your mom and I shared the same room.”
ADTV: Yeah, there’s that line where [Pope] says, “Your mom was afraid of thunderstorms,” and it’s kind of nice… but it’s also kind of menacing and creepy at the same time.
SH: [Laughs] Yeah, that’s by design. That’s my favorite thing about Pope. There’s almost this sparkle about everything he says that could be interpreted as a serial killer or a very kind preschool teacher. It’s very fun to play and to carve out those dimensions.
Photo courtesy of TNT.ADTV: I can see that. Is this one of the biggest acting challenges you’ve had? To play the two sides of that coin between the serial killer and the school teacher?
SH: It is a challenge because, you know, he is so unpredictable. As an actor, what we strive for is consistency in the character. Well, the character is so wildly inconsistent, so that becomes what you have to go for is inconsistency. It has been consuming to try and get it right, but I think, if I am doing my job right, it can’t just be the creep factor which he has in spades. Every once in a while, you have to think, “Is he just going to rape her or is he making sure she’s just getting a good night’s sleep?” That’s the line you want to draw and step on both sides a bit.
ADTV: You mentioned John Wells a few minutes ago. Clearly, he has a very strong track record with actors. What have you found he’s brought to the table to support your process?
SH: Well, I can also speak from personal experience with John because I worked with him on ER in a very twisted character there, and then we spent five years together on Southland and now this. Just having that kind of creative relationship for that many years… It’s hard to put it into words how that feels, but it’s the freedom to make big choices and take risks that I don’t necessarily have on other projects. It’s definitely rewarding. I think one of the main things that helps all of the actors is that they’ve sketched out this concrete foundation – this backstory – that has become like our Bible. We’re all coming from the same place. Often as actors, we have to interpret it and make it up, but he laid it out for us in a pretty explicit way so that we know what’s at stake. So that helps a lot. And, you know, it’s John Wells. He’s got a pretty impressive history combined with all of the scripts being “10’s” – they’re all great, so that, as actors, is important. We aren’t spending a lot of time interpreting what the writer means because it’s right there. Because it’s a character drama and it’s about the relationships – it’s not really plot driven – we have the time to play a scene for truth. It’s grounded in reality. He gives us a chance to take the looks and feel something rather than a narrative that’s trying to get information to the audience… I’m really proud of it. Because it’s dark, it might turn some people off, but the Cody’s are wild beasts. They’re living together in this wild habitat that’s about to explode. I enjoy it.
ADTV: So, what’s next for you when you wrap up the season?
SH: It’s been a pretty rough shoot in that we’ve been so consumed with filming. It’s been a pretty rough shoot. I’m excited to see how people respond to it. I’m already starting to see that. I enjoy this modern age of social media where you get feedback real time while the show airs. Even the negative comments. I get off on hearing people’s bizarre interpretations. I read somebody saying, “Oh, there’s Shawn Hatosy playing a hothead just like he did on Southland.” [Laughs] These characters are so vastly different. But to me, I enjoy that. It’s like doing a play live where you kind of feel the audience and that energy. In this era, you have a slice of that thanks to Twitter or Facebook be it good or bad.
Animal Kingdom – starring Ellen Barkin, Scott Speedman, and Shawn Hatosy – has a 2-hour premiere Tuesday, June 14, on TNT at 9pm ET.
It’s all come down to this. Emmy voting starts today and runs two weeks.
After a year of television bingeing, anticipating, and speculating, members of the Television Academy will begin the voting process to elect nominees for this year’s Primetime Emmy Awards. Emmy voting commences today, June 13, and will continue through June 27, allowing two weeks for industry insiders to select the contenders for the 68th annual ceremony.
The general process begins similarly to the Oscar nomination process. Studios fawn over Television Academy members with fancy “For Your Consideration” (FYC) packages. Studios promote their television shows to voters with these DVD mailers, although networks have increasingly been using FYC websites for voters to stream episodes in a less expensive, more environment friendly manner. Mailers are often elegantly artful (with the exception of Netflix’s 20-pound behemoth) and carry snob appeal. Studios will also include a list of the categories a show (or movie or mini-series) will be competing in with the artist (actor, writer, director, etc.) who will be competing in that category. Most of the time, seeing which specific artist is being submitted for categories are only important for actors because studios often leave off certain actors and focus energies on others for Emmy voting.
The goal of the screeners is to give Television Academy voters a taste of television shows at their best, and networks are usually particular about which episodes they include in these packages. The competitive nature of award shows in this day and age allows for politics in who studios campaign, and the episodes they send to voters usually represent the show’s best hours over the past season. Frequently studios will target their nominations goals with the episodes during the Emmy voting period.
For instance, CBS submitted two episodes in The Good Wife’s FYC package this year, “Iowa” and “Judged,” both of which are heavy dramatic acting showcases for Julianna Margulies. This implies the major goal of CBS in this campaign cycle is for Margulies to return to the Outstanding Lead Actress slate. Rather than sending out episodes that include heavier material for Alan Cumming and Christine Baranski from the past season, CBS is most likely trying to play their cards for Margulies since she missed out on a nomination last year while Cumming and Baranski were nominated.
Emmy voters would have had access to dozens of FYC episodes. The goal of the studios sending out the DVDs is for their shows to resonate with voters enough for them to remember during Emmy voting.
In the past, the ballots for each of the categories were displayed online for public consumption. The ballots are usually lengthy and show every submitted actor, writer, director, etc., by category. It may sound simple, but the inventory of talent displayed on the lists is daunting and choosing from among the submitted names would be a time-consuming process. So, if there are nominations that seem out of the ordinary or as though a person was nominated based on status and name-recognition, it could very well be because of how tedious a process it is to carefully compile a list where each choice has merits.
With today’s world constantly changing due to technological advancements and reflections on how to more efficiently and fairly conduct the ceremony and competition, the Emmys have been undergoing changes to their process in recent years. Last year, we saw an increase in the number of nominees in each of the main categories (Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Comedy Series) and voting online released voting members from the strict obligation from watching submitted episodes, thus allowing less informed voting selections. A change this year includes the order in which the potential nominees will be listed on the ballot. Instead of the names of each potential nominee being listed alphabetically, Awards Daily reported a month ago that each category could be in a randomized. Each voter will potentially see the list of actors, directors, writers, ect., to pick from differently, which could shake up who ends up nominated.
The Television Academy houses over 20,000 members from 29 peer groups of specialized fields in the arts. For the next two weeks, they will funnel all of the screeners they have consumed over the past few weeks and make decisions that will impact the industry, careers, and popularity.
Once the Emmy voting period is complete, nominations for the 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be announced July 14.
Update: Here are the entries submitted for Emmy consideration.
Rob Corddry and Erinn Hayes talk about ending the Emmy-winning Childrens Hospital and how the Emmys kick Oscars’ ass.
This past April, Rob Corddry and Erinn Hayes hung up their scrubs and scrubbed off the clown makeup when Adult Swim’s Childrens Hospital aired its final episode after seven seasons.
The show was ahead of its time, starting out as a web parody of medical dramas, before becoming Adult Swim’s late-night comedy treat. Like any medical drama, the cast included a revolving door of the best comedic (and sometimes dramatic) actors working in the business, including Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer, and even a certain Mad Men actor.
I talked with Corddry and Hayes about this final season, the show’s Emmy history, how long it took to apply Blake’s makeup, and whether the show’s one-time muse Grey’s Anatomy will ever end.
Photo courtesy of Cartoon Network
AwardsDaily TV: How did the decision to end Childrens Hospital come about? Was the cast surprised when they got the news?
Erinn Hayes: It was a hard decision for me. (Laughs.) We were surprised.
Rob Corddry: (Laughs.) Everybody was surprised, except for me because I hadn’t talked too much about my growing feelings about the show and about how and when and why would it ever end. It was something I’d been thinking about for a long time. Like a lot of big realizations, for me, it hit me like a lightning bolt, and then there was no turning back after that. Everyone really liked doing the show, and they were left in the wake of that. I did feel really bad about that.
EH: It was very surprising because this last season that we did, season 7, was so much fun to do, and everyone was pretty relaxed and the scripts were for the most part done, so there was no last-minute stress. Except for the last one, which you were writing up to the minute. I think we all just kind of assumed, “That was so great! We’re gonna do another one!” But then when Rob told me and told all of us, it did make sense. There is something about going out on top, and have something you’re really proud of and feel good about.
RC: That was really important to me. The show is the first thing I’ve made that got on TV and I really feel connected to it like it’s my baby. I felt like it was respectful to the show in general to go out on that note.
ADTV: Childrens Hospital was the second show ever to win for the Emmy for Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program (the first being The Daily Show).
EH: Wait, The Daily Show won one before that?
RC: Yeah, for like a web thing. People were like, “What’s this category? Oh, The Daily Show’s in it? I’ll just check that box.” (Laughs.)
Photo courtesy of Cartoon Network
ADTV: Childrens Hospital was the only real non-web series show in the category. Well, even though it started out as a web series. But it was nominated and won for being on Adult Swim.
EH: There’s always been the halftime show at the Super Bowl. And web companion pieces, like The Office. It’s such a hodgepodge.
RC: I do think our edge was not only were we a good TV show, but this was our show.
EH: Compared to some of them, we were a very produced television show.
RC: Even when we were on the web the first season, that was the most important thing: It has to look like a television show. Everybody’s gotta play it straight, including the camera.
ADTV: One of my favorite episodes is the live episode (“The Sultan’s Finger” – Season 2, Episode 12). Actually, that probably is my favorite episode. (Laughs.)
RC: That’s a good one.
ADTV: To this day, I will watch clips and just laugh when the camera falls over.
EH: When Matt Walsh comes on and has a terrified look on his face and Huebel is vamping. “And then you’d say something. And then I guess you’d say something like this.” That all was so much fun to do because all of us are used to working in movies and in TV and you rehearse a little bit, but you rehearse each scene as it comes in your day, not necessarily from point A to point B. We came in for a full day of rehearsal and were giddy to do it. Lake [Bell] was hilarious because she comes on at the very end, and she was so nervous she was going to come in and fuck it all up and send us back to that one long take.
RC: She had one of my favorite lines. Actually, your exchange with her. It clearly defined our tone of the show, and it was: “Long story short, I didn’t die.”
EH: That was also our first Jon Hamm episode, right?
RC: Ohh, yeah.
EH: And you got a lot of giddy ladies on the set.
RC: Oh my god. (Laughs.)
Photo courtesy of Cartoon Network
ADTV: Did you guys ever imagine that your show would have such a cultural impact? That it would be the second show to win an Emmy for this format?
RC: (Beat.) No. (Laughs.)
EH: (Beat.) No.
ADTV: (Laughs.) I guess it sounds stupid now that I say it out loud!
EH: No, it’s not because I do think people go into making television thinking, “It should be incredible, guys.” But this is a show on the web about people wiping boogers on kids. We didn’t do it thinking, “awards bait.”
RC: (Laughs.) It was like summer camp.
ADTV: Speaking of Emmys, the Academy has significantly expanded its short form categories this year to include acting. Why do you think the Academy is suddenly taking this genre more seriously?
RC: You would expect showbiz in general to be behind the zeitgeist a little bit, but the Academy is aware of all these changes happening in television and they are adjusting accordingly. Like, right on time. There’s no delay. There’s no resistance to it, like you’d assume there would be.
Photos courtesy of Cartoon Network
EH: I think it’s awesome, too, because having been on set with all of these people for seven years, like, give Rob an Emmy, give [Rob] Huebel, give [Ken] Marino, give Megan [Mullally]. I’ve had the chance, we’ve all had the chance, to work with such wonderfully talented people, and good work is good work, just because you’re not on a network television show doesn’t mean that the work isn’t as good.
RC:It’s cool that the Academy itself understands that. I think it’s really great.
ADTV: People are always talking about how the Oscars are a little behind, but I think TV and the Emmys are way ahead.
RC: Exactly.
EH: Way ahead. Especially after reading all of the casting notices this year for pilots. TV can address the issues in a quicker way.
RC: They’re literally calling it the Golden Age of Television. Television itself has surpassed movies as people’s prime source of entertainment. I feel like the Oscars used to be dating the Homecoming Queen, but now the Emmys kicked the Oscars’ ass and are dating the Homecoming Queen.
ADTV: (Laughs) I love that analogy.
EH: Rob, do you think they’re going to get it on?
RC: Oh, yeah. And the Oscars? That dude is racist.
EH: That old white dude.
ADTV: Erinn, you mentioned there was so much talent on the show, and that’s always something that’s blown my mind, how many great actors are on Childrens Hospital. Was it hard getting everyone together to film? Because you guys had other things going on, too?
EH: That seemed like probably the trickiest thing.
RC: It was a puzzle that we were trying to solve every year. We found a couple of small solutions, but still it was very rare that an episode would include the entire cast. There’s also ways around it. I knew I would be there every day on set, so I would write myself into the script. Or I would not write myself into as many scripts because we could always plug Blake in if somebody couldn’t make it.
EH: I think Lola was on the receiving end of a lot of good stuff in the last season because I was 100 percent available that summer.
RC: You are my Swiss army knife. Erinn Hayes can do anything.
EH: That’s very sweet. I’m also a lovefest of the Rob Corddry talent. You didn’t write yourself in enough this season.
RC: I don’t care. It’s the one thing I hate acting in because I have so many other things to do.
EH: I think you also discovered you’re never going to be an official drag queen. You can’t do the makeup.
Ph: Darren Michaels
ADTV: How long did it take to do the makeup?
RC: Well, we got it down to a science. Heather [our makeup stylist] has been doing it since day one of the web series. The only thing that’s tripped her up is the eyebrows. They’re very hard to get even. Everything else, she could do with her eyes closed, and it takes about 20 minutes.
EH: It’s not even about getting the makeup on. Guys aren’t used to having makeup sit on their face.
RC: I feel such empathy now for women because I realized that eyelids are the weakest muscles in our body. That’s science, and to put heavy makeup on those, it’s counterproductive.
EH: It’s not strengthening them.
ADTV: You both have worked on so many other projects while portraying Blake and Lola, some more serious, some funny. Were these roles always fun to come back to? Will you miss playing these characters?
EH: For sure. I love Lola. It’s been so fun to play, especially this show because you don’t have these set parameters for who you are and what your character can do. I’ve had the chance to act in an old-fashioned television show, in a stylized ‘70s show, in a caper, a political thriller, in a sitcom. It’s all different every time, and finding the tone of the episode in keeping with the tone of our show is such an incredibly unique acting challenge and experience. I’ll definitely miss it. But I know the door is definitely open in the future. I hope we do take advantage of that.
Photo courtesy of Cartoon Network
ADTV: You’re going to be on Kevin James’s new show. That’s so exciting.
EH: I signed on for a very fun, traditional family sitcom. I’m really excited about it. Look forward to starting. We had a great time shooting the pilot and the chemistry is working. The cast is great. We’re not going to be like doing our “Run, Lola, Run” episode with Kevin James. (Laughs.) Having a show where every two days you’re doing something completely different, I’ll miss that.
RC: I won’t miss anything about the character [Blake], who’s a reprehensible person in makeup. But I will definitely miss writing all of the characters. I’m ferociously tweeting jokes these days because it’s scratching an itch for me.
EH: There was a day the other day, where I was looking at Twitter and thought, “Corddry might be losing his mind.”
RC: Yeah. That’s what I was doing. I was sitting in a trailer, literally typing words into Twitter until jokes crystallized.
EH: I almost called to check on you.
RC: I’m not even kidding. That’s how I’m doing it. “Boats.” Let’s see if this turns into a joke. My draft folder is like a manifesto of horrible jokes.
ADTV: Do you think there’d ever be a Childrens Hospital movie, maybe? A reunion show?
RC: I’m less interested in doing a movie than doing a special, like coming back to the characters in a year or so with a funny half-hour idea and we just do a one-off. And then maybe we can serialize that over the course of a few years. It would be kind of fun. I’ve always thought of this sort of company as a rep company and it would be great to take the exact same cast and do a movie about something totally different. Something that would allow us to have the same fun, to have the same range. I don’t know what that would be, but that’s sort of a long-term goal.
EH: I’ll make myself available.
Photo courtesy of Cartoon Network
ADTV: Finally, how do you feel that Grey’s Anatomy, for which Childrens Hospital often parodies, is still on the air? And their storylines are about as crazy as the ones on your show. Do you think it will ever end?
EH: It might not ever end. (Laughs.)
RC: Somehow weird dimensions got crossed, and that show did end in one parallel universe, and we’re all happier for it. The second season was when we stopped being a parody of Grey’s Anatomy entirely. And not even Grey’s Anatomy, just hospital shows in general.
EH: I feel like the “Do the Right Thing” episode was a real turning point.
RC: It really was.
EH: It was like, “We can do whatever we want and whatever genre we want, set in this hospital with these people.”
ADTV: Well, no offense to Grey’s Anatomy, but I always preferred your show over Grey’s anyway.
EH: But what about Mere?
ADTV: Erinn, you were on Grey’s Anatomy, right?
EH: I was. I died with blood coming out of my eyes!
RC: Ken Marino was, too, right?
EH: I feel like there were more of us on there.
RC: I think, given the chance, everyone would prefer Childrens Hospital. I mean, come on.
Veep‘s Matt Walsh talks about how the series changed his reaction to political reality and his favorite moments from season five.
Despite its White House locale, Veep‘s Matt Walsh reminded me very early in our conversation that the HBO seriesis still an office workplace comedy. Sure, the boss is the President of the United States, but ultimately the cast of characters are effectively typical office archetypes. As such, Matt Walsh is absolutely someone you would meet and instantly befriend in your typical office setting. He’s as easy-going a person as you’d meet. By the end of our talk, we’d already swapped vacation plans for our kids’ summer breaks (his were much better than mine). Matt Walsh is also an incredibly funny and engaging presence on Veep. His contributions to the classic ensemble should not go unnoticed. Without him, the political office world of Veep would be a sadder place indeed.
Just like that friendly and very funny guy you know in the cube down the hall from yours.
Photo courtesy of UCB.
AwardsDaily TV: Matt Walsh, it’s remarkable from the viewers perspective how little the tone of Veep has changed since the change in show runner from Armando Iannucci to David Mandel. Have there been any subtle differences that you’ve notice or had to adjust to as a cast member?
Matt Walsh: No, I would have expressed the same concern. There was a big transition, but I think getting to know people… it is a collaborate process and human beings what they are you have to sort of trust them and everyone has to be on the same page. I think in the beginning there was a “getting to know you” process, but once we were up and running I thought it went really well. After seeing the finished product, I agree with you. It doesn’t feel any different.
ADTV: Oh yeah, in fact, it just feels like the show keeps getting better and better as the show goes on.
MW: Yes, it’s a unique process. I think there’s a learning curve for sure. I don’t know many shows that rehearse… we’ll read the table draft and then we’ll rehearse scenes without script with the writers in the room… I think it’s a unique process and everybody has to get used to it. That’s a tribute to Dave Mandel, our new showrunner, and all the new writers who came aboard. They’ve obviously had four seasons to study, and I think the characters are pretty well defined. Their intention was to make the show consistent, and they executed that exactly.
ADTV: Absolutely. So, one of the things I’ve noticed that has escalated season over season are the scenarios in which the cast gets themselves into – the botching of the recount in Nevada, the issues with China, and now Jonah Ryan’s campaign. Given the current political climate, was there a need to try and compete with similar real world political ineptitude?
MW: You know, what’s happened in this year’s election will raise the bar for the insanity that we’ll be able to do next season. Quite frankly, a lot of the stuff and storylines that we were doing in season five were already being written and conceived in the writer’s room in May/June. They’d already started cracking away at season five, but I think next season the rules are broken. We can go a little sillier. [Laughs]
ADTV: Do you ever look back and think, “Damn, we should have thought of that?”
MW: Well, every season there’s a big trip out to D.C. where the writers and Julia [Louis-Dreyfus] and the producers will go out and interview politicians and aids and directors of communications. They’ll get stories or backgrounds on what those jobs are like or what recent things in politics have happened behind the scenes. They use that as fodder to create the next season. As a character on the show, I pay attention to what’s going on in the news, but I don’t really draft my story for myself. I read what they do, and then I pitch them what I think Mike’s version of that is. Or, if I have an idea for something that I read in the news or saw, I can pitch it, but the responsibility lies with the writers.
ADTV: Given that you play Mike McLintoch, White House spokesperson on Veep, how political were you before you took this role?
MW: I think I was always an active participate in our democracy, but I’m not a pundit in any way. I think as the show has gone on, I feel like what I’ve gotten a knack for is, when I see a story break, I’m more curious about what happened behind the scenes or what the fallout is once they get off the mic. I’m more knowledgeable about the human beings or the machinations of the process of drafting legislation or drafting press quotes, points, etc. So, I think I’m more reactive as someone who can be empathetic to like “Oh boy, someone really got in trouble on that one.” Do you know what I mean?
ADTV: Definitely. My actual next question was how Veep changed your reaction to the political world? Seems like you’re reacting to the behind the scenes possibilities rather than just taking political events at face value.
MW: Yeah, I’m more empathetic. Veep is a workplace comedy. I mean, obviously, it’s a satire of our democracy, but I think it’s a workplace comedy. It’s about the people who work in D.C. You know, if I’m in an airport, I’ll get stopped by people who tell me, “I work in politics, and you guys are nailing it.” The big issues we nail. They do the research on the constitutionality, but I think also the way we portray a director of communications and what his life is like or the staff and the arguments that would happen in the room before she takes the mic or before they draft a statement. I think we’ve captured the work life of those people really well and the flowery language that happens in the halls of Congress. Apparently, they have filthy mouths in D.C.
I mean, obviously, it’s a satire of our democracy, but I think it’s a workplace comedy. It’s about the people who work in D.C. You know, if I’m in an airport, I’ll get stopped by people who tell me, “I work in politics, and you guys are nailing it.”
ADTV: They certainly do on Veep. [Laughs] Some of my personal favorite scenes are when you’re handling the press in the briefing room. I know this is a very heavily scripted show, but you come from a strong background of improvisation. Do you ever ad-lib any of those scenes?
MW: I think by the time we get the final drafts, since it goes through many rehearsals and phases, we’re pretty much acting on 90 percent as scripted. If the show is zipping along, we can do a free take where we get to mess around with it or Dave and the writers will run in with different lines to try. As you start doing it and putting it on its feet, you can sort of paraphrase what’s on the page or you can try things because you have a better feel for it now that you have the other actors in the scene. So, there’s some fluidness to the process. It’s not like an Aaron Sorkin or a David Mamet play where you have to hit every word. Most of it is on the page, but, yes, you can play with it and the writers want you to try and pitch ideas to try things in the process of it. Typically, it’s always like making more of moments that are on the page. This is a great moment. We can really milk this. We can really live in this a little longer. That’s typically our contribution as actors. Also, that press room is so big and cacophonous when they’re angry at Mike or there’s a story that he’s dying, it helps with the energy and the sort of stammering escape route that Mike has to take. I think there’s freedom with that.
ADTV: I love the scenes where you’re the lone man against the press corps, and you look so completely befuddled while trying to defend the ever-changing policies of the Selina Meyer administration. Is it a challenge to look so completely befuddled or are you just really excellent at turning off your brain?
MW: [Laughs] Well, that position is very difficult because you’re the face of the administration many times, and your job is to deny or lie or obfuscate. I think Mike ethically struggles with those moments at times. He is at conflict with what his job is at times, and, at the end of the day, he has to take a bullet. He doesn’t have a great poker face, so I think that’s really fun to lie poorly or sort of barely get out what you’re supposed to say but obviously sweat through it. I enjoy the scenarios they give me to portray. The hostility in that room, I think, represents the nation’s hostility at times with the bad choices Selina has made. He’s really on the front lines, and it’s fun to feel that.
ADTV: It is, but I have to tell you that, as a viewer, it’s a brilliant frustration because the main cast is so likable but you’re also doing horrible, inept things. I want Selina to be president for the comedy, but at the same time… No…
MW: [Laughs] Yeah, and also, historically… we’ve seen politicians who just give you sound bites that aren’t even related to the question or they just don’t say anything. I think that’s a great fallback if you’re the press secretary. Don’t give them anything or just stick to the talking points. We’ve seen that work with presidents and congressmen because that’s a way to control the conversation even though it’s obvious they’re sort of lying.
ADTV: A very funny recent episode dealt with the “C***gate” scandal. Has there ever been a story line proposed for the show that went too far?
MW: Sometimes I worry a little bit about Mike’s ineptitude or in the middle of giving a press briefing Mike is more concerned about his fit bit steps as opposed to the job. I think I worry about… I don’t lose sleep over it… but in the moment of execution I think great effort and conversation with the director and writers about will he be able to get away with this or can he do this. It always works out, but I think there are moments where there’s a comedic thing happening but Mike also has to execute his job. Those are the moments I just want to make sure that, at the end of the day, he does do his job well. He is a good press spokesman in that room. Obviously, he has capacity to be an idiot or terrible at his job, but I feel like in that room he always to be pretty good at his job. He has to be believable, and he has to do that job well for the comedy to work. Those are the moments that I work with. As far as big crazy things happening, as you know, the news bears it out that the reality is always crazier than the fiction.
ADTV: Unfortunately recently yes, that has been absolutely true which is sad…
MW: It is sad. That’s happened consistently where we’ll do something and the conversation around that will be “Is this too crazy?” Then, six months later, somewhere in some state house or the federal government that exact thing happens.
ADTV: Right. Also, I never imagined that I would see a presidential debate where the size of someone’s member became a topic of conversation. That feels like it was written for Veep.
MW: It is. It’s crazy. Obviously, it pushes the bounds of reality, and it’s embarrassing as a country to have a candidate like Donald Trump. It’s embarrassing that he could be our president, but it’s really a strange reality…. Let’s hope it doesn’t go there.
Photo courtesy of HBO.
ADTV: Absolutely. What’s your personal favorite Mike moment from season five?
MW: I always like when I see things that we discover in filming like a bit where Tony or Julia or I will be doing a scene, and it’s like “Wait a minute. What if we do this?” We sort of try something. There’s a couple of things like when Ben Cafferty pitches to Selina in a very safe way “You know, there was this Chinese hacking thing. Maybe the Chinese hacked your tweet, and maybe that’s how [a private joke was made public].” There’s something in there where Mike is… and they have to be very careful about their language or they could be litigated if she actively participated in this… At some point, they say “Obviously, we cannot tell anyone about this.” Mike’s sort of on the outside of the conversation and he’s like “Can? Or cannot?” He completely gets it wrong. Stuff like that makes me laugh because it’s Mike being terrible at his job, but it’s also something that we choreographed in the room that became part of the show. I really enjoyed the funeral where Selina was actually crying about her losing the popular vote and not about her mother. I really enjoyed Martin Mull coming through to play Bob Bradley. I get a kick out of playing with people like that… Brian Doyle Murray… These heavyweight legends of comedy coming through. It’s fun to see Tim running for Congress. I’m enjoying Jonah. I think Anna’s [Chlumsky] had some super filthy jokes – she’s really had some awful things to say this year. And I always enjoy when Ben [Kevin Dunn] has to fire somebody. He got to fire Diedrich Bader again. It’s always good. He’s a great hitman. I enjoy Gary Cole’s “Rain Man” like contributions during any scene. That always makes me laugh.
ADTV: I loved that throw-away second where Mike realizes the China issue will stop the adoption process.
MW: That was a great moment to play. To publicly mask… or try to, Mike’s not that good at it… but to try and get through that as best you can in a public environment.
ADTV: Yes, and considering the comedy legends as cast members and guest stars, how often do you break? How do you keep from doing that?
MW: I still break. I always break when we do limo scenes because we’re basically sitting right on top of each other staring at each other’s faces and there’s a cameraman in your lap. It’s really tight quarters. It’s sort of like trying not to laugh in church at some point. Those are always difficult to me. I still laugh, but I’ve probably gotten better at resetting quickly.
ADTV: So, outside of Veep, what else are you working on?
MW: I have a small part in Ghostbusters, which I’m dying to see, and then I’m in a movie that comes out in October called Keeping Up with the Joneses with Zack Galifianakis, Jon Hamm, and Isla Fisher. I directed another small improv movie called A Better You that’s OnDemand. Just doing shows at UCB (Upright Citizens Brigade). I do comedy once a week at my theater. That and going on vacation with the kids when they’re out of school.
Veep season five concludes on June 26. You can see Matt Walsh and cast each week on HBO at 10:30pm ET.
The bleeding heart of American Horror Story: Hotel lies within the acting power of Sarah Paulson and Denis O’Hare. Don’t ignore these performances Television Academy!
Perhaps it’s not so surprising that American Horror Story‘s acting company have been showered with nominations. They are, after all, some of the best actors working in film or television today. Out of 7o nominations over four seasons, 19 nominations have gone to its cast, winning four times. The Television Academy’s love for the series – with its graphic gore and sexual content – has always been something of a surprise, and not all nominations have felt completely deserved. Putting all of that aside, the 2016 Emmy Limited Series categories are where AHS will compete against its Ryan Murphy-bred cousin The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story for attention. There simply aren’t enough slots to recognize all of the brilliance on display. Still, Emmy must make room for two AHS: Hotel performances – Sarah Paulson and Denis O’Hare – as their work is some of the best seen in the anthology series’s entire run.
Sarah Paulson is already tipped to win Best Actress in a Limited Series/TV Movie for her stunning, redefining work as Marcia Clark in People v. O.J. Simpson. That, however, should not preclude the Television Academy from recognizing her tremendous, and tremendously emotional, work as Hypodermic Sally in Hotel. At the onset, Sally is Hotel‘s vengeful and tortured marquee spirit, murdered at the Hotel Cortez by Kathy Bates (and, if you have to go, then that’s a pretty awesome way to go). She’s doomed to relive the pain experienced in life through each day of her death, and nothing save the taking of lives seems to assuage that pain. Tellingly, her face is constantly streaked with mascara spread by her ever-falling tears.
Paulson has been outstanding each and every time she’s had a meaty role in AHS, but she’s literally never been better than this season. Pain is a tricky thing to convey as an actor. Overstepping will push the character into soapy melodrama. Under-committing risks making the character unsympathetic and, ironically, unnecessarily cruel. Yet, Paulson strikes the perfect balances amidst the sumptuously art directed gore of the Hotel Cortez. Hypodermic Sally longs for something to dull the pain. She looks for it in drugs. She looks for it in love and companionship. She looks for it in random acts of violence. Nothing works, and Paulson conveys the death-long bitter disappointments and sorrow with each motion of her body and each drag of a cigarette. Hers is a remarkably physical performance, pain and contempt oozing from every pore like so much toxic sweat. In the season finale, she finally finds solace in ways to express her pain through writing and blogging on the internet, where all miserable people ultimately coalesce.
This is as committed and consistent performance as I’ve ever seen Paulson give, and I thought nothing could top Freak Show‘s Tattler Sisters. For the actress to receive two iconic, career-defining roles in the same year is an astounding feat. Let the Television Academy reward her for both with nominations and wins. God knows she deserves it.
Denis O’Hare’s Hotel performance as Liz Taylor seems gimmicky at first. Little is mentioned of O’Hare’s appearance as a transgendered woman in the first few episodes. Liz Taylor largely stayed on the sidelines, serving up drinks and making witty conversation in that wry, nearly sarcastic voice of hers. It wasn’t until AHS began to explore her background that I realized Hotel has a broken heart, its two halves assembled in the performances of Sarah Paulson and Denis O’Hare. Liz Taylor’s life as a man ended when a night at the Cortez and an encounter with The Countess (Lady Gaga) resulted in permanent residence. No, Denis O’Hare did not die on property (not yet). Instead, he achieved voluntary permanent residence as Liz Taylor once The Countess helped him embrace his true nature.
After episodes of providing bitchy commentary, we’re eventually treated to the meat of Denis O’Hare’s amazing performance as she reconnects with her son toward the end of the season. Recent transgender controversies only accentuating the performance’s impact, O’Hare dives into the reality of the situation – not an easy task given everything we’ve been presented with up to this point. She’s afraid of opening up to her son, of revealing who she really is. Surrounded by vampires, ghosts, and faceless sex monsters, Liz Taylor’s only real fear is her son’s rejection. That her son acknowledges and accepts her provides the biggest and most heartwarming moments of the season.
Photo courtesy of FX.
It’s a good thing, too, because the rest of Liz Taylor’s stay at the Hotel Cortez is fraught with misery thanks to her tortured love affair with Finn Wittrock’s bisexual model Tristan. Taylor / O’Hare comes alive seems to discover love for the very first time in Tristan. Initially, it’s a seemingly ridiculous relationship – a transgender spin on the traditional May / December conceit. Yet, O’Hare makes the moments sing, and, when The Countess kills Tristan out of jealousy, the pain emanating from O’Hare is, sadly, exquisite. At the end of the season, O’Hare’s Taylor makes a happy, peaceful life for herself in the Hotel Cortez with a grandchild to boot. When a cancer diagnosis causes Taylor to choose death, O’Hare brings forth his finest moment and, probably, the defining moment of the series. He asks the hotel’s ghosts, Sally included, to kill him so that he can live with them forever, “be reborn.”
“You’re my family,” O’Hare emotionally explains. “I want to be with you forever.”
It’s that morbid declaration and the subsequent transitioning (throat slitting) by The Countess that gives American Horror Story: Hotel its tangled, tortured, and morbidly beautiful soul. That Denis O’Hare and Sarah Paulson accentuate it with their delicate and deeply felt performances makes it even sweeter. Emmy voters cannot ignore their immense talents as they are the pillars of the season, supported by the robust and eclectic ensemble cast.
That they’re able to convey such honest, human feelings as pain, fear, and love is a testament to their talents as actors. Television Academy, I submit to you Sarah Paulson and Denis O’Hare for their roles in American Horror Story: Hotel, roles that echo in my heart months after the season ended.
ADTV’s Robin Write chats with The Leftovers‘ Liv Tyler about her role on the critically acclaimed series
You have to have a little bit more pride in the town you live in, believing many in America will not even have heard of it, when none other than The Leftover‘s Liv Tyler tells you she not only knows it but has been there several times. It’s a name-dropping story for the locals that’s for sure. Then, about to ask her about the whole 90’s scene with her generation of young movie stars, Liv cuts in and asks me to guess who she was with just the other day, having not seen her in years. The pair had lunch and caught up on old times (like when hey starred in an Aerosmith video together). None other than Alicia Silverstone. Small world all around. But before we could get too hung up on approaching 40, I started the interview with the delightful Liv Tyler, the ice well and truly broken in several places indeed.
AwardsDaily TV: Well, thank you first of all for agreeing to briefly talk to me and AwardsDaily TV. A pleasure to meet you.
Liv Tyler: Thank you.
ADTV: So I’ve seen both seasons of The Leftovers, which I will come to in a moment, and have to say it is pretty great. Such a unique notion – quite bonkers at times – but really compelling and well executed. So congratulations for being part of such an ambitious project.
LT: Thank you.
Photo: Van Redin/HBO
ADTV: Now, I remember the nineties fondly, they were just great for the development of indie cinema for starters. Other than the obvious, I remember you from movies like Empire Records, That Thing You Do!, and of course Stealing Beauty. What did that mid-nineties spell mean to you? Do you want fans to remember you for those movies, those roles?
LT: I was just a kid, a teenager, graduating from high school. And acting, just kind of beginning my life, it was a nice time. I am really grateful as an actor now when I go to work and see how things are. I am grateful I was part of that generation, things were a little bit different then, the whole process was different, it was not completely the modern world yet, there was still a lot of the old school ways of making films. I am grateful to work with some of those film-makers, it was amazing. I think about how my children might remember me [Laughs]. There might be an actor or an actress and there might be one film you really connect to, and that’s how you always think of them. There seems to be a big nostalgia now for the nineties in the way things were and the way things worked, and it is so fun to see people interested in it.
ADTV: So you started your career with modeling. Was that what you wanted to do? When and how did this transcend into acting?
LT: I was so young, and it was happening so fast. I was living in Maine, and I moved to New York in the summer I turned twelve and I just kind of blossomed. I was really tall, but had like a perm and braces and I was chubby. Then I just kind of suddenly started to change my mom was very good friends with Paulina Porizkova, the supermodel, and her husband Ric Ocasek. Paulina was taking pictures and she asked if she could take photographs of me, so that was kind of the first pictures I ever did. And from that I started modeling. It was not something I particularly wanted to do, it just sort of happened. You try it out, it was such a fun world to get to experience, so sophisticated, incredible, and amazing. When you’re a teenager it is not necessarily what you want to be doing with your time. I had a little bit of a love hate relationship with it, and then my acting stuff just happened so quickly. I was asked to go on a couple of auditions, and because of my family history I think people were a little more interested in me as a person, which I am really grateful for. That definitely helped me in the couple of years I was modeling, there was more interest in my whole story I guess. I had my first audition, and before I had a chance to have a desire or a dream of my future – I use to want to be a marine biologist [Laughs], and I wanted to be a singer – it gave me a nice purpose in those tricky teenage years that can be hard. I absolutely fell in love with acting, so I am glad I did that.
ADTV: When did you feel like Liv Tyler the actress in your own right, and not the daughter of whatshisface from that rock band?
LT: You know I never felt like I was just the daughter of someone or in the shadow of someone. I always felt my own person. I feel very blessed, and it was not a hindrance for me. It was something that I don’t think ever effected the way people looked at me. I think if anything it made people go “Oh that makes you a little bit more interesting.” The only sort of downside of it is that it makes people have this preconceived idea of how you grew up, like everyone just assumes that I grew up on a tour bus or in LA. I grew up in Maine in the country with my family. I had a very grounded, a very beautiful upbringing. My mom and my dad were definitely very eccentric, magical, crazy beings, but I had a lot of normal stuff in my life as well.
ADTV: That’s good to hear.
LT: Yeah. It was never really a problem for me thank goodness. I remember my dad always coming to the premiere of my movie or seeing a screening with me, and he would be like “What happened? Where did you come from?” [Laughs] Like this thing just happened. We have always been kind of independent in that way.
ADTV: I guess a lot of audiences have admired you over the years for your serenity, your ethereal screen presence. You certainly played against type in HBO’s The Leftovers. You were brilliantly sinister. Almost a bad guy. What attracted you to such a different role in Meg? How did you get the part? Is it something you were looking for?
LT: I am always looking for interesting characters and interesting parts, and sometimes they are very few and far between. It takes time to find those ones that are right, that are good. I think in my first movie ever I did a movie called Silent Fall. I played a woman who killed her parents. I don’t know if I have ever played anyone quite like that before. I was very interested with what was going on with television in America. I know in England TV has always been incredible, and a lot of wonderful actors have done television. But in America it really wasn’t like that, you were a movie star or in movies, or you were a TV star and there was a big divide between it with the quality of the work or how that work was perceived. Those barriers have really come down. I noticed with TV I was enjoying it a little bit more than the films I was seeing, so I decided to take an interest in trying to find something.
ADTV: I think with the quality of TV now actors who made movies are now making TV shows.
LT: Yeah, and as an actor that is incredible. I was encouraged to find something to be the star of, and I was like “No no no,” I want to be part of an ensemble cast on a show on a network I respect. If I wanted to be a part of that thing you get with television that is so unique and different, I didn’t want to take the mold of a movie actor. I wanted to do exactly what this show is. It’s a nice platform. You can still work and do other things but still be part of that. Whereas if it is always you, it can take up all of your time and you can’t do other projects. I’ve always been such a fan of the quirky, complex kind of storytelling like Twin Peaks and The Twilight Zone, shows like that, and wanted there to be a show like that again, and this [The Leftovers] has some of those elements.
ADTV: Oh definitely. Your character, especially at the end of that second season, your role got much juicier.
LT: Yeah. The only hard thing with the ensemble is that you don’t always get to do a lot.
ADTV: No. But you did at the end of the season, those last few episodes. So what is your view on Meg now you know her? You want her to succeed even though she is maybe not doing things for the greater good? Or do you want her to suffer? Do you relish that menace?
LT: I don’t really think about it in that sense, Meg has had such an evolution of being this woman who was confused and frustrated and searching and pissed off. She kind of finds this outlet in the Guilty Remnant, and she finds her power and her strength, and this whole other side of her personality comes out. But even within all that she still has a problem with authority, and she’s wondering what does that mean, and is still kind of searching, trying to figure everything out – you see a lot more of that in the second series. But it is such a crazy, bizarre sort of world, I always imagine if something like that happened, a lot of people are going to be in denial, pretending nothing happened, or that you’re over-reacting. I think Meg was just pissed off that everyone was just trying to go back to normal, like everything was normal. She was trying to be in this relationship with this man and her mother was dead and her world had changed, and couldn’t pretend like everything was normal, and I think that is something that she carries with her all the time. She definitely acts out, and you could say she is the bad guy, acting badly, but I think she is just searching for some truth.
Photo: Van Redin/HBO
ADTV: Who from The Leftovers cast or crew did you get inspiration from while you were making it?
LT: I loved working with all the actors. Particularly working with Christopher Eccleston, he’s a Brit. [Laughs] That was really fun, we had some intense scenes, I really enjoyed it, everybody. It is a very different style of working than on a film, we basically shoot every two weeks, like a little movie every two weeks, and everything changes – the cinematographer is different, the director is different, sometimes the crew is different, the actors can change. You really have to be on your toes, you have to know yourself well, know your character well, and be ready for anything. And that’s a process I have found very inspiring.
ADTV: Any funny or interesting stories relating to the filming, that we don’t know about?
LT: I had to go to work very very very pregnant, and am not pregnant on the show, so it was quite funny for me. I was waddling around like a penguin. [Laughs] They had to make my trousers bigger, and my shirt a bit bigger. Oh we have so much fun.
ADTV: Well congratulations anyway [on the pregnancy].
LT: Thank you
ADTV: Do you know what The Leftovers has in store for Meg in season three? There is probably not a lot you can tell me, but do you know?
LT: I don’t actually. I did a little bit of filming, I have a very vague idea of something that might happen, but really I don’t know because they are still writing it. They have a whole outline and then over the course of a certain amount of months, I think the amount of work and dedication and focus that Damon [Lindelof] and Tom Perrotta and the team of writers have put into this is really super intense, quite extraordinary the level of writing they are doing. I don’t think it is normal for television writing. It goes above and beyond. It takes a lot out of them to write each episode – that many complex characters and stories.
ADTV: You get the scripts quite late don’t you?
LT: Yes. In the first season we would get the scripts a week before we started filming.
ADTV: I am looking forward to that third season anyway.
LT: I think its going to be really really good.
ADTV: Yeah, I am sure they will go out with a bang. Just to finish I know you do a bit of work outside of the acting, you’ve done a bit of charitable work outside of acting, like being an ambassador and the support of United Nations Children’s Fund. Is that something you are still doing?
LT: A little bit, but not enough, I do a lot of things locally. I have done work with UNICEF over the years but past couple of years I have been at home having babies. [Laughs] I would love to be doing some charity work. David, my fiance, works very very closely with UNICEF and is about to go to Africa next week. I honestly haven’t been involved in that, a lot of that stuff for the past couple of years, that I can be proud of, that I can share. There are a lot of things I am apart of here in New York that are local things where I can help out when I can.
ADTV: Building a family is something to be proud of.
LT: Yeah absolutely. I have just been doing so many new things, having two kids back to back, then working on The Leftovers, and just produced and starred in little independent film just last year working with Belstaff which has been really fun. I have been producing a couple of short films for them. I’ve been designing a capsule collection, about to do the second one which was fun. Though I have been part of fashion and costumes all my life, I have not actually designed anything myself.
HBO has renewed The Leftovers for a third and final season of eight episodes which began principal shooting in May 2016.
Last night, the new Saban Theatre in North Hollywood opened its doors to Emmy. NBC Universal hosted an FYC event for Shades Of Blue featuring cast and crew.
Photo courtesy of Jazz Tangcay/AwardsDaily TV.
Ray Liotta, Jennifer Lopez, Drea de Mateo, Dayo Okeniyi, Sarah Jeffery and Jack Orman attended the packed event. The straight to series show premiered on NBC earlier this year stars Lopez as Harlee Santos, an NYPD detective, and single mother who is in with dirty cops and uses protection money to provide the best for her daughter.
The audience filled with Emmy judges, SAG/Aftra and press were treated to the season finale where Santos’ past came back to haunt her, and the shady dealings caught up with some of “her crew.”
Shades of Blue is contentding for Best Actress in a Drama and Best Drama Series. For those who have yet to catch up on the season finale, let’s just say there was plenty of drama and an unexpected twist that led to the audience gasping and applauding the final moment.
When asked about how they managed to be so convincing, Oyeniki joked that he watched cop videos on YouTube. Liotta who plays Lieutenant Matt Wozniak, the corrupt leader of the 64th Precinct said he would go on ridealongs with real cops as part of his research. Lopez added, “You have to watch real cops, not TV cops.”
The physical and emotion intensity of the show were so exhausting that Lopez said, after a day on set, she would go home and “Wash off Harlee because she’s so not me.”
Part of what made Shades of Blue unique for Orman and the cast was that as it went straight to series. There were no note, no audience feedback, and no pilot. Orman said, “It was a laboratory experiement as the only people involved in feedback were the people involved in the show.” He added the nework told him to go for it. Director Barry Levinson directed the first two epsiodes of the show, cross-boarding the episodes.
“He set a tone for us right off the bat,” Lopez said on the experience of working with Levinson. “He saw that I was trying to seek the truth in everything. He was with me in that, and that put me at ease.”
Reflecting on the season highlights, Liotta said he learned and understood his character’s motives. His daughter had committed suicide just as Santos came into his life and that love was transferred to her and her daughter, Christina. The confessional scene was that pivotal moment for him.
Photo courtesy of Jazz Tangcay/AwardsDaily TV.
Given the intensity and drama of the show, Orman said there was one scene early on in the season that the network didn’t allow to pass. The controversial scene occurred when Wozniak was in an alley pointing a gun at a dog. However, they were lenient with other scenes. Liotta joked about a scene being passed that allowed him to grab a character by the balls.
The Q&A was passed over to the audience who mainly praised Lopez on being an inspiration and juggling many hats from Executive Producer and acting on the show while conceiving her Vegas show and being a judge on American Idol.
Shades Of Blue starts filming its second season this month. Season one can be streamed in full on NBC.COM.
