movies
‘Your Friends And Neighbors’ Creator On Making Emmy History
Apple TV’s Your Friends and Neighbors has been nominated this year in the marquee Emmy category of Outstanding Drama Series. It marks the first-ever Emmy nomination for the series, and it has been achieved in just its second season. It also made a kind of Emmy history as becoming only the second series to score the prestigious nomination without being nommed in any other category in the same season (the first was Big Love in 2009). That indicates the series, which will be heading into its third season in 2027, is becoming a word-of-mouth hit, not just with audiences but also with Television Academy voters.
It is well deserved, and creator/showrunner/writer/executive producer Jonathan Tropper joined Deadline’s Contenders Television: The Nominees Studio to talk about how it got to this point and how much might have had to do with the wild second season. Joining him was co-star Hoon Lee, who plays series star Jon Hamm’s cohort Barney Choi.
Watch the conversation below and scroll down for photos from the event.
The series sees Hamm, back in a suit a la Mad Men’s Don Draper, being fired as a hedge fund manager, dealing with a recent divorce, and trying to pick up the pieces in wealthy Westchester’s Westmont Village, where he turns to stealing from his neighbors’ homes only to discover a host of secrets and affairs hidden within those compounds. In the second season he continues the practice only to be confronted by a new neighbor (James Marsden) who threatens to expose him, an act that once again could put his whole family at risk.
“I’m not sure what it is about the second season specifically that made it catch on. I think in some cases, it’s just the fact that we came after the first season. You know, if I sat down and thought about it, second seasons are generally a little denser,” Tropper mused. “There’s more character complexity because we’ve already built the world. And so I think in the binge culture, the fact that people can sit down and watch 19 episodes as opposed to just the first nine episodes probably gave us a little more staying power. And I think it’s one of those shows that just had a wonderful word-of-mouth spread.”
RELATED: Contenders Television: The Nominees Studio – Deadline’s Complete Coverage
Indeed. And was he surprised by that single Emmy nomination? It WAS surprising and surreal. “We were in Europe, so it was the end of the day for us. We had no idea they were being announced that day and my phone just started to blow up. And, you know, I couldn’t really wrap my brain around it until I really started hearing from a lot of friends in L.A. who in real time were learning with the nomination. And then I began to realize that we were in that conversation [which] was really exciting. It’s really great,” he said.
As for his initial desire to tackle this particular world, it was something that had been on his wish list. “This is a show I really wanted to do for a long time. I just had to get to a point where people would let me make this show. Due to a handful of circumstances. I came up more on the side of television action shows, but I had been writing novels that were more set in worlds like this, and that dealt with these types of situations and journeys,” he said. “And I think I was just biding my time till somebody trusted me enough to do a show like this. I lived in Westchester for 15 years. I knew this world really well, and I know it’s really right to me for exploration, and I think it was just a combination of my own maturation and the ideas coinciding to to bring this show forward.”
As for the casting, and notably getting Hamm, as Andrew Cooper, to return to world later than but still in the universe of a Don Draper? “I mean having Jon Hamm in that role is interesting because you really can’t shake the specter of Don Draper. I think that follows him the minute you put him in a suit, you see. And the way I viewed it is kind of a deconstruction of that character. Or, you know, as John likes to say, you know, ‘Don Draper sold the American Dream and Andrew Cooper bought it.’ And I think we started from there,” Tropper said.
Lee is just one of a sterling cast of supporting players getting rich roles, Barney Choi being one of the buzziest. What did Lee think of the opportunity?
“I think the great appeal of it is being able to give voice to sort of all of your inner turmoil and your inner chaos,” he said. “A lot of the times I’ve been asked to play characters for Jonathan that are sort of organizers of the world or as fixers or operators, and that necessitates a kind of level-headed approach, so to be able to let fly with neuroses after neuroses and sort of allow the character to really spin out was incredibly fun for me to start to, to dabble in, And now that’s just building as the stakes go up for the entire situation, as it becomes more invested in Coop’s world, he starts to really unfurl. And that’s proven both fun but also challenging. And that challenge is always interesting. Like the general feel of the show, it’s incredibly fun to do.”
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movies
Chris Hansen Reacts to Robert Pattinson’s ‘Primetime’ Trailer
Chris Hansen, you know how this looks, right?
Because that Primetime movie trailer starring Robert Pattinson makes the former “To Catch a Predator” host look rather obsessed with fame.
To his credit, however, Hansen says he refuses to judge Primetime until he actually sees it (which will be next week, he says).
But during an interview with podcaster Annie Elise, Hansen gave some preliminary thoughts about the project.
“A couple months ago they came and said, ‘Hey look, we’re doing this, we’d like you to have some sort of consideration in terms of helping us with this,’” Hansen said, but noted he wasn’t actually consulted on the film and the project was made before “they” reached out. “As a reporter, it’s sort of silly for me to talk about something that I haven’t seen yet. My suspicion is that they used my name because it helps in a commercial enterprise.”
Asked his thoughts on the film’s trailer, at least, Hansen replied, “It looks dramatic. It looks very dramatic. I know [Robert Pattinson] is a popular actor and I know the director [Lance Oppenheim] is a popular guy. I also have some questions: What’s Hollywood’s motive here?”
Hansen noted he “didn’t get to choose my own guy” to play him. When asked who he would have picked, he replied, “years ago I had crafted a script and thought Denis Leary would be a good guy to play me — depending on the age of it all.”
All that said, “I’m busy being the real Chris Hansen.”
Primetime also stars Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Phoebe Bridgers, Matthew Maher and Bokeem Woodbine.
“To Catch a Predator” was a recurring series of segments on Dateline NBC that ran from 2004 to 2007. The program worked with watchdog group Perverted Justice to lure men who believed they were arranging sexual encounters with minors to a sting house where they were confronted by Hansen, a camera team and police. The program was canceled amid legal and ethical fallout after one of the show’s suspects shot himself as police and NBC’s cameras entered his home.
Primetime is set to hit theaters Sept. 25.
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movies
Vince Gilligan, Rhea Seehorn On The Mysteries Of ‘Pluribus’
Pluribus creator and executive producer Vince Gilligan learned a big lesson about saying too much about a series when he answered questions about the meaning of his first big hit, Breaking Bad. “I was always talking about ‘this is what this means. No, you’re wrong and don’t interpret it that way.’ And that was a mistake on my part. I want the people who watched the show to tell me what it means. I really think they know better than I do,” he says now.
“We make the show. I can’t see the forest for the trees when we’re making it, but I like the idea of other people interpreting it for me. I think everyone else’s interpretation of this thing is way more interesting than mine is.” And indeed it is a rich concept that has viewers wondering if it is saying profound things about the effects of the pandemic, AI, immigration and other topics of the day. The fact is Gilligan came up with the idea 10 years ago and has been refining it in his head ever since. He welcomes every interpretation.
Gilligan joined his cast for a conversation Sunday at Deadline’s Contenders Television: The Nominees Studio to talk about Pluribus, his latest series following massive hits Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. This one is a genre-breaking science fiction drama in which a global virus has turned almost all human beings into a hive mentality of shared bliss. A few have somehow missed catching it and are now fighting back, notably Carol (Rhea Seehorn), a novelist who must try to save the world from this newfound happiness.
Gilligan and Seehorn participated in the Contenders discussion with co-stars Karolina Wydra, who plays Zosia, Carlos-Manuel Vesga as Manousos, and guest star Jeff Hiller as Larry. All have received Emmy nominations along with the series, which landed 18 nominations overall including for Gilligan in the writing and directing categories.
Watch their conversation below and scroll down for photos from the event.
Originally, Gilligan’s thought was for the Carol role to be a man, but when he started actually writing it was Seehorn he had in mind. For Seehorn, who had an acclaimed supporting role in Better Call Saul, and for whom this is her first starring role on a series, it is especially sweet, even being called by her character name on the street.
“Yeah, it is my first lead role, and it’s been so much fun. And yes, I got a couple of ‘Hello, Carol’s now and then in grocery stores, which is pretty funny, but the fans have actually been amazing,” she said. “And the fact that the show, including what Vince is saying, that it is open to interpretation and has engendered really nuanced conversations and these amazing wild swings that take some tone from having comedy to having deep psychological drama and questions and stuff, just makes people actually come up to me with really interesting opinions about the show, and they feel very invested and they feel very invested in the character. And I feel very lucky that it is something that we made, that we’ve made to the best of our abilities, and so we were all so proud of it.”
Wydra felt an immediate connection with Seehorn’s Carol. “What I love about it is that Zosia is there to provide for Carol everything that she needs. I’m there to protect you. I’m there to make you feel seen and good. And it was great to play someone that doesn’t have the full spectrum of emotion, someone that you know is joyous, unflappable, and you know have these beautiful scenes with you where you have these feelings,” she said.
Vesga, the first male Colombian actor to be nominated for an Emmy, plays a man, like Carol, who has not been infected and feels very much alone. It is something he has felt in his own way being someone from another country suddenly in America and playing a role like this. “I would love to say that I was dreaming about this, but I wouldn’t even allow myself to dream this. It wasn’t a possibility. I’m just saying that this doesn’t happen to a Colombian actor, and it did,” he said, praising on Gilligan making it happen for him.
Jeff Hiller, who won an Emmy last year for Somebody, Somewhere and co-stars in another big nominated show this season Widow’s Bay, also from Apple TV, was to say the least surprised by his Guest Male Actor in a Drama Series Emmy nomination for Pluribus since the role doesn’t last more than seven minutes of screen time, and he says he really had no idea what it was about when called in to play it. He gives much credit to Seehorn and some behind the scenes artisans for being so generous.
“Well, it’s always hard to be a guest star, and it’s especially hard to be a guest star on a show that has this complicated of a premise. And the only way that it worked is because Rhea gave up a Sunday, a very precious day off on this very grueling shoot, invited me over, and we rehearsed for, like, hours.” he said, also noting other women on the team who helped that dya. “It was the gift of of those three women on a Sunday afternoon that made the performance.”
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movies
Trump Fumes At CNN Reporter Who Asked About Natalie Harp
Donald Trump fumed at CNN‘s Kristen Holmes as she tried to ask him about his communications with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un.
In the Oval Office on Monday, Trump had been defending his relationship with Kim, saying that “I understand him. He understands.” The president posted on Truth Social on Sunday that he was ordering the military to reduce joint military exercises with South Korea.
Holmes attempted to ask a follow up, but Trump lashed out at her. “Quiet, quiet. You’re very disrespectful in front of this young man.”
The president gestured at Nathaniel Rai, a 10-year-old who was rescued from rough surf in Santa Cruz by lifeguard Ryder Williams, who sat across from him in the Oval Office.
“Okay, don’t you find her disrespectful?” Trump said to the boy. “He understands. Quiet.”
Trump asked Holmes which outlet she was with. When she said CNN, he said, “Fake news. You’re fake news. You’re a loud, boisterous person. You’re fake news. Be quiet…You’re a fake reporter, and you report fake news.”
Holmes is CNN’s senior White House correspondent.
Earlier in the Oval Office availability, Holmes had asked Trump about a comment made by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), who said that the president would rather travel with your aide, Natalie Harp, and build the ballroom, than do his job as president.
“What is your response?” Holmes asked.
Trump called Ossoff a “Pee Wee Herman lookalike” before defending the ballroom.
The White House’s rapid response account, though, blasted Holmes and called her “a disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to her alleged profession. @POTUS hosts a hero lifeguard in the Oval Office and she uses it as an opportunity to take a cheap shot about one of President Trump’s staffer.”
In another post, the White House wrote to Holmes, “Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question. They will be sickened and embarrassed to have a parent be so callous and vindictive. It’s quite troubling.”
The network said in a statement, “Kristen Holmes is one of the most respected and accomplished journalists covering the White House. This afternoon, she did her job and asked the President of the United States a tough, relevant and newsworthy question on behalf of the American people. Public officials are free to challenge reporting they disagree with, but personal attacks on journalists for asking question are beneath the office and inconsistent with the principles of a free press. We stand firmly behind Kristen and reject these attacks in the strongest possible terms.”
Trump said that the North Korean leader had responded to his request to have a conversation. ” get along with him. He didn’t like Biden. He didn’t like Obama. He didn’t like anybody. But I get along with him very well.” He criticized South Korea, the U.S. ally, for not helping with the war with Iran.
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