black gender in the most cosmopolitan San Francisco
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His name began to sound strong as the revelation in “The Morning Show”, the Reese Witherspoon series, Steve Carell and Jennifer Aniston in AppleTV+but we had already seen her before in “Undercovers”, “Jupiter’s Destiny” or “Black Mirror”, starring in the mythical episode titled “Saint Juniper”. Gugu Mbatha Raw (United Kingdom, 1983), who is also already part of the Marvel universe through “Loki”, is ready to shine in what is probably the best moment of her career as an actress… so she has thrown herself into production . From the hand of Witherspoon herself and her company Hello Sunshinethe British has debuted as an executive in “Appearances” (“Surface”), which also stars alongside Oliver Jackson Cohen (“The Curse of Hill House”) and is now available on AppleTV +.
Both interpreters responded to LA RAZÓN by videoconference about their new series, a black genre intrigue based in the most posh and cosmopolitan heart of San Francisco. Mbatha-Raw plays Sophie, a “vase” woman who wakes up after suffering an accident on board a ship. Declared a failed suicide attempt, the event leaves the protagonist with amnesia and with several doubts about the intentions of her husband (Jackson-Cohen). From there, the referents become explicit: “Appearances” (“Surface”) It is seen in “Big Little Lies” and “The Affair”, but it also has similarities with “The Undoing” at times, beyond the powerful mystery of the thriller. The new fiction on AppleTV+, which is gradually establishing itself as the best original series platform on the market, maintains the standards of its label and,Although she flirts at times with the soap opera, she knows how to be self-aware and take the viewer towards the identifiable, the real and the polyhedral and dark of the most reprehensible human behavior.
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-What was there in the series that made you want to be part of the project?
-Gugu Mbatha-Raw: The script! It was too good to pass up. When I read it for the first time I was trapped by that world so gloomy, so luxurious too. And so dark, so imbued with the very character of San Francisco. It was very compelling and offered, I think, a fresh look at these kinds of thrillers. Also, I really wanted to work with Hello Sunshine again after “The Morning Show”.
-Oliver Jackson-Cohen: I think for the same reasons as Gugu, I found it incredible how compelling the script was. It was something new in this genre, perhaps something I had never read before. I couldn’t compare it with other series, and that caught my attention. Then I found out who was behind it and it made me want to be part of the project even more. I didn’t have to think about it much.
-Gugu, this is your first production. How did it happen? Did you want to work with Reese Witherspoon again? How did you get on the “Appearances” ship?
-G. MR.: Exactly, this is my first time as an executive producer and yes, it all comes from previous experience on “The Morning Show”. Knowing, also, how the team worked and how well they do things. Above all for its capacity for female empowerment and for creating complex female characters, not flat or Manichaean. They know how to tell stories, and they offered me the opportunity to come on board with the script still unfinished. I have learned a lot, both in the pre-production phase and during the shooting.
-“Appearances” deals from the first minute with adult themes, such as suicide attempts, trauma or gender violence. Do you think that Apple fills a bit that gap of explicitly adult fiction? What was missing a series of content aimed at a more specific viewer?
-G. MR.: I think the series is adult, yes, but it is also aware all the time of its fictional nature. The core of the series remains a thriller, however relatable the plot may be at certain points. I love the complex and sometimes disastrous side in terms of humanity that the series develops.
-Oliver, after your work with Mike Flanagan and your role in “The Invisible Man”, it seems that you are good at bringing those dark, troubled husbands to life…
-EITHER. JC.: I think it’s pure coincidence. It’s not like I go looking for asshole roles on purpose (laugh). I owe a lot to the work on “The Haunting of Hill House” and “The Haunting of Bly Manor” for the exposure, for letting people know about me as an actor and as a person, but the James that I play in “ Appearances”, I think, is different. I love the ambiguity with which it is written, is it the bad guy? According to whom? Under what perspective? That complexity is what fills the series with positive greys. Being buried by secrets creates a sensation that, from the dramatic point of view, is splendid. In each episode we gain a little more perspective, one more page of the whole story. It’s hard to talk a lot without doing spoilersbut I love that it’s up to the audience to decide if it’s honest or sinister.
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-Your characters, husband and wife, share a lot of screen time and a certain disconcerting chemistry. How is it achieved?
-G. MR.: I think that thanks to the tension, it is as if at no time were we completely comfortable. And that is created thanks to the energy and the desire that the other can offer you everything as an interpreter. Confidence is also important, to reach such vulnerable places, so little exposed of oneself. Oliver was there for me the whole time.
-EITHER. JC: Gugsss! (laugh). I know it may seem hackneyed, but that experience is reciprocal. There are no words to explain the force of nature that this woman is.
-Gugu, last summer we talked about your role in “Loki”. This year you make your debut as a producer in “Appearances”. I want to think that next summer you will be directing…
-G. MR.: It’s been a crazy year, but at the moment I don’t see myself trained. Directing involves giving too many orders, so I haven’t contemplated it yet. I just finished an action movie and soon we will start shooting the second season of “Loki”. I have a full plate for the moment, and I am very grateful.
-EITHER. JC.: It is possible that by the end of 2025 you will own a studio.
-Oliver has almost answered before, but I wanted to ask you. When one faces such a complex character, so polyhedral, do you try to justify it? Does he live with you morally or are you just trying to distance each other?
-G. MR.: You can’t judge the character, ever. Even if they make decisions that you consider bad or stupid. Not even the objectively negative ones. What you have to do as an actor is try to understand why he does what he does and what has led him to it. Everyone tries to do it right, no one makes mistakes on purpose, so the study of the situation becomes even more necessary. Nobody cares about perfect characters.
-How was the work with Veronica West, the showrunner? She has nearly a decade of TV experience, but “Appearances” seems like his big break…
-EITHER. JC .: He has a head, some incredible ideas. The first thing she did was tell us where the original idea came from, which is in a 2019 documentary called Tell Me Who I Am. In that movie, a twin has to trust his brother to tell him about his life before he was 18, when he had an accident that caused him to lose his memory. He gave us homework, but he also counted on us to continue shaping the series on the fly.