-Hey, everybody,
thank you for joining us.
I'm Jess Cagle.
We are here to talk about
"The Morning Show."
I love "The Morning Show,"
which is an important show,
but it's also monumentally
entertaining.
Anything that has Jennifer
Aniston and Billy Crudup
doing a duet
from "Sweeney Todd,"
I am in.
Also for what it says
about power in the media,
equality, everything that
we're talking about right now,
this show is taking on
all of those issues.
So you're gonna see
three short panels.
There are -- They are
about 15 minutes each.
We're gonna hear
from Reese Witherspoon
and Jennifer Aniston,
along with their costars
and the other producers.
You're all gonna see some --
You're also gonna see some
clips from "The Morning Show."
So I'm gonna bring
in our first panel.
They're here with me now.
They are Jennifer Aniston,
Billy Crudup,
Gugu Mbatha-Raw,
and Desean K. Terry.
How are you guys?
-Very well.
-Doing good.
-Congratulations.
-Jen and Billy, are you guys
gonna sing that song?
Are they gonna sing
the duet right now?
-Yes. That is --
That's part of the plan.
-Desean, I think
you're well aware
that that was all a recording,
okay?
-Bill, you're not gonna tell
them we actually recorded
the entire show?
That's what actually this whole
hour is going to be.
-My entire performance
was dubbed by Glenn Close.
So, uh...
[ Laughter ]
-I would be so happy with that
entire show, by the way.
Jennifer,
I want to start with you...
-Yes, sir.
-...to start with you
to talk about Alex Levy.
Some of the things
that fascinated me about Alex
are she, you know, struggles in
this male-dominated environment.
She struggles in her life.
She struggles with fame.
She struggles
with her own complicity in --
because she feels she helped
create this environment.
What was it -- what was it
about her that intrigued you
the most when you first started
thinking about this character?
And as the show evolved
from the premiere
through the finale
and the scripts came in,
what surprised you
about her evolution?
-Well, first of all,
everything that you just listed
is what intrigued me about her.
And to be a woman
in this day and age
and understanding
once I really got in
and understood the world
behind this,
you know, machine of ma and pa,
and our sort of comfort zone
every morning when we wake up,
I was -- I was -- I mean,
what intrigued me about her
was how complicated
and how she was able
to kind of manage
all of these spinning plates
while being completely able
to compartmentalize each plate
that she spun and when she got
on camera and spoke to America,
you would not have
a clue of --
that her life was kind of
crumbling around her.
And that was something
after speaking
to a lot of incredible people
that allowed me
to talk to them
when we were doing our research.
That's what -- you can't --
you can't have --
There's no world
there's no world in which
any of your life matters.
It's just really
all about America.
And that ability
to kind of compartmentalize
is astounding to me.
And also the drive to keep
that relevance for as long --
I mean, to really love
that job so much that you
for 15, 25 years
in some cases or longer,
will wake up at 3:00
in the morning,
live this sort of vampire
lifestyle
and love the news that much
that you can make
that kind of --
those great sacrifices.
-The other part was as,
as the scripts came in
and the show evolved,
and as your performance
evolved
and your take on the character,
was there anything
about Alex
that surprised you by the time
we got to the end?
-I mean, I don't -- I'm not
really sure if anything surpr--
I just loved --
I enjoyed every turn
Kerry Ehrin took with Alex.
I -- Nothing
actually surprised me.
I think probably -- and I think
because we also were in constant
communication --
Reese and myself, Kerry,
and the writers
about where this show sort of
was going to evolve
from the beginning to the end.
So we were -- We kind of
had an idea
of where we -- where
our characters would be going.
So there was nothing that
really surprised me so much.
But I think what was really
just surprising,
honestly, was just how --
how exciting it was to be --
And this wasn't a surprise.
I've felt it from the minute
we started doing it,
was just how exciting it was
to be a part of this project
at this time
in the world where all of this
was happening around us
and being able
to be a voice for so many women
and speak and feel that fury,
especially towards the end
of the series,
where when they just
kind of lose it.
And just that shame of knowing
that you stood by for --
for so long, just because,
you know, "Well,
how are we gonna beat that?
How are we gonna beat
corporate America?
We're just a bunch of women.
We won't have a voice."
And yet it turns out,
you actually do.
And it takes a movement.
I mean, just being a part of
a movement is quite incredible.
So...
-Gugu,
I assume that you knew
a lot about Hannah
and her mind-set
and the trauma that she went
through from the very beginning,
you knew that.
The audience,
of course, did not
in the early episodes.
What was it like
to build that character,
knowing what you knew about her?
But to the audience and to the
other characters,
she seems okay.
How did you -- How did you
inhabit that character,
knowing her trauma,
but giving her the face
that she gives
to the rest of the world?
-Yeah, well, Kerry Ehrin,
our show runner,
and Mimi Leder, as you say,
talked to me
through the whole arc
of Hannah's journey
from the outset,
even though I hadn't read
all the scripts.
And, you know, I always feel
and I think, you know,
most actors would agree that
the most interesting characters
to play
are ones that have secrets.
And so for me, it really charged
every scene for me,
even if I didn't have
a lot of dialogue or, you know,
that I knew I had --
I always had something to feel
and I always had something
to think about the situation.
And as in life,
you know, we're always
concealing our trauma.
We always want to look like
we've got it together.
And, you know,
I think obviously for Hannah,
she definitely had
the sort of bomb of her career,
which she was very good
at her job,
very ambitious, very driven.
And she was really
using that to --
as a form of denial, really.
So, so, yeah,
I found that fascinating.
And I think, you know,
there are little moments
that we talked about,
you know, early on in the show,
specifically the scene
where, you know,
Hannah goes and visits
Ashley Brown, for example,
and tries to sort of lure
her onto the show.
And there are moments there
in the script that, you know,
knowing Hannah's
internal motivations
and talking to Mimi
about how to play that
or how not to play that,
you know, that she was actually,
you know,
somewhat living vicariously
through Ashley Brown,
that this meant so much to her
in some ways because,
you know, through Ashley,
you know, who could expose Mitch
and talk about Mitch
on the show,
she was able to kind of feel
that that was,
you know,
something personal to her.
So there were little
moments like that, you know,
and when Mitch comes back
into the studio
to sort of plead with everyone,
you know, everybody's thought
process obviously
is very personal and different,
so...
So, yeah, I think, you know,
and for me, obviously, you know,
as the series kind of went on,
getting to really, you know,
unleash all of that stuff
with the, you know,
the flashback episode in episode
8 was really special.
I was kind of chomping
at the bit, you know,
to get to the meat of her story.
So, yeah, it definitely
made it satisfying for me.
-I forgot to say
in the very beginning,
I am gonna go through this
because we're all remote.
I'm gonna ask, you know,
I'm gonna direct my questions
to you individually.
But anytime you have something
to add to somebody's answer
or whatever,
feel free to jump in
and feel free
to interrupt me all you want.
Billy, Cory is this
fascinating character.
-I do have something to add.
-Yes. Yes, Jennifer.
-Sorry.
I just want to say
Gugu in that episode
was so absolutely phenomenal
and heartbreaking.
It still gives --
The chills and tears.
And I've watched it
so many times.
I mean, all of you have,
obviously.
But that was so delicate and
really so beautifully handled.
And my God, I mean,
I have chills right now.
I just wanted to give you
a very large shout-out
to that
extraordinary performance.
-That means so much.
-I've gone back and watched
a few of the episodes,
and when you know
what has happened
and to all of them,
to all of you,
and when you go back
and look at that performance
or an actor's performance,
knowing what you know about them
and knowing the secrets
that get unveiled later,
it's really remarkable how
all of you kept all of that in.
It's -- it's a fascinating --
I totally encourage
a second viewing of the show.
Billy, when we start --
I just didn't know
what to make about Cory.
I think now I maybe got him
figured out a little bit.
-Why?
-I think he's --
I think he's a good guy
for the most part,
but in the beginning,
we just don't --
You just don't have any idea.
So I'm wondering
if part of the fun
is he keeps
everybody off balance.
That's his -- that's his power.
Right? Whoever is with him.
So how much did you know
about him going in?
Did you know everything
about him or did you learn stuff
along the way
like the rest of us did?
-Well, I probably knew
a little bit more.
But just to echo Jen's sentiment
real quick,
the first thing I thought
when I saw Gugu
and we did some press
after the --
after the show
came out and everything,
but the first thing I thought
when I saw her is,
"Oh, I'm so happy to see you."
Like -- like she's not dead,
like that character, you know.
It was so painful.
And like in my memory,
I was like, "Oh, my God,
you look so great
for being dead and all that."
[ Laughter ]
But...
-You know, can I say
I'm haunted
by what the moment
in the -- in the bedroom,
but also the smoke
on the cobblestone
when she disappeared.
It's so, so heartbreaking.
-It is.
It's really haunting.
-When you go back and...
-It's just right.
I mean, it should haunt you.
It's that kind of thing that not
only haunts a person's life
but haunts the community
around you.
And it's the specter
of that kind of intimidation
that creates a culture
where people don't know
how to behave in a way
that they were taught
when they were younger.
Like, how do we --
The golden rule.
Let's just start there.
You know, how about things
that are obvious to all of us?
They become so confused and...
And they're manipulated
by people
who like to be
in positions of power.
Cory is a person who likes
to be in a position of power.
And one of the ways
that you can manipulate...
I don't know
if you've watched the news,
but just keep people
guessing about what's next.
And you keep people
so discombobulated
and confused that,
meanwhile, you work underneath
to establish rules
that you think are going
to ultimately benefit you.
And I think Cory,
even though we don't know
what his motives are underneath,
whether or not there
is any kind of moral ethic,
he has a very clear
sense of purpose.
And whether that sense
of purpose
is judged after the fact
as being psychopathic
or magnanimous,
or he knows he has
an opportunity
as a person who is
in a position of authority
and someone who the system
has already promoted
just by virtue
of being a white man.
He knows very well
that that's a place of power
and he can't stand the dudes
that wield that
with the kind of thoughtlessness
and lack of empathy.
And that, to me,
was Kerry's, like, hidden secret
that she kind of let me into
with references
to Cory's mom early on,
because I would say to her,
"What is that about?"
And she said, "He was
very close to his mom.
And it's really important to him
that he supports women
in the workplace."
And so for him to be able
and I mean,
one of the bait and switches
is he thinks Jen's character,
at the beginning, just isn't
interested in the game anymore,
which pisses him off.
He's like, "Get in the game.
You're in a position of power."
When he realizes then
that she actually
has that motivation,
but it had been, like,
suppressed by years
of this, you know,
systemic oppression,
he's like, "Sweet.
Let's get on the team.
Let's ride. Let's go.
Let's take this stuff down."
And so that, to me,
was a winning,
if not convoluted approach
to unveiling
a person's moral ethic.
-It was a good reveal.
Desean...
-Wait. Can I just say that
I want to see Cory's mom?
[ Laughter ]
I want to be there.
-I have a very clear
picture of her.
[ Laughter ]
-Anything's possible.
-Desean, you play Daniel,
the weekend anchor,
which enabled --
It enables the show to explore
what this environment is like
for another kind of person,
a black man
trying to navigate it,
trying to, you know,
move up in this environment.
Did -- what do you think
was going through Daniel's mind
as you thought
about the character
and inhabited that character?
He's in that environment.
What is going through his mind?
-Well, you know, Daniel is --
He's so ambitious,
and I think that,
you know, what's fascinating
about the workplace
is it's this --
First,
it's a glitzy world, right,
because you have cameras,
and then it's such
this capitalist world.
And Daniel makes it very clear
from the very beginning
that he -- he comes to play.
And I think what's also
fascinating about it,
or one of the things that
I really have fun with
with this character
and with this world is,
that we, because I do count them
as artists,
journalists,
they're communicators.
So that means that we're --
we're deeply empaths.
And so you're connected.
And so I think it's really
interesting to see the dynamics
between the things that make
them human and the things that,
"Oh, this is my ambition
speaking"
or, you know, that moment
when, you know, I really love
where the series ends
because, you know, Daniel is in
a point of conflict.
And then we see this brave act
being done by Alex.
And the question has been,
"Well, what's going on
through Daniel's head
at that point in time?"
I think at the base of all
of our characters,
for the most part,
we have moments
where we don't trust them.
But I think one of the things
I love about the show
is that at the base
of the characters,
you can see that there's
something good about them.
And I believe at that moment,
Daniel just feels the pain
and empathy of what he,
as a man,
has also been supporting
because
he is not guilty out of this.
All of us have different types
of privilege, right?
So there's different types
of privilege
that he has in that moment.
And in that structure,
he did contribute to that.
But also, as a black man,
he is the one
who is experiencing really
and truly
the lens of oppression
based off of color,
because it is a very,
very colorized world
where you don't see people
like him at the anchor desk.
And I think it's really brave
and amazing to have a character
like that who's speaking
out front about it
and so purposely
is trying to change the world.
And just getting his viewership
does change the world.
Just seeing that image
changes the world.
And Daniel is very much
so aware of that power
and he wants to wield it.
I think to create that image
that he wasn't able to see
when he was a young kid
because he knows how powerful
that can be to a viewer.
-Jennifer and Billy,
whenever you were doing
the "Sweeney Todd" duet,
where you're sitting there,
having given your relationship,
you are really rivals
at that point
and you are singing
to each other,
you know, obviously a song
that says
nothing's gonna harm you,
not while I'm around.
I was so curious what you
thought those characters
thought during that song,
because they're
both smart people.
They must have seen the irony
in what they were singing.
But were they also maybe wanting
their relationship
to be that way, but it's not?
What do you think was going
through Alex and Cory's head?
-I still don't know,
by the way.
But I mean, I think it was --
I think there -- there was --
there's an extreme
mutual admiration for each other
in terms of who they were.
They're both --
I think she knows
what Cory is all about.
And he knows
what Alex is all about.
But there was something
very bizarrely seductive
about the entire --
that -- that interaction
that was sort of,
you got to take away
whatever it was
that you wanted to take away.
Your imagination
could just kind of,
you know, have at it.
But I think it was just
sort of a, you know,
it was like a sparring of,
you know, with each other.
It was very fueled.
But, yes,
it was kind of up to --
I'm still very --
We're still very baffled.
I am still somewhat baffled.
-For us watching it
in the room and we saw it...
-Yeah, what did you guys think?
-...we were like, "Uh,
they about to bone."
[ Laughing ]
-It was very confusing.
-It was rich.
I want to hand it to all of you.
I know that, you know,
you were all talking
about Gugu's performance.
And I noticed in the --
in the finale, you know,
you hear her say --
Really a throwaway line.
You didn't make a lot of this,
where she says,
"It didn't kill me."
And knowing what --
if you --
if it's a second viewing
and you know what's happening,
that is a really
shattering line.
And I have to hand it
to all of you.
Great show.
Great performances.
Thank you for it.
I've now watched it twice.
I'll watch it again.
Anyway we are --
we're out of time
and we're gonna have a clip
and then we're gonna be back
with our next panel.
-I didn't know --
-What about the boys' club that
you told me would never change.
What about that?
-I...I don't know.
I did...I said it.
I didn't realize
how...f--- up.
I just [sighs]
-Goodbye, Alex.
-No, Bradley, I cannot do this.
I need you to get me through
today. I just need you --
-I can't do it!
-I just need you for today.
-"The Morning Show." Can I take
a selfie with you?
-It's really not a good time.
I'm sorry.
Hey, f--- off!
-Ow!
-I said no!
Give me your f--- camera.
-Alex. Alex!
-You f---!
What, do you think
you own me?
You think I'm available
to you 24/7
because I'm in your living room
every morning
trying to make you feel better
about this miserable world?
-What are you doing?
-Well, I'm not. Guess what?
-Alex.
-I'm empty.
This is empty. It's empty.
-Stop it, Alex.
-You know what empty looks like?
It looks like this.
When I say no, it means no.
-Alex! Alex!
Will you just calm
the f--- down?
I will go upstairs
if you just shut the f--- up.
Just give him his phone back.
-Yes, I will.
-Give him his phone back!
-Here's your f--- phone, sir.
-Come on. Come on.
-Piece of s---!
-Leave him. Jesus Christ.
Just today. I'm doing this...
-I know just today.
I know.
-Welcome back.
Now on this panel,
we have Reese Witherspoon.
We have Kerry Ehrin.
We have Karen Pittman
and Mark Duplass.
Reese, I'm gonna start with you.
And in the finale,
I really wanted to ask you
about the scenes
that you have
with Gugu Mbatha-Raw,
where Bradley is learning
the extent of her --
of her trauma.
But she's also trying to do
her job because Bradley,
among many other things,
is a true journalist
in the best sense of the word.
And I wanted to ask you
how you approached those scenes
and how you walked
that tightrope
between having compassion
and getting her to do
what you need her to do.
-Oh, yeah. I actually --
That's a great question
because I think we've
all been thinking a lot
about having trauma-informed
conversations.
Right?
I think we're walking
through a space right now
where basically
everyone we're encountering
is dealing with a lot of trauma.
And Kerry...
It's weird to talk about Kerry,
and she's sitting right here.
-Go ahead.
-You know, I mean, she just
writes brilliantly to the nuance
of those kind of conversations,
right?
So and -- and there's different
tracks going on
at the same time.
My character's a journalist.
She's trying to get to the truth
of this sort
of corporate disease
that exists
within our network.
But she's also thoughtful
about Gugu --
her character's experience.
But is she -- is she really
being thoughtful
about Gugu's trauma
or is she sort of serving
her own ideas
and trying to fulfill
her own needs?
So I think we'll see
as the show ends.
And then as season two begins,
what does it mean
to charge forward with your own
needs being more important
than understanding
someone else's drama?
-Kerry, because
we have you here
and I want to go
straight to the source,
I just want to ask you directly,
what does this show say
about power
and what does it say about
how we as a culture reckon
with inequality in our culture?
-Oh, such a --
I need, like, an hour
and an essay pencil
to answer that.
-That's a big question.
-Break it down
a little bit for me.
Give me the first part.
-What did you want to say
with the show?
The show's about power.
It's certainly about Me Too.
But it really is,
at the heart of it,
it's about power.
And I'm sure that we'll see that
play out in the second season.
But what did you want to say
with this show about power
or the abuse of power?
-Power.
Um, you know, I guess...
My feeling about power
is that it's --
it's the strange thing
that attracts all of us
and usually leads us
off a cliff,
that it isn't necessarily
feeding any good part of you.
But it's linked to some sort
of survival thing
that we left, you know,
thousands of years ago.
But the power in itself
just has this, like,
magical seduction to it.
And we just get focused on it
at the expense
of everything else.
And just and just
and just drive toward it
at all costs.
And I think,
you know, in that sense,
it's a --
it's a morality play.
You know, it's "Don't let this
happen to you."
-When you were, you know,
just starting the first season,
the conversation
about Me Too erupted.
Many people were suddenly
very publicly held accountable
for misconduct and worse.
And right now, as you're going
into the second season,
another cultural conversation
is happening,
long overdue, about race.
How is that informing
or changing
what you're going
to do in the second season?
-Well, we're working
on the second season
because we have the time
basically to kind of go
and dig in
and reinvent it a little bit.
And we're figuring --
we're figuring all that out.
I said recently that you...
like, creative people
are just --
We just absorb everything
and then we repurpose it.
So that's what we're
in the process of doing.
I mean, it has been a huge...
huge eye-opening
and emotional time
that I think is going
to be present
in so many artists' work.
-One of the things
that is so great
and compelling
and interesting about the show
is that it takes
on all of these issues of power,
but it not only doesn't shy
away from the gray areas,
it really runs toward them.
And Karen, you and Mitch,
your relationship,
at least from what I can
interpret from the show
was a very gray area.
And when you learned
that she had had --
that your character
had a "consensual"
relationship with Mitch,
how did you respond to that?
Did you think, "Oh, my gosh,
this is a terrible message"
or, "Oh, my gosh,
this is a really interesting
kind of relationship
to look at"?
-No, it's absolutely
interesting.
It's very challenging.
I love a challenge, though.
And I thought, again,
the writing staff
and Kerry Ehrin, I thought
they handled it beautifully
in a nuanced way.
I mean, I think that no woman
is not familiar
with a very charismatic
predator, right?
That is essentially
what Mitch Kessler is,
the most charismatic man
you would meet.
And the...synergy of when
he starts to prey on you,
you just really --
You really don't know,
you know?
I often would reach out to Kerry
every couple weeks,
would call her,
like, on the weekend
or some moment where I know
she was probably busy
doing something else
or text her and say, "Hey,
Kerry, does Mia find her way
out of it, this episode?"
[ Laughter ]
But, no, she doesn't.
I mean, I think
all the female characters,
we were all under the gun,
we were all under
this emotional,
incredible emotional weight,
this gray area,
which I thought
was just this, of course,
that it sort of exploded in
in episode seven for Mia.
But there's so many
different variations
of how this worked
for each character
that had been affected
by Mitch Kessler.
You had Ashley Brown
and Hannah Schoenfeld
and, of course, Alex Levy.
So, yeah, but for me, it was
a particularly gray area.
But I didn't find that
it was handled any --
subjectively
or judgmentally at all.
It wasn't like we were wagging
a finger at her.
We really were thoughtful
about what her character arc
looked like throughout
the season.
-For me, one of the most --
one of the most
shattering scenes
is when Mia and Alex
are sitting there and pointing
fingers at each other
because you realize the toll
that this kind
of environment takes on people
when these, you know,
two people that should be allies
are suddenly sort of pitted
against each other.
It's really powerful.
Mark, you play Chip, obviously,
who is a, you know,
he's a straight, white male.
Very much part of the system.
He is -- he's a company man,
but he becomes
an ally by the end.
What can you tell me
about his evolution,
Chip's evolution,
and what he learns
and what he has --
what that character
has to say to men,
particularly straight, white men
in the workplace?
-That's a great question.
You know, it's become
a more complex answer
since we've made the show.
And I don't know
that I have a full handle on it,
but I know that at the time
when we were making the show,
one thing that really appealed
to me about Chip --
And you're right.
Being a straight, white male cog
in that machine
is that
I think Chip fancied himself
at least 10% downstream
towards the good side
of how men in that position
of power could be.
He was a pretty good boss, too,
to the women.
He was pretty good to people.
And that was enough
for him in that moment.
And what I think
the show did so well
is that as the Me Too movement
came barreling forward
at an exponential speed,
he found out
that his 10% downstream
was woefully behind
for human standards.
And I think because
he is a decent person,
it threw him
into emotional turmoil,
into existential turmoil.
And I think that he had a lot of
catching up to do
in order to become an ally
and to -- and to, I guess,
reckon with his complicitness
in that part of the problem,
even though
he was a "better version"
of one of those white,
powerful guys.
And I have to say, I identify
with that more than ever now
in 2020
as I think about my own place
and as a person
who runs a company
and what story
do we want to tell now?
And I've always considered
myself to be mostly
on the right side of things
and now can really see Chip
and feel him
and say, "I was close,
but we're all f--- behind."
And I think that one thing
this show was oddly
prescient about
was when the wave comes
and it can't be stopped.
It comes at a speed that none
of us are prepared for.
That's not a bad thing.
You just gotta be willing
to be honest and shift.
And I have no idea, Kerry,
how you're gonna handle
that for season two.
I'm excited to see
what you --
-Good luck.
-Yeah, good luck.
-The conversation about racial
and gender diversity in casts
and on crews is relatively new.
I mean,
it's been had in earnest.
It is being had more
in earnest now.
But over the past
couple of years,
it's been had in earnest.
Do you find it easier now?
Has it gotten any easier to find
the people that you want to hire
and to make sure that the people
with the money allow you
to hire the people
that you want to?
-That's a great question.
I have been,
I mean, working in the Hollywood
world for 30 years
and I've seen enormous shifts
in the past three years,
and I have to say,
like, I found a lot of strength
through the Time's Up movement
by other women
who are super aligned
with trying to find equity
in our workplace.
And that's really
intersectional work
that I had never experienced
before in our business
and really understanding
that all of those things
were possible.
Part of what really
inspired me, too,
was working with Ava DuVernay
on "Wrinkle in Time."
And the work that she had done
behind the camera
to make sure
that the crews were diverse
and that we were, you know,
how -- what story you tell
is just as important
as how you tell the story.
--What are -- what are each
of you and I --
Kerry, this will be harder
for you to answer.
But each of you tell me
what relationship or aspect
of your character
you're most excited
to explore more in season two.
I'll start with Karen.
-Yikes.
Starting with me, are you?
Um, I think the aspect
that I'm most interested
in exploring is,
you know,
Mia walked through season one
with a great deal of --
Always walking into a scene
with Mia,
I had to carry the motivation
of, "I am gonna turn
this conversation around
about what happened with Mitch,"
in every moment,
whether it was with Alex
or with Bradley
or with Cory or with Chip.
It was always in
some kind of response
to, "I need to fix this thing
that I did."
It felt like every response,
everything
that she was challenged with
was in some --
Somewhere in her behavior was
a response to this mistake
that she made,
this self-inflicted wound.
So because she addressed it
in episode seven so well
and we took her
all the way through to
episode 10, I'm interested
what it will be like
when Mia is not actually --
every single thing
that she did in the back
of her mind
wasn't that f--- that she did
with Mitch Kessler.
You know, that's gonna be
interesting for me
to see what her emotional
landscape is gonna look like
for season two.
No pressure, Kerry Ehrin.
-No, yeah, I...
You won't be disappointed.
[ Laughter ]
-Mark, I'm really confused
about Chip.
Like, is he gonna be back?
What's gonna --
What's gonna be
happening with Chip?
Or what are you excited
to know about?
-Listen, I know some things.
I don't want to say anything
because I don't want to ruin it.
And who knows what the hell
Kerry's rewritten at this point.
But I will say that
what I love about Chip
is that he is very --
he is very nimble.
He's good at being on his feet.
He's good at convincing
people of things.
But he's a lonely guy.
And when it comes to his
interpersonal relationships,
there's a massive black
hole there,
and I'm looking forward
to seeing
that little Achilles heel of his
as it affects
not only his work life,
but, you know, that real
vulnerability of someone
once they allow themselves
to get close to someone
and how
that really is wonderful,
but also sends a wrecking ball
into your life sometimes.
-Reese, what about you?
What about Bradley?
-[ Sighs ]
I just love Bradley so much.
[ Laughter ]
She has this hair-trigger temper
that is just so fun to play.
And this truth-teller
sensibility
that she just wishes
she could stop
and she just can't,
and I relate to that so much.
'Cause I have a big, fat mouth
sometimes.
[ Laughter ]
-Glad to know
that that won't stop.
-No.
-No, and I love what Kerry
explores with power
and how that affects people.
What is power, right?
And what is ego?
And what do you do with power,
right, once you have it?
I'm really excited to see that
because Bradley is maybe
gonna explore
having a little more power
in her life.
-Thank you guys so much.
Karen Pittman, Mark Duplass,
Kerry Ehrin, Reese Witherspoon.
We are gonna be back
with our next panel
right after this clip
from "The Morning Show."
-I chose you.
And everything is
on the line for me.
-We have an opportunity to do
something truly meaningful.
-We're "The Morning Show."
We can do anything.
-It's my whole life.
You can't ask me
to not fight for that.
-We're in the middle
of an epic rebirth.
♪♪
-Alright, our next
"Morning Show" panel,
we have Mimi Leder,
Michael Ellenberg,
Nestor Carbonell
and Brian Stelter.
These are four
of the smartest people
that are working in Hollywood.
I have to say,
it just so happened
that the four of you
are right exactly.
He did.
-Don't let it fool you.
Please don't.
-Nestor, if he hadn't mentioned
that you had gone to Harvard,
would you have mentioned it
in your first answer?
-Well, you know,
if I hadn't, Mimi --
I'm sorry. Not Mimi.
But I know Kerry Ehrin
would have.
She made fun of it
the first episode of our show.
It was about dropping the --
dropping --
Well, they they called it...
-"Harvard, Harvard, Harvard."
-Yeah, "Harvard, Harvard,
Harvard."
It was called
dropping the "H" bomb.
I learned quickly never
to bring that up.
You never bring up
where you go to college
if you go to that school
because no one wants to hear it.
-Mimi, I'm gonna start --
I'm gonna start
this panel with you.
So you directed four
of the episodes,
hired all
of the other directors.
You are the supervising
director.
This was a show that, you know,
had such gigantic expectations.
It was Apple.
It was two of the biggest stars
on the planet.
It was -- it was about
something
that everybody
was talking about.
I know that you must have had
a tremendous amount
of input from
a lot of different places
as you were
directing these shows.
How does a director take all
of that input and then maintain
a really cohesive vision
for the show, which it has?
It's one of the things
that's so great about it.
But also then,
you know, hand it off
to some other directors
for a lot of the episodes.
-Well, you know, I was there,
you know,
from the very beginning,
you know, before a script
was even written.
You know, I was always
interested in this world.
And I read Brian's book.
I had dinner
with Michael and I was in.
And when I developed
the look for the show,
I wanted it to have
a very strong visual style.
Obviously,
in the morning-show light,
on a morning-show set,
it's very bright.
It's very clean.
It's kind of perfect.
But our world is a very
messy world.
And a lot of, you know,
saturation.
So I wanted it
to be very colorful.
I wanted to shoot the women
as you would shoot a man,
you know, with big close-ups,
because a lot of DPs,
they don't want to shoot.
They don't want to go in there
and go tight on women of any age
because it's like,
"No, no, it's too tight.
You know, stay back."
And I really felt that this was
such an exploration of --
Hate this expression --
but two very powerful,
complicated women.
And so I wanted to do big frames
where you see the character,
character of the city
next to their faces.
And so you go in and you create
a pilot, you create a look.
And what you hope for
when you hire other directors
is that they honor your style.
And they do, and you hope
that they make it even better.
You know, because I decided
when we started this show
that there were gonna be
no visual rules,
because sometimes you go in
and you make a show and you say,
"Okay, we're not gonna do
any hand-held shots."
Well, this was a completely
different, you know, approach.
We could do hand-held.
We could do cranes.
We could do steady cams.
We could do lock-offs.
We could do a long lens.
It was all about
what the scene was about
and how to best
tell the story visually.
And, you know, it -- it was
a very detailed look this season
at how sexual assault happens
to one of our characters
and, you know, to shoot that,
you had to really get in there
and get in there emotionally
with the camera.
And so that's what I tried
to do with the show.
And I think that's what --
how it was written.
And, yeah.
It was a great exploration.
-Mimi, you know,
Mimi's shepherded
all of our directors,
including a dear friend of ours,
Lynn Shelton,
who did really a wonderful job
for us on the fourth episode.
And so we're -- we're --
we're heartbroken about her --
her untimely death.
-Absolutely. It was shocking.
And she brought, you know,
her indie cred to the show
and really put her stamp
on her episode.
You know, and that's
what really great directors do.
They come in
and they do something special
and they make you pay attention
and you sometimes
don't even know why.
And that's the best outcome.
-Michael, one of the things
that is so interesting
about the show
and really bold of the show
is that we hear all of these
various male perspectives.
So, for example,
you know, for example,
Mitch thinks he hasn't done
anything wrong.
I think the great line
is, "From the dawn of time,
men have used their power
to attract women."
And now he's just angry that,
you know, the rules have changed
and that
he's being treated unfairly.
But for the creative
team and the writers,
was it difficult to,
you know, get into
the head of a chauvinist
and then present what
he's thinking and make him human
without excusing his behavior
or his world view?
But because you do manage
to do that.
And I just wonder what
the creative process was like
in getting to those
to those places in the scripts.
-Yeah, I mean, obviously,
Kerry can speak best to it.
But the show and really her...
I'd say emotional, thematic
and kind of vision of the world,
not just the show,
is that the show has
a very clear moral point
of view,
but inside that,
her real desire
was for --
not to have a show where --
for the audience to feel safe,
you know, where, like,
it shouldn't feel like
three years ago,
everything was fine
and you were good.
Oh, and here's
someone clearly bad.
And that didn't feel like a
thing that would have addressed
the reality of where we were
and being a kind of
honest reflection
that would yield real growth
and real depth
and meaning going forward.
There was always a desire
to show the humanity
by people who could do
horrible things on the show
and people who do good things
in the show
and have a real reckoning
for all of us watching at home,
which is, you know, which parts
of all of us, you know,
we have bits of all these people
in our lives.
And so it's really delicate.
You need an amazing writer,
you need amazing actors,
you need an amazing director
so that the intention is to get
to something deeper,
more meaningful without feeling
like you're trying to excuse
anything.
And he's also ridiculous,
you know.
And so there's a humor
in it, too,
that the show is able
to capture.
And Carell --
The last thing I'll say
is I think the casting of Carell
was vital in all of this,
which is that he was a really --
is a really brave actor
and a brilliant actor.
There was a very conscious
intent
from the beginning,
which is that to have
someone like Steve,
who an audience loves,
admires and thinks of
as their friend
and as their uncle and someone
they just can't imagine
would have done
these bad things.
And so we were trying to very
much echo the experience people
had watching some
of their most beloved people,
learning these horrible things
about them.
And so you could go
on that journey
and go home with him and see it
and doesn't excuse it,
but it allows you to be there
and take it in
and then go on this ride.
And then when you really see
what happened,
you're really distressed by it.
And then that experience,
it's to earn that episode
with Gugu,
the flashback episode
in Las Vegas.
-Nestor, your character, Yanko,
who is the weatherman,
he is --
One of the things
that I said earlier this evening
that I love about the show
is it rushes into
these gray areas.
It doesn't just,
you know, not avoid them.
It rushes into them.
And, you know,
Yanko is in a relationship
with a subordinate played
by Bel Powley,
who plays Claire is her name.
So when, you know,
when Yanko and Claire
had their scenes together,
it was very important that Yanko
not seem like a predator,
even though he is older
and he's famous
and he's a big deal on the show.
How did you and Bel
navigate those scenes together
and what kind of conversations
did you two have
about their relationship?
-Sure.
That's a great question.
I mean, it really --
It's a bit more about
the writing, though,
in terms of what Kerry
was conceiving
in terms of this dynamic
and how did it start.
And then there's a flashback
scene in episode eight,
I believe, which is sort of
the genesis of this relationship
where she approaches Yanko --
Claire approaches Yanko
off the heels
of watching him do a weathercast
in Puerto Rico.
And so she's really
initiating the dynamic,
whereas my character
sort of falls
into this thing
that she initiates.
And I think a lot of it
was about intention,
about motivation, about --
And so I spoke with Bel
about this,
like, "How did we meet?"
You know, we sort of created
a loose history among ourselves,
like, you know,
even before we shot that scene
because it was important for it
to be a pure love.
As you said,
it couldn't be something
that was sort of lecherous
on his part,
him being a subordinate.
And I did --
You know, the fact that he's
a lot older than her as well,
obviously plays into it.
So, yeah, it was important
for us to come up with something
sort of pure and innocent
and that we had fallen into.
And then just by the sheer fact
that those things
are problematic in a workspace,
there's your conflict.
But -- but we had to play
against that conflict
as much as we could
by keeping it as pure
and innocent as possible.
Yeah.
-Brian, probably nobody
in the world knows more
about the news business
and particularly the TV news
industry than you.
And what so much of this show
is about
besides being about power,
it's about the news media
and it's about the news'
responsibility
to hold
the powerful accountable.
And that is something that has
become more and more difficult
for the media to do at a time
when the world is so divisive
and everybody can tune in
to whatever website
or network will tell them
what they want to hear.
And, you know, journalists
are being called the enemy,
you know,
by the leader of our country.
What do you think
the media needs to do
in order to try to do its job
and try to do the thing
that it was supposed to do
against all of these obstacles?
-First of all, I want to make
you my TV agent,
because you are very flattering.
I am grateful.
Look, everybody
on television, right,
the Bradleys and Alices
of the world
of the morning show,
you see a vulnerability and an
insecurity in those characters.
I mean, not to mention,
you know,
this disgraced former anchor
who's been taken down.
All of them are so insecure,
so vulnerable.
And yet that is what makes them
so appealing to the viewers,
so relatable, so powerful.
And I think
we show power dynamics
in different ways on this show.
And we talked about it
on one level,
the Me Too movement
and those power dynamics,
but also who has
the power on air?
Is it the anchors
or the producers?
Is it the anchors
or the executives?
Who has the power
to shape narratives
and tell you
what is true in the world?
I love how this season
begins with Bradley
at a protest covering a protest
for a conservative news channel
and then the debates
that she gets into with people.
I love early in the season,
the conversation
among executives
about what news is in this
entertainment-saturated world,
because those are
real conversations
that are actually happening
in newsrooms
and in media companies.
And if you think about what's
happened the past three months,
like, I'm here
in my spare bedroom.
I got a camera behind me
because this is the studio
where me and my wife
do live shots for TV,
like, everything has gone upside
down in the last three months.
And I think in some ways
that's helped with transparency
with the viewers.
I think in real-world media,
real-world news,
the more honest and transparent
and relatable we can be,
the better.
And morning shows do that more
effectively than anything else.
You know, when you're watching
Savannah Guthrie
or Robin Roberts or Gayle King,
you know, you're inside their
world like no other time of day,
like no other form of media.
I think that's why this show
is so relatable
and so compelling
for people as well,
because everybody wants to know
what it was really like
for a male anchor
who was fired.
They want to know
what it was like
for that person
at home afterwards.
They want to know what it was
like for the staff afterwards.
And, you know, Kerry and Mimi
and Mike,
everyone's dramatized this
and let people see
behind the curtain
in a way that
no other show ever has.
-Mimi, was there a --
was there a particular sequence
or scene that when you think
back on the first season,
was particularly
challenging to get
exactly right?
There were, you know,
there are so many
difficult conversations
and characters.
There are so many interactions
between people.
Gosh, I mean, I could, you know,
the scenes between
Bradley and Hannah alone,
but tell me one that was
particularly tricky to get right
and how you did it.
-Well, there were so many
that were challenging.
I would say the scene
where --
I would say the scene
where Bradley
is at the protest
was an extremely
challenging scene.
It was Reese's --
Actually, I think
her first scene that she shot.
So there we were
in the middle,
you know,
in this kind of dirty mine.
You know, it's
100-degree weather
trying to figure out
the levels of anger,
the levels of emotion,
the measure and the level
of how much this character
loses her s---.
How far does
this character go?
And, you know,
when an actor first hits,
you know,
puts their feet in their shoes,
they're just, you know,
they're just touching,
you know, just trying to figure
who they are.
And so, it was a big challenge
to throw her in
and have her scream
at this guy and call him out.
And it was, you know,
one of her Achilles heels
in that she -- this was the
thing that has held her back
in her career
is this character.
And so it was really hard to,
in the middle of 300 extras,
to modulate that performance.
But, you know,
she's a brilliant actress.
And we worked
really hard on it.
And we found it.
And it was really challenging.
And Jen Aniston's first scene
that she did
in the season
was her last scene in the pilot,
where she goes to Mitch's house.
And she also had to go,
you know,
90, 100 miles an hour
and also find those grace notes
and also find the quiet
and all the stuff
between the lines.
And so, you know, the material
is very challenging.
It's brilliantly written.
You know, it's such a gift,
this show that, you know,
Brian gave us
and this world
that we are peeling
all these layers of.
And, you know, we have Nestor.
We have all these
brilliant actors,
Jen and Reese and Desean
and Mark Duplass, Billy Crudup.
I know I'm leaving someone out.
You know, Karen Pittman,
Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
And it's -- it's just --
it's a joy
to come to work and say,
"Okay, what are we gonna
figure out today?
How are we gonna get
to the center of this scene?
What is the scene about?"
And it's just been
really challenging
and really fun, you know,
finding these details
and telling this...
you know, showing this world
and the messiness
and how complicated it is
and how f------- up we all are.
-And if I can just add to that,
when I wrote my book
about morning TV many years ago,
I came away loving
these shows even more.
Like, yes, there was drama.
Yes, there were scandals
and intrigue,
but I came away
loving the shows
and appreciating
the shows even more.
And when you brought up just,
you know,
enemy of the people rhetoric,
outrageous and hateful things
said by the President and other
politicians in this environment
we're in
in the real world,
one way to combat those lies
and smears is by showing
who we are, showing the people,
showing the real people.
And I think what
this show does,
it dramatizes what it's like
for real journalists,
what the real pressures are,
what the real tensions
are between,
you know, straight vanilla
news and entertainment,
like, that kind of conversation,
that kind of attention
is what disproves enemy
of the people lies.
That kind of demonstration
of how newsrooms really work
is what counters those smears
and bulls---.
-But what Mimi has neglected
to say,
which is instrumental
in executing this,
is creating an environment,
so that someone like, you know,
when you have a scene
like where Bradley,
you know, Reese's first scene
or Jen's first scene
seems insurmountable for anyone
to tackle that scene,
let alone for that
to be their first scene.
Is that you have someone
set the stage, you know,
like Mimi, to have
a relaxed environment.
And that is just --
it's very hard
to do for any director.
And I remember talking
to Bel about this.
We had a tough scene.
One of our first scenes
was tough.
And it was like, I felt
every time I talked to you,
Mimi, it was almost like
I felt like
there was also a therapist
there, you know,
and you do.
You create
this beautiful environment
that allows for actors
to let go
and trust, you know,
and just be there.
And that is the truth.
I mean, that's what --
I mean, among many other things
that you do beautifully,
that's just instrumental
into any scene
is to have
everyone's guard down
and just to be raw and honest.
And certainly this show
called for it.
Whenever you work
with Kerry Ehrin,
you're gonna be called
to be as raw as you can be
and you set the stage for that.
And that's -- that was huge.
To have you there
at the helm is enormous.
-Thank you.
-What is happening right now
with the show?
Is everybody
in the writers' room
but working remotely?
Where are we?
-Yes, the writers
are working remotely.
And, you know,
it's a new -- the new normal.
And we are, you know,
we were in the middle
of shooting the first episode
when we shut down.
And, you know, we are working
all the COVID protocols
and figuring out
how to go back to work safely.
And that's what we're in
the middle of doing
and fine-tuning our scripts.
-Is everybody shooting
for, like, early --
I know the, you know,
probably ideally
the second season
would have started in November.
Are you thinking now
maybe early 2021?
-You mean when you see it?
-When I will see it.
Oh, yeah. When I'll see it.
When you'll be done
and it'll air.
-Yeah. I mean -- I mean --
Yeah. Yeah.
I don't think we'll be able
to finish shooting this year.
But the, you know,
I've talked to Apple, obviously,
about when will it air
and be back?
-Alright.
-There's gonna be a lot
of shows like that.
-Yeah.
-I can't wait.
Thank you, all of you.
Nestor Carbonell, Mimi Leder,
Michael Ellenberg,
Brian Stelter.
And thank you.
We're out of time,
but thank you
for everybody who joined in.
And listen, thanks to the actors
and producers
for taking time to come on
and answer our questions.
And thank you, Apple TV+
for making it all happen
and including me in it.
Everybody stay safe
and stay healthy. Bye.
-Thank you.
-Thank you, Jess.
-This is...
-Dramatic.
Thrilling.
-You stole my life with this.
You left me in the woods
with a pack of wolves
-This is an important story.
-What if that takes
down the network,
the show, and everybody on it?
-Is that a risk worth taking?
-Get on this ride.
It's gonna be a good one.
