The Americans at Paleyfest 2013
Oct. 5th, 2013 08:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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theamericansGreetings from New York, the morning after the Paleyfest 2013 panel on The Americans. I was lucky enough to be in the audience for it, and as promised, this is going to be my complete writeup. (If you're looking for a shorter, journalism-y-er version, this Deadline piece is pretty good, and this Rolling Stone piece is even better.) Edited to add: A shortened version of the panel is now up in video form, here:
By the time the audience started arriving, the Paley Center had the "red carpet" all decked out and ready to go, and the media were beginning to assemble to take pictures. It was the normal array of U.S.-based entertainment publications, mostly, but I was amused to see that Elle Russia was also slated to be in attendance (have a look at the pieces of paper on the floor in this first shot):
Then they took the assembled audience and asked us to approach the theatre, single-file (how civilized!), and eventually let us go in to choose our seats (I earmarked seats in the fourth row for myself andsistermagpie):
Once inside, moderator Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture and rogerebert.com introduced the evening by talking about how his reaction to seeing the pilot was to tell his editor that despite the fact that he was already recapping a couple of other shows for the magazine, that he really, really wanted to recap this one too. To which his editor responded: "Are you out of your mind? If you feel that strongly about it, maybe we can find someone else to do it." But he insisted on doing it himself because "there's something exciting and unique and almost magical about the first episode of this show." (For which we fans were all immensely grateful; Matt Zoller Seitz is by far the best recapper out there.)
Then they showed us a forty-minute compilation of the highlights of the first season, from the pilot straight through to the finale. I didn't think they could do it, but they actually did manage to hit most of the key moments in that rather exciting first season (to which Matt Zoller Seitz responded: "What a decade!").
The panel assembled soon after that: from left to right were Noah Emmerich, Matthew Rhys, Keri Russell, Joel Fields, and Joe Weisberg.
Since there's eventually going to be a video of the entire panel on the Paley Center's website, I won't go through the whole thing question by question, but here are some of the highlights:
Matt Zoller Seitz asked Joe Weisberg at what point in his spy career (he's a former CIA agent) he realized he was perhaps destined for a different line of work altogether, and his response was that it was actually on his first day. He arrived with a whole set of new recruits all excited to begin their new career, but then spent the entire first day (and then every day for six weeks!) talking about the organizational structure of the CIA.
He also mentioned that when he took the polygraph test that was mandatory for being admitted to the service, one of the questions was about whether he was joining the CIA in order to gain information about the intelligence service in order to write about it later. He said the idea had never occurred to him, but that he then thought: "hmm!" *g*
Joel Fields was the one who addressed the question about the Sopranos and whether or not it loomed large upon a show about people living double lives, and he responded that he saw that show as having changed everything for television, but that they were more focused on the relationship dynamics and how people are all kind of "spies in their own lives."
(I deeply covet his t-shirt, by the way.)
Matt Zoller Seitz mentioned that when he's trying to get people to buy into the concept of the show, one of the things he says to convince people is that it's funny, that the situations these people find themselves in are almost farcical. Joel Fields responded by saying that they just try to keep things real, and that it's real life that's funny.
The actors on the panel were asked what it was like playing characters who are in turn playing other characters, and how you let the audience know what the core character is feeling rather than just letting that be covered up by the second character. Matthew Rhys was the one to respond to that, saying that it was a real gift to be able to have an acting challenge like that.
As they were talking about the wigs and disguises, Joe Weisberg recounted how it was while they were shooting the finale that an American spy was arrested in Moscow wearing "a bad Andy Warhol wig" (and then the cast all talked to each other about how their own props for the show were so much better!).
When asked about what background research they did in order to play their characters, the actors talked about being trained by Joe Weisberg in countersurveillance techniques (Matthew Rhys said he was bad at it but that the other two were good at it, to which Noah Emmerich responded: "We've been following you for weeks!")
Actually, the whole panel was full of those kinds of funny moments. As they were talking about what the show was "about" and the balance between the spycraft and the marriage, Matthew Rhys said: "I think marriage and spycraft go together incredibly well."
...and then Noah Emmerich retorted: "I thought it was about an FBI agent."
And then there was the moment when Matthew Rhys recounted how, when they were shooting the scene in the pilot where Philip and Robert are pursuing Timoshev, there were a bunch of guys standing around watching them do it, and every time Rhys delivered the line: "Immigration, we just want to talk!", the guys would all yell it in unison (as a result, the line needed to be redubbed into the final version of the pilot).
And then there was another moment when Matthew Rhys was asked whether Philip was ever going to get a chance to play a Welsh person, and Matthew said that he's been desperately trying to convince them of that. Except that it would mean playing "Welsh intelligence, which is an oxymoron." Good times.
Audience questions formed the last twenty minutes or so.
It was pretty clear that the question about the "provocativeness of the sex" was aimed at Matthew Rhys and his escapades with Martha, but he deferred and passed the question on to "Ms. Russell."
She said that she found a saving grace in the fact that they're "always using sex to get something" on this show, that the duplicity and manipulation makes having to perform sex scenes more freeing because you don't have to just be sexy.
Noah Emmerich was asked how much Stan actually still suspects about Philip and Elizabeth at this point in the show, and he deflected the question quite well, not giving a direct answer. Because of course that's part of the fun.
When asked what they were able to reveal about the second season, they were all very tight-lipped (other than saying that if the first season was about marriage, then the second season was going to be more about family), but they did mention that they'd done the cast read-through of the first episode of season two that very day. The actors also mentioned that they'd only seen the first couple of scripts so far (and then there was some fine banter between the three actors about how much they each wanted to know ahead of time). Ultimately, though, Joe Weisberg did reveal that there would be some more Russian actors in the second season, and that they were going to "build up the Rezidentura world" some more.
sistermagpie and I had dinner reservations, so we had to run off afterward, but it was still fun to catch the masses of fans in front of the Paley Center and the way the actors were indulging them with photos before they climbed into their cars and drove home. All in all, it was a terrific evening, and I'm so glad I was able to attend.
By the time the audience started arriving, the Paley Center had the "red carpet" all decked out and ready to go, and the media were beginning to assemble to take pictures. It was the normal array of U.S.-based entertainment publications, mostly, but I was amused to see that Elle Russia was also slated to be in attendance (have a look at the pieces of paper on the floor in this first shot):
Then they took the assembled audience and asked us to approach the theatre, single-file (how civilized!), and eventually let us go in to choose our seats (I earmarked seats in the fourth row for myself and
sistermagpie):Once inside, moderator Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture and rogerebert.com introduced the evening by talking about how his reaction to seeing the pilot was to tell his editor that despite the fact that he was already recapping a couple of other shows for the magazine, that he really, really wanted to recap this one too. To which his editor responded: "Are you out of your mind? If you feel that strongly about it, maybe we can find someone else to do it." But he insisted on doing it himself because "there's something exciting and unique and almost magical about the first episode of this show." (For which we fans were all immensely grateful; Matt Zoller Seitz is by far the best recapper out there.)
Then they showed us a forty-minute compilation of the highlights of the first season, from the pilot straight through to the finale. I didn't think they could do it, but they actually did manage to hit most of the key moments in that rather exciting first season (to which Matt Zoller Seitz responded: "What a decade!").
The panel assembled soon after that: from left to right were Noah Emmerich, Matthew Rhys, Keri Russell, Joel Fields, and Joe Weisberg.
Since there's eventually going to be a video of the entire panel on the Paley Center's website, I won't go through the whole thing question by question, but here are some of the highlights:
Matt Zoller Seitz asked Joe Weisberg at what point in his spy career (he's a former CIA agent) he realized he was perhaps destined for a different line of work altogether, and his response was that it was actually on his first day. He arrived with a whole set of new recruits all excited to begin their new career, but then spent the entire first day (and then every day for six weeks!) talking about the organizational structure of the CIA.
He also mentioned that when he took the polygraph test that was mandatory for being admitted to the service, one of the questions was about whether he was joining the CIA in order to gain information about the intelligence service in order to write about it later. He said the idea had never occurred to him, but that he then thought: "hmm!" *g*
Joel Fields was the one who addressed the question about the Sopranos and whether or not it loomed large upon a show about people living double lives, and he responded that he saw that show as having changed everything for television, but that they were more focused on the relationship dynamics and how people are all kind of "spies in their own lives."
(I deeply covet his t-shirt, by the way.)
Matt Zoller Seitz mentioned that when he's trying to get people to buy into the concept of the show, one of the things he says to convince people is that it's funny, that the situations these people find themselves in are almost farcical. Joel Fields responded by saying that they just try to keep things real, and that it's real life that's funny.
The actors on the panel were asked what it was like playing characters who are in turn playing other characters, and how you let the audience know what the core character is feeling rather than just letting that be covered up by the second character. Matthew Rhys was the one to respond to that, saying that it was a real gift to be able to have an acting challenge like that.
As they were talking about the wigs and disguises, Joe Weisberg recounted how it was while they were shooting the finale that an American spy was arrested in Moscow wearing "a bad Andy Warhol wig" (and then the cast all talked to each other about how their own props for the show were so much better!).
When asked about what background research they did in order to play their characters, the actors talked about being trained by Joe Weisberg in countersurveillance techniques (Matthew Rhys said he was bad at it but that the other two were good at it, to which Noah Emmerich responded: "We've been following you for weeks!")
Actually, the whole panel was full of those kinds of funny moments. As they were talking about what the show was "about" and the balance between the spycraft and the marriage, Matthew Rhys said: "I think marriage and spycraft go together incredibly well."
...and then Noah Emmerich retorted: "I thought it was about an FBI agent."
And then there was the moment when Matthew Rhys recounted how, when they were shooting the scene in the pilot where Philip and Robert are pursuing Timoshev, there were a bunch of guys standing around watching them do it, and every time Rhys delivered the line: "Immigration, we just want to talk!", the guys would all yell it in unison (as a result, the line needed to be redubbed into the final version of the pilot).
And then there was another moment when Matthew Rhys was asked whether Philip was ever going to get a chance to play a Welsh person, and Matthew said that he's been desperately trying to convince them of that. Except that it would mean playing "Welsh intelligence, which is an oxymoron." Good times.
Audience questions formed the last twenty minutes or so.
It was pretty clear that the question about the "provocativeness of the sex" was aimed at Matthew Rhys and his escapades with Martha, but he deferred and passed the question on to "Ms. Russell."
She said that she found a saving grace in the fact that they're "always using sex to get something" on this show, that the duplicity and manipulation makes having to perform sex scenes more freeing because you don't have to just be sexy.
Noah Emmerich was asked how much Stan actually still suspects about Philip and Elizabeth at this point in the show, and he deflected the question quite well, not giving a direct answer. Because of course that's part of the fun.
When asked what they were able to reveal about the second season, they were all very tight-lipped (other than saying that if the first season was about marriage, then the second season was going to be more about family), but they did mention that they'd done the cast read-through of the first episode of season two that very day. The actors also mentioned that they'd only seen the first couple of scripts so far (and then there was some fine banter between the three actors about how much they each wanted to know ahead of time). Ultimately, though, Joe Weisberg did reveal that there would be some more Russian actors in the second season, and that they were going to "build up the Rezidentura world" some more.
sistermagpie and I had dinner reservations, so we had to run off afterward, but it was still fun to catch the masses of fans in front of the Paley Center and the way the actors were indulging them with photos before they climbed into their cars and drove home. All in all, it was a terrific evening, and I'm so glad I was able to attend.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-05 03:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-05 04:04 pm (UTC)-J
no subject
Date: 2013-10-05 03:46 pm (UTC)It was a fun panel. I watched the livestream, since I don't live in NYC. Nothing new per se, but always nice to hear the actors - these particular actors! - and their banter. They all seem to very likeable and pleasant, plus they all seem to genuinely like each other, which I suppose isn't always the case.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-05 03:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-05 04:03 pm (UTC)I think the emphasis on the sex is because the mainstream American networks are still so prudish about what is and isn't allowed to air, so that makes the difference between the cable shows and the much tamer network shows all the more obvious. But of course you're right that that's just as true with respect to the violence!
-J
no subject
Date: 2013-10-05 03:57 pm (UTC)-J
no subject
Date: 2013-10-05 04:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-05 04:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-05 04:10 pm (UTC)The socks: I know, right? They were kind of awesome, though. I got one shot that was a closeup of just them.
-J
no subject
Date: 2013-10-05 04:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-05 05:46 pm (UTC)The next season can't come too soon.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-06 01:49 pm (UTC)-J
no subject
Date: 2013-10-05 06:26 pm (UTC)As for the socks, Seitz also has interesting ones, and the rest are probably better at hiding them ;-)
no subject
Date: 2013-10-06 01:50 pm (UTC)-J
no subject
Date: 2013-10-06 07:38 pm (UTC)I would wear that t-shirt kind of an embarrassing amount. It's awesome.
Also, DAYUM Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys are attractive people! BE LESS BEAUTIFUL, YOU TWO, OH WAIT NO PLEASE DON'T.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-09 01:36 am (UTC)-J
no subject
Date: 2013-10-11 11:19 am (UTC)What with all the new shows this month, I've lost track of The Americans a bit, but I'm so looking forward to January.
no subject
Date: 2013-10-11 11:29 am (UTC)-J
no subject
Date: 2013-10-11 12:22 pm (UTC)My main artistic outlet is still art, and I do have some more Americans icons lying around that I could post... so. Maybe not completely quiet. ;)
no subject
Date: 2013-10-12 08:52 pm (UTC)-J
no subject
Date: 2014-12-29 06:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-29 03:00 pm (UTC)I'm not sure that helps at all, but hope it does! Are you trying to decide whether or not to buy the DVD?
-J
no subject
Date: 2014-12-29 06:28 pm (UTC)