August 30, 2005

Interview with a "Six Feet Under" writer.

Television Without Pity has an interview with Jill Soloway, one of the "Six Feet Under" writers.

Re the pregnant Rachel Griffith:
Before we found out Rachel was pregnant there were three pregnancies [planned for the final season]. And the middle one was, I think, a second miscarriage, and then the third one was gonna be, like, some of these problems and an abortion. And it was just going to be a lot more complicated...

And, uh, she did not want to play an abortion scene. She was willing to play the first miscarriage, because, you know, certain stuff. It was early on. But she didn't want to be playing anything involving the death of the baby.
I'm surprised actors have so much say in what happens to their character.

I'm not surprise to read that lack of money to build a set might lead to a decision to make a fact about a character be that she lives in her car.

I'm not surprised that TV writers read and obsess over Television Without Pity.

I like this, about the NYT TV critic Virginia Heffernan:
I look and I'm just like, What is she saying? "This breathes sincerity and authenticity" and I don't know what she's talking about, you know? I really don't. I don't know if you read those things that she writes in the New York Times, but she also writes really sort of complicated, interesting, you know, academic-y foundation takes on the show. I mean, I can barely follow what Heather's talking about? I like what she's talking about and I get it and sometimes she goes into tangents where I go, "I have no idea what you're talking about anymore." And, with Virginia Heffernan I have no idea. I mean, I cannot make heads or tails of her commentary at all. She seems very, very, very smart. I mean, I read stuff like that and I go, "Wow, this person's brilliant. Don't know what they're talking about."
Ha, ha. I love Heffernan, though, let me say.

Soloway promotes her book, "Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants," which she characterizes as herself ranting away. She lets us know that her voice is basically Claire. So, with that, I click on the link and order the book.

2 comments:

Joan said...

I thought that Soloway sounded shallow and surprisingly inarticulate. It was pretty funny that she admitted that she had no idea what Heffernan was talking about, but you'd think she'd be a little more cautious about admitting that she's not too bright in front of such an audience. She did seem charming and open, and obviously she is very successful in her career. I enjoyed her SFU episodes very much. But that interview pretty much convinced me not to buy her book, because her thinking seemed so scattered and so, well, Claire.

My favorite Claire scene is when she calls Ted "deeply unhip," and he tells her that since being hip is primarily a pre-occupation of adolescents, he'll take that as a compliment. That signaled Claire's burgeoning adulthood, more or less -- Ted was telling her "grow up, will ya!" in a very gentle way she finally heard.

But I think Soloway likes the adolescent Claire, since we don't actually ever get to meet the grown-up Claire! And I think an entire book of Claire-like thinking would give me headache.

amba said...

Here's an account of another interview with Soloway, by the interviewer.

(My login word today is zweowba.)