In his first conversation with Anne Napolitano about adapting his 2020 novel Dear Edward for TV, Jason Katims needs to create additional characters to help tell the ongoing story. made it clear that
Of course, when the show debuts on Apple TV+ this week, the famous character remains Edward Adler, a brilliant homeschool boy who is also a piano prodigy. Edward, played by 13-year-old Colin O’Brien, is the lone survivor of a plane crash who faces so many changes so quickly and understandably struggles with it all.
Other characters deeply affected by the crash lost loved ones who were on the plane, like Edward’s parents and older brother.
One of the characters conceived for the series was Dee Dee Cameron, whose husband (and father of her college-age daughter) was also among those killed. But it’s more complicated than that, as shocking facts about her man’s life are revealed to her, and as a result, in her 10 episodes of the season, Dee Dee has made a dramatic move for herself. I have to start drawing a new course.
“I love this character of Dee Dee,” Katims said in a recent roundtable video interview. “She made me smile.”
She also made him think of an old friend, Connie Britton. The two worked together on the television version of ‘Friday Night Lights’, with Katims serving as executive producer and head his writer, and Britton playing Tami his Taylor. Tami Taylor was also the charming, supportive yet very strong-willed wife of high school football coach Eric Her Taylor (Kyle Chandler).
“No one in the world could have thought of Connie playing Dee Dee,” he says. “And she’s been an incredible experience working with her.”
And Britton was confident it would.
“I was so happy to hear from him, and then I was like, ‘I mean, it’s probably going to be like that time,'” she said in another video interview. I don’t know.”
“Friday Night Lights,” which aired for five seasons on NBC and then on NBC and DirecTV’s 101 Network, helped them create a great working environment, she says.
“At the time, we were like, ‘Oh, this is the way we wanted the show to be, so it was really fun to reconnect with him and feel that again.
On “Dear Edward”, the two worked closely together to develop Dee Dee.
“We had a lot of time talking about episodes and scenes and who this woman was before we started shooting,” he says.
Britton said:
“Every role I’ve ever played,” continues Britton. Her TV credits also include her first seasons of ‘Nashville,’ ‘American Horror Story,’ and ‘White Her Lotus,’ with numerous films on her resume as well. It is published. Make sure you have some sort of universal theme.
“We were able to really talk about what I definitely wanted to reach in terms of her own journey. So we had a great conversation about it. Beneath the beautiful clothes and jewelry and riches, we were able to work out who this woman really was and where she came from.
Again, she’s largely responsible for the many characters viewers come to know through meetings of airline-funded grief groups attended by several people who have lost someone in the crash. There is only one person.
One of the most compelling is Adriana Washington (Anna Uzel), a long-serving New York City congressional aide to a US Congressman who also happens to be Adriana’s grandmother. When a political icon dies in a plane crash, Adriana decides to run for her own seat, only to find Cojo (Idris DeMarco), who is planning to take her young niece Bex (Chloe Bruno) with her when her sister dies. Brand), her ambitions are complicated. She returns to his native Ghana.
Then there’s Lacey Curtis (Taylor Schilling, “Orange Is the New Black”) who is having a hard time conceiving with her husband, John (Carter Hudson), which is putting a lot of strain on their marriage. is causing Suddenly they are in Edward’s care. As you can imagine, Edward has trouble adapting to many changes so quickly, even though he’s made friends with his next-door neighbor, Shay (Eva, who is Ariel Binder). .
Juggling a myriad of characters is nothing new for Katim. “Friday Night Lights” featured a large ensemble, as did his subsequent NBC series “Parenthood,” which he created.
“He’s very good at finding ways to have very diverse characters overlap and remain very specific individual human beings,” says Britton. “I think Jason is just brilliant in an ensemble environment.”
The folks at Apple TV+ have asked not to reveal details about Dee Dee’s situation, but we know her story is something we hear every now and then, and this sort of thing is hard to believe. Please keep
“It’s very hard to understand. Things like that can happen,” Britton said, noting that he actually knew a woman who went through something along the lines of what Dee Dee is doing. “I think it would have been even more difficult to play this if I didn’t know about it personally.”
Written and executive-produced by people including Katims and Cleveland playwright and “Draft Day” scribe Rajiv Joseph, the season of “Dear Edward” sees all the key players relocate elsewhere (perhaps emotionally). , physical, or both) tells a pretty complete story. But the finale leaves the door open to ordering a second his season from Apple.
My guess here is that it would be fine for a reunited pair with a similar but different experience to “Friday Night Lights.”
“We had this shorthand, but this character was nothing like Tami Taylor.” Britton) transformed into Dee Dee before my very eyes.
“It’s a dream come true to have that experience. I was just in awe of her — I’m in awe of her.
“Dear Edward” debuts on Apple TV+ with the first three episodes on February 3, with new episodes debuting on Fridays through March 24. For more information, visit AppleTVPlus.com.