Daniel Goldfarb and Chris Keyser (‘Julia’ creator and showrunner) on the ‘extraordinary people’ around star Julia Child [Exclusive Video Interview]
“It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to do something about food,” shares Daniel Goldfarb, the creator and writer of HBO Max’s “Julia.” Although he did not always have a dramatization of Julia Child‘s life in mind, the culinary arts have always been a part of his life, and the television icon and host of the legendary show “The French Chef” seemed a perfect fit. For the series, Goldfarb teamed up with showrunner Christopher Keyser, who describes “Julia” as an exploration of the “evolving, wonderful marriage” between Child and her husband Paul. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
To launch a new series about Child, Goldfarb and Keyser had to cast their Julia, and they both immediately thought of Sarah Lancashire. “We’re both just huge fans of her work,” Goldfarb says about why they thought of the BAFTA Award-winning actress, adding that they “think she’s one of the greatest actors alive.” Goldfarb thinks she fits the role so perfectly in part because of her “incredible, expressive, enormous eyes” and her ability to “convey multiple conflicting emotions simultaneously.”
Keyser reveals that the role of Paul Child was written with David Hyde Pierce in mind. Originally unavailable to take the part because of a theatrical commitment before the pandemic, Pierce was free when the production hiatus ended. As with Lancashire, Keyser immediately thought of Pierce because of his “deeply moving” dramatic performances in the past. Since the series explores the “rejiggering” of the power dynamics between the couple – Julia becomes increasingly well-known for her television show while Paul’s career fades – it required actors with both comedic and dramatic chops. Keyser says together, Lancashire and Pierce have “the magic you have to hope for in a production.”
SEE Emmy Experts Typing: Will ‘Abbott Elementary’ and ‘Julia’ cook up Best Comedy Series nominations?
The first season of “Julia” chronicles the birth of Child’s television cooking program “The French Chef,” and therefore introduces a lot of lesser-known but real-life characters who helped her get the series off the ground. “Julia is this extraordinary person who gets all of this attention, surrounded by equivalently extraordinary people,” Keyser says. Those people include Child’s dear friend Avis DeVoto (Bebe Neuwirth), editors Judith Jones (Fiona Glascott) and Blanche Knopf (Judith Light), television producer Russ Morash (Fran Kranz) – the “father of DIY television” – and the fictional character Alice Naman (Brittany Bradford). Goldfarb and Keyser hoped to emphasize the role that these incredibly interesting individuals played in the career of “shining star” Julia.
In an early season one episode, “Coq Au Vin,” this ensemble helps Julia prepare for the test episode of “The French Chef,” figuring out how to demonstrate a complete and complex recipe in a short televised time span. Goldfarb says the entire episode was inspired by the Michael Frayn farce “Noises Off,” so the first half shows the rehearsal and the second half the “anxiety” of doing it live. “We had so many more details that didn’t make it into the final episode,” he reveals, continuing, “It had to look bad, but it couldn’t have looked so bad that they seem insane to even air it.”
Each episode of “Julia” gets its title from a particular recipe. “The theatricality of it mirrors Julia’s theatricality,” Keyser says. Every week, the series demonstrates “different parts of the process,” from shooting a “French Chef” episode to rehearsal to editing and even testing out recipes for Julia’s follow-up cookbook to “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” The ultimate aim of the show, says Goldfarb, is to spend time with these “witty, charming people” and “to be great company.”
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