Donny Jackson (‘Dear…’ executive producer) tells why being on the inspirational docuseries is a rare opportunity [Exclusive Video Interview]

Donny Jackson assures us that there haven’t been any reluctant participants in the docuseries, “Dear…” “It’s a rare opportunity to talk about some of the things that they haven’t talked about before that have inspired them to do what they’re doing,” the show’s executive producer tells Gold Derby during our recent Meet the Experts: TV Documentary panel (watch the exclusive video interview above). He adds that it’s also a different way of dealing with fan-based culture. “These admirers are really talking about how they’ve been moved by a particular person and then how they’ve tried to take that seed of inspiration and share it in some way with the world.”

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“Dear…,” which premiered its second season on Apple TV, focuses on a different celebrity in each episode. It was created by Emmy winner R.J. Cutler. As the subject goes over their journey of how they got to where they are today, they also read several letters from people who describe how that celebrity’s work has changed their life in a major way. Among the celebrities profiled in the show’s second season were Jane Fonda, Billy Porter, Malala Yousafzai, Ava DuVernay and André Leon Talley.

There have been several reactions from celebrities reading these letters that have caught Jackson completely off-guard. One that immediately came to mind was from former big-wave surfer, Laird Hamilton. “I was expecting a jock. I was expecting a bro. It was really moving to watch him be touched by these letters to tears. It was just this really sweet opportunity to see a man allow himself to be vulnerable in a situation.”

Several of the letters have left a permanent mark on Jackson’s mind. One came from a young man in Atlanta who wrote to Billy Porter. “He grew up as a boy who identified as gay, but his family was a very rigid Christian family and they weren’t having it.” The young man had even been sent by his parents to a gay conversion therapy camp at one point. “To hear him share that story but also be quite resilient in embracing both his faith and his sexuality and being inspired by Billy to do that was just a major thing that that letter has stayed with me.” He also found himself fondly remembering one of the more funny moments with Bowen Yang’s letter to Sandra Oh and Yang stating that Oh had the best face in the world.