Kate Hudson and Mindy Kaling shoot for Emmys recognition for ‘Running Point' at the Lakers training facility
Comedy heavyweights gathered at the Lakers training facility to celebrate Netflix's breakout hit Running Point. The series, starring Kate Hudson and loosely inspired by the life of Lakers president Jeanie Buss, quickly built a dedicated fan base following its February release. A second season is already confirmed and Friday night's FYC panel made one thing clear: Running Point has earned its place among the genre's elite.
The talent behind the camera is just as impressive as the talent onscreen. Co-creator and executive producer Mindy Kaling partnered with her former The Mindy Project colleagues Ike Barinholtz and David Stassen to make the series happen, which she joked during the panel was 'fine' and 'like a B-minus.' Barinholtz and Stassen backed Kaling up on her Hulu comedy, which ended its run in 2017, and did the same on Running Point. 'When you're on [set] and you're there since 6 a.m. in hair and makeup, and you're like, 'I'm not sure about this material,' just to know that they are really funny, feminists, and want you to shine, look beautiful, and kill, that's exactly who you want for a show like this,' Kaling said. 'That was like a no-brainer. Also the three of us, while we're very different from each other, we love extremely heavy meals. We like going out to dinner and they're two of my closest friends.'
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Tapping Oscar nominee Hudson to lead the show as Isla Gordon in her first major role on television also seemed like a no-brainer. 'She's just Southern California incarnate,' Barinholtz told Gold Derby on the event's carpet. 'Her and Jeanie Buss share this quality where they just look like they emerge from the water in Santa Monica, and she's incredibly funny but also has a ton of heart and is an amazing actress. At the end of the day, people just like her. People like me, but they love her.'
The Other Two alum Drew Tarver, who plays Isla's half-brother Sandy, agrees. 'She's unbelievable,' he told Gold Derby. 'I've been a fan of hers for so long. It was a real pleasure getting to watch her do TV. I was so excited in every scene I did with her. She's so funny and she's so right there with us at all times. … When she burps on FaceTime [in the series] and is like, 'Excuse me,' it's one of my favorite moments of the show. She's the best.'
Max Greenfield, perhaps best known for playing the hilarious Schmitt on New Girl, found himself in the daunting position of playing Hudson's on-screen fiancé Lev. 'She's a real movie star,' he told us. 'I think I was really excited, and then I got to set the first day and she brings so much, and we were trying to make this relationship seem [real] and I was just like, 'Oh man. I am hanging on for dear life.''
Hudson knew Running Point was right for her when she read the show's log line. 'I was looking for something to do on television,' she said during the panel. 'Honestly, I got sent this traditional offer, and I remember reading the email and it was like 'offer' and then it said in big caps 'Mindy Kaling,' and immediately I was like, 'Ooh, yes.' Then when I read the synopsis I knew immediately. I was like, 'Oh, I'm going to do this show and I hope the script is good.' All the energy immediately, the log line itself, I felt like I could do it. I've had history with Jeanie and felt honored they even wanted me to do it, and then I read the script and it was so funny, and so good, and so smart. I remember sitting with Mindy and I said to her, 'Is this what we're making or is this going to change?' A lot of times in comedy I find that you read something and it's so good, and then people get scared and they kind of water it down. Mindy was like, 'This is what we're making.' And, you know, this is what we made, and it got better and better as the season went on. … I felt so safe and secure, and I know that sounds very female, but I did. I felt like I had so much support and the cast was so incredible. We had a ton of great actors who also write and so it was just constant ideas happening all the time.'
She also praised Kaling for her dedication to getting the show's scripts right, even at the most inopportune times. 'I have to say, I've fallen in love with this woman,' Hudson gushed. 'She's not only so brilliant but is so trusting, puts the best team together, and let me tell you something. She was pregnant. We had our first table read, she's on Zoom, she then has the baby and is sending notes like an hour after she has the baby. We were like, 'Isn't Mindy literally in labor? I'm just curious.' She is a powerhouse and delivers what she says she's going to deliver. I've learned a lot from that.'
Brenda Song, whose legion of devoted fans Kaling shouted out during the panel, was made for her role of Isla's right hand woman Ali (modeled after Buss's own, Linda Rambis). Song's love for basketball, and the Lakers in particular, is well-documented in dozens of viral videos from games over the past year. 'As a lifelong Laker fan, when I sat down and chatted with Mindy, Ike and Dave, within the first five minutes I was like, 'I will do anything. Do you need a PA? Do you need me to pull a cable? What do you need?'' Song said. 'I feel like I've worked my entire life for this moment and this project because I'm living my best life. We're at the Lakers practice center! C'mon! This is insane. … I truly want to be like Linda when I grow up. We have a lot of things in common. She has two boys, I have two boys. Her son actually has this really funny photo of us from our first cast dinner. We were sitting next to each other, both talking to tall men with our black curls and leather jackets and our hands in the air. Her son literally calls me his TV mom because we are actually quite a lot alike.'
Chet Hanks (yes, son of Tom and Rita Wilson) plays part-time rapper/full-time baller Travis Bugg on the series in a role that's suspiciously like Hanks' now infamous online persona. 'When I got the audition the character description was that he's covered in tattoos, he's a wannabe rapper and he's just a huge liability because of the controversial things he posts on social media,' Hanks said over the audience's laughter. 'And honestly? I said to myself, 'Well I don't know how I'm going to pull this off 'cause me and this character are nothing alike. I'm really going to have to get my Daniel Day-Lewis on and get really Method with this.' I've been wanting to say this for a long time: my life has just been a series of performance art. All that stuff you guys saw was just me preparing for this role.'
With Season 2 on the horizon, and table reads reportedly taking place this week, where do the cast and creatives hope this story goes? 'I'm trying to get in more adult scenes on the show of a sexual nature,' Barinholtz says, completely straight-faced. 'All of them do it, family be damned.'
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