Latest news with #AgathaAllAlong
USA Today
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Audra McDonald rejects Patti LuPone's Broadway rift claim: 'You'd have to ask her'
Audra McDonald rejects Patti LuPone's Broadway rift claim: 'You'd have to ask her' Show Caption Hide Caption Audra McDonald is Mama Rose in 'Gypsy' on Broadway: Watch Six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald stars as Mama Rose in Broadway's "Gypsy," stepping into the role made famous by Ethel Merman and Patti LuPone. Audra McDonald is not being baited into dishing on a fellow Broadway veteran. In a preview from an upcoming interview shared by "CBS Mornings" on May 29, McDonald, 54, told interviewer Gayle King there's no bad blood on her end after Patti LuPone, 76, said in a recent New Yorker feature that McDonald is "not a friend." "That's something you'd have to ask Patti about," McDonald said on "CBS Mornings" (weekdays, 7-9 a.m. ET). "You know, I haven't seen her in about 11 years just because we've been busy just with life and stuff. So, I don't know what rift she's talking about, but you'd have to ask her." According to CBS listings, the full interview is slated to air June 3. What did Patti LuPone say about Audra McDonald? In her New Yorker feature, which was published May 26, LuPone shared the two had a rift long ago but declined to elaborate further. When the "Agatha All Along" actress was asked about McDonald's supportive reaction to a social media post accusing LuPone of racial microaggressions, LuPone said, "I thought, 'You should know better.' That's typical of Audra. She's not a friend." "When I asked what she had thought of McDonald's current production of 'Gypsy,' she stared at me, in silence, for 15 seconds," the New Yorker's Michael Schulman noted afterward. "Then she turned to the window and sighed, 'What a beautiful day.'" 'Not a friend': Patti LuPone talks alleged Audra McDonald feud McDonald and LuPone have worked together several times, including costarring in the concert version of "Sweeney Todd" in 2000 and LA Opera's 2007 production of "Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny." McDonald is currently starring in "Gypsy" as Rose, a role for which LuPone won a Tony nearly two decades ago. She followed that win with a trophy for best actress in a featured role in a musical for "Company" in 2022. McDonald's latest role earned her a Tony nomination for best actress in a musical for the upcoming June 8 ceremony; her last win in 2014 reportedly made her the most-awarded performer in Tony history with six trophies.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Breaking down Patti LuPone's latest Broadway controversy—and responses
Patti LuPone's undeniable stage presence and talent have turned her into a bona fide Broadway legend over the years. However, the Tony Award winner and Agatha All Along actress is now facing controversy for some of her recent comments about Broadway performers like Audra McDonald and Kecia Lewis — prompting a critic to also bring up a past incident related to Lillias White. Sign up for the to keep up with what's new in LGBTQ+ culture and entertainment — delivered three times a week straight (well…) to your inbox! Between comments about Audra McDonald's run on Gypsy, controversies with the Hell's Kitchen musical and its star Kecia Lewis, and criticisms of Lillias White for calling out an audience member during a performance of Hadestown, a flood of social media responses are being shared to defend McDonald, Lewis, and White, while making pointed remarks toward LuPone. Here's a breakdown of the controversies surrounding Patti LuPone at the moment. Bruce Glikas/WireImage Audra McDonald during a curtain call of the Gypsy revival on Broadway in December 2024. Audra McDonald's stint as Rose Thompson Hovick in the current Broadway revival of Gypsy — a show for which Patti LuPone nabbed a Tony Award in 2008 — came up in a recent interview of LuPone with The New Yorker. When asked about McDonald using supportive emojis in reaction to a post about LuPone's controversy with the Hell's Kitchen musical (more on that later!), LuPone declared, "That's typical of Audra. She's not a friend." It's unclear what caused this falling out between the two of them. However, instead of elaborating on what happened, LuPone reportedly sat in silence, looked out the window, sighed, and commented on how it was "such a beautiful day outside."for Tony Awards Productions Kecia Lewis performing a number of Hell's Kitchen at the 2024 Tony Awards. The controversy between Patti LuPone and the Hell's Kitchen production — a jukebox musical with music and lyrics by Alicia Keys and loosely based on the singer's life — came about when LuPone starred in The Roommate stage play alongside Mia Farrow. As the story goes, The Roommate (a play) shared a wall with Hell's Kitchen (a musical), which caused sound to bleed through from one production to another. Once that issue was fixed, LuPone reportedly sent flowers to the crew of Hell's Kitchen. When asked by The New Yorker about that situation, LuPone expressed her "surprise" over Hell's Kitchen star Kecia Lewis sharing an Instagram video in response to LuPone calling the musical "too loud." In the video (below), Lewis referred to herself, as well as LuPone, as Broadway "veterans," stating that LuPone's comments were "offensive," "rude," and "racially microaggressive." "She calls herself a veteran? Let's find out how many Broadway shows Kecia Lewis has done, because she doesn't know what the fuck she's talking about," LuPone told The New Yorker when asked about Lewis's video. "She's done seven. I've done 31. Don't call yourself a vet, bitch!" The real tally, as noted in The New Yorker profile, is 10 for Lewis and 28 for LuPone. LuPone's comments in The New Yorker referencing Lewis and McDonald did not go over well on social media, with many Broadway fans, critics, and fellow performers expressing their opinions over LuPone's remarks. "Audra McDonald has won six Tonys, the only performer to win in all four acting categories! Patti LuPone comes across horribly in this new interview! She is a bully. That's not 'diva' behavior, that's asshole behavior. She is a bitter woman and jealous," X/Twitter user @RyanForEQUALITY wrote. "Dear Patti LuPone, 31 shows doth not equal class," @DouglasSings wrote on X/Twitter, with a longer response (shared via Facebook) attached to the post. Bruce Glikas/WireImage; Instagram (@jessicavosk) Jessica Vosk poses at the first anniversary celebration of Hell's Kitchen on Broadway in April 2025; Jessica Vosk via Instagram stories. Kecia Lewis's former and current co-stars on Hell's Kitchen, Shoshana Bean and Jessica Vosk, spoke out in support of her and Audra McDonald via Instagram posts. Vosk wrote in two posts shared via Instagram stories: "It's not hard to be kind. But it takes a hell of a lot of effort to be intentionally cruel. Lastly, talent does not excuse bad behavior. Read it again. Harassment and bullying are not welcome here."; Instagram (@shobean) Shoshana Bean at the opening night of Hell's Kitchen on Broadway in 2024; Shoshana Bean via Instagram stories, part 1. Bean started a series of Instagram stories writing, "Here's what I know for certain… Speaking this way about any woman is unacceptable to me. Let alone a Black woman. I don't care how many shows or Tony's or years. Their achievements are remarkable yet irrelevant to me when it comes to the respect they inherently deserve as BLACK WOMEN." "It is unacceptable to speak of or to Black women in ANY industry, let alone OUR SHARED COMMUNITY, in the manner we have just seen," Bean added. "My entire artistry and inspiration stands on the shoulders of Black women… I will always stand for, with, beside, in front and behind, to protect, celebrate and raise them high."; Instagram (@shobean) Shoshana Bean at the opening night of Hell's Kitchen on Broadway in 2024; Shoshana Bean via Instagram stories, part 2. The actress continued, "And for all the little white girls who look up to Patti watching this all unfold? This is not how it's done. We will not teach nor perpetuate this behavior." "This community is already under attack," Bean wrote. "Our own government is threatening the very existence of art and creators on a daily basis, our funding, our validity… while simultaneously trying to erase the history and contributions of Black people in this country." Bean concluded, "We won't allow attacks like this within our own community. This one woman is not who WEEEEEE are."Lillias White performing at The New York Pops 40th Birthday Gala in May 2023. Patti LuPone's latest remarks about Audra McDonald and Kecia Lewis have also resurfaced a past situation involving fellow Broadway icon Lillias White. During her 2022 stint in Hadestown, White mistook a venue-provided captioning device for hard-of-hearing fans for a recording device. The actress reprimanded the audience member in the middle of the show — and given that LuPone had done similar things on more than one occasion, an intense social media discourse was split between criticizing White and comparing the instance to LuPone's past behavior, as reported by Broadway World. Back then, even the audience member who was reprimanded by White shared an X post urging people to have some grace for the Broadway legend. "I ask to extend kindness and forgiveness to Ms. White," the audience member wrote, as reported by Deadline. "Her social media pages, particularly Instagram, have been flooded with ageist [and] racist comments. Please stop harassing her." Carla Renata, also known as @thecurvycritic on Instagram, shared a statement in support of McDonald, Lewis, and White while highlighting LuPone's recent comments. "What these beautiful souls have in common other than being Black Tony Award winning women artists is that they have all been verbally attacked and/or disrespected by another legendary Tony winner — Patti LuPone," Renata wrote in an Instagram post. "No matter how many years in the business, no matter how many awards or how many times someone refers to you as iconic or legendary — it tarnishes your status by belittling and calling folks out of their names in public forums." While acknowledging that LuPone is, without a doubt, a legend, Renata also urged the actress to be more self-aware of her words. "With all due respect, your blatant disregard for these women and fellow artists in the Broadway community bullying them for no apparent good reason is mind boggling," the critic wrote. "Please put the same reverence and respect on Audra, Kecia and Lillias' name. They earned and deserve it just as you have for decades."
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Étoile' cast and creators on fast-talking, mean drunks, and what they learned from ‘Gilmore Girls'
'I was 4 and handed a tutu — that's the gateway drug!' That's how Amy Sherman-Palladino explained her introduction to the world of ballet, which she celebrates in her new Prime Video comedy series, Étoile, cocreated with her husband, Daniel Palladino. More from GoldDerby 'Agatha All Along' star Joe Locke on learning from Kathryn Hahn, musical theater goals, and the 'Heartstopper' movie with Kit Connor TV casting directors roundtable: 'The Diplomat,' 'Overcompensating,' 'Only Murders in the Building,' 'Paradise,' 'Doctor Odyssey' How 'Overcompensating' cast one of its writers as its co-lead 'I trained as a dancer all the way until becoming a writer. I do think that if you love something like dancing, it gets inside of you. It affects everything about you. And if you love it, it never quite leaves you.' The creator-writer-directors shared insights into their creative process alongside their stars at Tuesday night's FYC event for their Prime Video comedy, alongside stars Luke Kirby (who plays Jack), Gideon Glick (Tobias), Ivan du Pontavice (Gabin), David Alvarez (Gael), Yanic Truesdale (Raphael), Simon Callow (Crispin Shamblee), and Tais Vinolo (Mishi). (Paris-based stars Charlotte Gainsbourg [Genevieve] and Lou de Laage [Cheyenne] were unable to attend. 'They're home in France being French,' quipped Kirby.) Fans of the Palladino-verse know that this series isn't the couple's first foray into dancing — Bunheads ran for one season in 2012. 'That was a small taste of what it was like to write and incorporate dance into drama and use physicality to move story along,' said Sherman-Palladino. 'Ten years later, I'm still angry that it doesn't exist — so vengeance will be mine!' Daniel Palladino admitted that casting for the show was a bit of a challenge, given their need for actors who could dance, dancers who could act — not to mention the ability to speak both French and English. 'We tend to write parts for which there is one actor out there,' he said. 'There was one Lorelai Gilmore. There was one Midge Maisel.' But when it came to Etoile: 'We knew we wanted Luke to be in it — he had no choice,' said Sherman-Palladino, calling him their 'hostage.' 'Call the police,' joked Kirby. 'I'm not a strong swimmer.' Kirby had worked with the Palladinos before on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, starring alongside Rachel Brosnahan as tortured comedian Lenny Bruce. 'I thought [Jack] was going to be a really cool guy,' said Kirby. 'And I was really looking forward to that. Turns out that the world has other plans for him.' Quipped Sherman-Palladino, 'You already played Lenny Bruce — you played the coolest guy!' Glick said he found his way into the eccentric choreographer Tobias through the writing. 'Tobias is someone who sees the world very clearly in his head, but is not able to communicate that to anybody,' he said. 'But when it's not the way he sees it, he's inherently sick.' He also credited choreographer Margueritte Derricks for inspiration. 'The way she goes through all of the dancers and tracks them like an animal, I stole from that her,' he says. Sherman-Palladino took every opportunity to praise the rest of the assembled cast as well — du Pontavice ('he takes it so much to heart'), Vinolo ('she plays a mean drunk'), and Callow ('we couldn't stop watching him'). Truesdale, who had worked with the Palladinos for seven years on Gilmore Girls, said they're the same 'vibrant, creative, crazy, caring, passionate couple' — but now they're more grounded. 'We look at each other, and very few words are needed,' he said. 'When we were doing Gilmore Girls, it was a runaway train,' recalled Sherman-Palladino. 'It was my first hour-long. The only thing I knew about an hour-long is, I guess, there's more pages in a script. I just wrote what I wrote, but more. I knew what I wanted, but I'd never done it before. So people didn't think I knew what I wanted. So I was in a weird panic; there was just a lot of panic going on. We never had the time to sit and reflect. We never had the time to work in a way that was thoughtful and contemplative and sit and laugh as friends, because we were all just literally throwing up, constantly. [Now] it's nice to be able to work in a thoughtful, calm way, and to be able to be people together. It was like working with him for the first time. And now we could enjoy it.' And as a summa cum laude graduate of Palladino University, Truesdale recalled the advice he shared early on with the rest of the cast. 'The first thing I told everybody at the table read was, 'Get ready,'' he said. 'The first note you're going to get over and over is: 'Faster.'' The irony is, though, the French actors actually talked too quickly — even for the Palladinos. 'The French naturally talk fast, so fast that we had to slow them down sometimes, which was shocking to our Gilmore people that were around us,' said Palladino. 'They don't believe in punctuation. There's no stopping a sentence,' said Sherman-Palladino. 'I believe all the actors lied to us at every point. I don't think they said anything that we wrote.' Best of GoldDerby How Charlie Cox characterizes Matt Murdock through action scenes in 'Daredevil: Born Again' 'Agatha All Along' star Joe Locke on learning from Kathryn Hahn, musical theater goals, and the 'Heartstopper' movie with Kit Connor TV casting directors roundtable: 'The Diplomat,' 'Overcompensating,' 'Only Murders in the Building,' 'Paradise,' 'Doctor Odyssey' Click here to read the full article.
New York Post
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Patti LuPone reveals Audra McDonald is ‘not a friend' following Broadway stars' feud
Everything's coming up roses – except her friendship with Audra McDonald. Patti LuPone got candid on where she and her fellow Broadway performer, 54, stand after years long tension. The actress, 76, told reporter Michael Schulman of the New Yorker that McDonald is 'not a friend.' 8 Patti LuPone speaks onstage during the Emmy FYC Screening Of Marvel Televisions' 'Agatha All Along' at DGA Theater on April 19, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Getty Images for Disney Without going into detail, LuPone noted to the outlet that their relationship ended due to an incident years prior. After Schulman asked the singer to share her thoughts on McDonald's current role as Rose in 'Gypsy,' the 'And Just Like That…' actress allegedly sat in silence before turning to the window, letting out a sigh and exclaiming, 'What a beautiful day.' The Post has reached out to a rep for McDonald. 8 Audra MacDonald and Patti LuPone during a break in an LA Opera rehearsal of 'Mahagonny.' Los Angeles Times via Getty Images LuPone previously won a Tony for playing Rose in 2008. McDonald was nominated for a Tony for her part in the musical, which made her the most nominated performer of all time with 11 nods. She has already taken home six Tonys, while LuPone has received three. Although there is no friendship between the two Broadway legends, they have performed together over the years. In 2000, the actresses starred in the New York Philharmonic's concert version of 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.' 8 Audra McDonald and Patti Lupone. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images LuPone and McDonald also costarred in the LA Opera production of 'Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny' in 2007. During her profile, the 'Agatha All Along' alum didn't hold back while talking about a separate issue she has with Kecia Lewis after the pair had words on social media last year. The 59-year-old uploaded a clip to Instagram in which she chastised LuPone for calling the musical 'Hell's Kitchen' 'too loud.' 8 Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone pose at the Drama League's 27th Annual All-Star Benefit Gala. FilmMagic Lewis said, 'These actions, in my opinion, are bullying. They're offensive, they are racially microaggressive, they're rude, they're rooted in privilege. And these actions also lack a sense of community and leadership for someone as yourself, who has been in the business as long as you have.' She concluded her message by sharing some advice for LuPone and other Broadway stars. 'Let's continue fostering an environment on Broadway that recognizes and values all shows for their unique contributions and energy, and that celebrates the diversity of voices and sounds and stories that we all bring to the stage,' Lewis suggested. 'Ms. LuPone, I respectfully submit to you that you owe us an apology — not flowers. Thank you for listening.' LuPone was starring alongside Mia Farrow in the play 'The Roommate' at the time and shared a wall with the musical. She said she could hear the show's sound cues, which were too loud. 8 Audra McDonald attends the 2025 Met Gala. Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue 'She calls herself a veteran? Let's find out how many Broadway shows Kecia Lewis has done, because she doesn't know what the f–k she's talking about,' LuPone said about Lewis' video. 'She's done seven. I've done 31. Don't call yourself a vet, bitch!' Schulman then told the 'American Horror Story' actress that McDonald had responded to Lewis' post with two heart emojis and two clapping emojis. 'Exactly,' LuPone replied. 'And I thought, 'You should know better.' That's typical of Audra.' Elsewhere in the interview, the Hollywood vet addressed her 'painful' seven year on-off relationship with ex Kevin Kline. 8 Patti LuPone attends the Disney's 'Agatha All Along' Los Angeles Official Emmy FYC Event. FilmMagic The two dated in the 1970s, with LuPone confessing to The New Yorker, 'I took an instant dislike to him.' 'He looked like Pinocchio to me,' she expressed. 'He had skinny legs and he was tall, and I didn't really see the handsomeness.' But soon after, LuPone and Kline, 77, began 'feeling each other up' in the back of an art-appreciation class. As she put it, 'He was a Lothario.' While together, LuPone and Kline starred alongside one another in the 1975 Broadway musical 'The Robber Bridegroom.' 8 Kecia Lewis accepts the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical award for 'Hell's Kitchen.' Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions 'It was a painful relationship,' LuPone detailed. 'I was his girlfriend when he wanted me to be his girlfriend, but if there was somebody else he would break up with me and go out with that person. And I, for some reason, stuck it out — until I couldn't stick it out anymore.' Kline went on to marry Phoebe Cates in 1989. The pair have two kids, Owen and Greta. For her part, LuPone tied the knot with Matthew Johnston in 1988 and welcomed son Joshua Luke Johnston shortly after. 8 Kecia Lewis performs at the 77th annual Tony Awards. Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions Decades into her career, in 2024, the superstar spoke candidly about belonging on the stage. 'This is all the way I was born, more indication that I was born to the boards,' she told The Grand Tourist. 'I was born to do what I do. My voice is a result of a lack of knowledge, quite frankly. When I was growing up, I'd sing along to Dionne Warwick in those keys, not my keys. I didn't even know what my keys were. And I sang along to rock and rollers. I sang along to when I was growing up. That was my music because that was the beginning of it.' Now, with an upcoming role on Season 3 of 'And Just Like That…,' LuPone predicted what work she wanted to do more of at the time. The musician, who described herself as 'funny, curious, a tourist,' during the chat, stated, 'I'd like to end my career on TV or in film,' because 'it's easy.'
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Welcome to the Hahnaissance: Kathryn Hahn on Casting a Spell on Audiences With ‘The Studio' and ‘Agatha All Along'
[This story contains spoilers from 's penultimate episode, 'CinemaCon,' and the finale of .] Kathryn Hahn was in desperate need of a good laugh. After reprising her role as the perfidious, power-hungry witch Agatha Harkness in her own eponymous Disney+ series Agatha All Along, Hahn, who has carved out a niche in recent years for playing messy antiheroines, was looking to return to the kind of ensemble comedies which had defined the first two decades of her career. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio' Gets a Sequel: Seth Rogen Comedy Renewed at Apple TV+ On the Set of Seth Rogen's 'The Studio' as a "Oner" Comes to Life: "It Creates a Feeling of Stress" Who's Really Who on 'The Studio'? THR Gets to the Bottom of It The Studio, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's latest Apple TV+ series about the raucous misadventures of the executives working at a legacy Hollywood movie studio, was just what the doctor ordered. Although they had initially conceived of Hahn's marketing maverick Maya Mason as more of an antagonist to the group of hapless executives at Continental Studios, Rogen and Goldberg decided to retool the role after extended discussions with Hahn, who based her frenetic, foul-mouthed character on an amalgamation of Hollywood businesswomen she's encountered over the years. 'As we kept talking about her, we found her [to be] as desperate to hold onto her job, as desperate to stay relevant, as panicked at the youth coming up behind her, as anyone in this core group of people,' Hahn tells The Hollywood Reporter. 'They're basically trying to keep [themselves] from drowning at every moment; they're scared of losing their jobs and losing everything. Films are their entire lives, and the people they work with are basically their families and their social lives. That idea sounded really fun with this group of people. I also knew it was going to be an ensemble, and that's always such a fun place to be in comedy.' Over the course of the 10-episode first season — a second season has already been ordered — Rogen's newly appointed chief Matt Remick struggles to reconcile his love for movies with his need to prioritize his company's bottom line at all costs. In the two-part season finale, the executives arrive in Las Vegas for CinemaCon, an annual presentation to advertisers and journalists about their content slate for the next year, where all hell (naturally) breaks loose. 'I don't even know if I could say it's my Weekend at Bernie's dream come true, to be honest, because that's a dream I didn't even know I had,' Hahn says of the finale. 'It was a dream to spend two weeks in a beautiful Las Vegas casino with Bryan Cranston, and a lot of those incredible background artists were just people at the casinos who were so patient and sweet with us. [The two-part finale is like] Weekend at Bernie's — and it goes full farce. It just pulls out all the stops. As a group going through that together, it doesn't get any better than that. It's just so stupid fun, and the stakes being so life or death again is where the comedy is.' As she prepares to shoot a second season of The Studio, Hahn insists that she does not know anything about the next chapter of Agatha's story in the MCU, but she would reprise that role in a heartbeat. 'Believe me, I'm lighting a candle at the altar all the time,' she laughs. Below, in a wide-ranging interview, Hahn opens up about the joyous (and stressful) experience of shooting The Studio with a murderer's row of comedians. She also offers her take on the major spoilers from Agatha, a show she jokes she could talk about until she is blue in the face. *** You've played plenty of over-the-top characters throughout your career, but this uber-hip head of marketing might be your funniest one yet. How did you think about building this character beyond what was already conceived on the page? How did you find Maya's distinctive looks and mannerisms? You always just use what's written first. It doesn't always feel right when you go outside of what's required, but because it was written so specifically, it became very clear. I had a lot of talks with our amazing costume designer [Kameron Lennox] and with Seth and Evan: 'How can you show as much money on the outside of yourself all of the time, so that every single time you walk in a room you just feel like you're armored in what everybody can see as money?' I wouldn't even say that necessarily it's [her] taste — it's just labels — so we imagined that she has a personal shopper. She has no time! We imagined that every once in a while, maybe once or twice a season, [the personal shopper] would come to Maya's office during lunch. All the shades are drawn, and she just does a fitting for the season. Or she'll send Maya pictures, and Maya will be like, 'Yes! She knows my taste.' There's a lot of young street brands that she's obsessed with. She has her finger on the pulse, I don't know what to tell you. (Laughs.) She wants to be ahead of the curve. Sometimes, it doesn't quite work out that way, but she's constantly looking at the 'gram and TikTok to figure out what the kids are wearing. You've crossed paths with a lot of people in the three decades you have worked in this business, and you have presumably been in rooms with executives before, either as an actor or a producer. How much of these and send-ups have resonated with your own in Hollywood? So much! I think that was why it hit me so hard. I thought, 'Are people going to really understand this outside the business, because it's so industry-specific?' And that's the thing that made me so excited — it does translate to any workplace situation, and I guess funny is funny. I think those dynamics are so universal. But for the business part of it, I certainly haven't been in a lot of rooms with heads of studios. As a working actor for hire, I'll meet the junior execs. They'll come to set to visit in a producing capacity, and they're always so lovely. Those decisions about what seems so myopic and not even in the same reality as the stuff that we're making — I have been unaware of those things. But I've definitely seen the way things are proposed to be marketed that I thought, 'Oh, this has nothing to do with what I thought that was about!' (Laughs) I definitely have been in situations where you get onto the set and there's a whole other video village, and there's a group of people sitting there with really nice snacks, and you just see the glow of cell phones on a dark soundstage — and you know the producers are visiting that day. (Laughs) I'm sure my directors and the producers have felt their presence, but I certainly have never been put in that position with the studios. People have tried to satirize Hollywood before, but takes that meta quality to another level. Episode two, for instance, dramatizes the incredibly stressful process of trying to shoot a — or a single, unbroken take of a long scene — against fading daylight. You guys also shot the majority of the scenes in as 'oners,' with some limited cuts here and there. What did you make of the experience of shooting so many 'oners' in this first season? Had you done many 'oners' in the past? There was definitely a panic period at the beginning where I didn't have the rules down yet. If you forget a line, you'd see this incredible camera operator sigh and put his camera down. That really kept me in a state of panic at the beginning. It took me a second to warm up. I just don't want to let anybody down, especially because everybody is working at this high vibration. Everyone is in the same boat, which I think really helps with attention [in the scenes], because we were just full-on really tense and trying to make sure that we got it and that nobody screwed up. I remember [another] gig where we were running over, and the night was getting way too long, and we had to move on. I remember it was an intense reaction shot of mine, and I was looking at my co-actor behind the camera and we were locked in, and then you could see there were some producers just staring at us like, 'Wrap it up. Wrap it up.' I don't think they knew the tension they were adding into that particular scene, which actually ended up helping us. (Laughs) I've definitely been in those situations. That's why that second episode really got me. The 'oner' really stressed me out because I feel like I've been in that position. I probably haven't, but I think it is so relatable, and the whole time you feel like you're going to vomit. For me, episode seven — which digs into how concerned Hollywood has become with race, to the point that they're almost over-correcting to avoid playing into kind of racial stereotypes — is your strongest episode of the season. I loved your line delivery of 'I love lesbians, but white women are the fucking worst right now. They're so toxic.' What were your takeaways from that episode in particular? (Laughs) Well, all of that is so frickin' cynical, and sometimes I feel like it was ripe a little bit [to satirize]. Like, what is everybody really talking about right here? A lot of people like to talk around race, especially around casting, and nobody wants to fuck up. Nobody wants to let any single person down or be offended or be confronted. In most cases, it's very warranted, but all the panicking behind the scenes, and the little fires that are created that don't need to be fires, and the swirling drama around decisions that actually are not that big of a deal — that always makes me laugh. These people don't want to lose their jobs or be canceled, so all these teeny things are so micromanaged in a way that it also becomes worse than the thing that they were looking to avoid. Let's talk about your . The Agatha-Rio (Aubrey Plaza) relationship has clearly struck a chord with audiences, and there have been a lot of theories about what prompted Agatha to kiss Rio a.k.a. Death and to essentially sacrifice herself to save Billy Maximoff (Joe Locke). How did you think about playing that fateful moment between your characters? Can you give voice to Agatha's internal dialogue as she made that choice? I hadn't really thought about it until we were there on the day. We were blessed enough to be able to do it in pretty chronological order, so there was so much track already set behind that moment when we got there. Agatha had been running for centuries away from this inevitability of death and this very toxic ex-lover — the love of her life who was also the worst thing for her. Whenever they would meet, they kept bringing each other lower and lower and lower, which is clearly not a high-vibrational relationship. So I think that kiss couldn't have been planned [in the characters' minds], but I think there was an inevitability to it. Agatha would be loath to say it was about the boy, but I think that, of course, was [part of Agatha's decision]. She didn't want that to happen again to another child that she cared about. She became very tender towards Billy, and I think that was her final way of ensuring his continued journey. I also think that Agatha didn't know if it was going to be final. I think she knew it was happening, but she's such a survivor and such a scrapper that [she thought] she would be able to squirrel her way back into his life in some way. That kiss is really bittersweet too. For Agatha, besides her child, that's the love of her life. They're each other's most formidable barring partners. There's nobody else that could charge them up or turn them on intellectually more than each other, so that's why they can't stay away from each other. It's like this gravitational pull. So I think that's what that kiss also felt like, now that I'm talking about it — it did feel like a magnet. There was an inevitability, but I think there was almost no choice. She just was pulled to her mouth. Aubrey admitted that she signed on to this show mostly because she wanted to work with you again (after ). We only get a little glimpse into the dynamic between your characters. Did you two ever discuss the history of the relationship? Do you have any idea of how they first met or even became a couple before they went their separate ways? Aubrey's one of my favorite actors on the planet, and she's so extraordinary. I just trust her, so I knew that whatever we would bring to it was going to be really rich and juicy, and for some reason, we didn't really talk about that [dynamic]. We kept it simmering. We would sit kind of far away from each other on set — not anything consciously, but we just kept it at a low broil because I certainly didn't know where it would go, or how deep it would go. We would send each other pieces of music, poems and movies to watch that may or may not have had anything to do with them, but it definitely was in the stew when we finally got to do our scenes. I think for the history of the two of them, [series creator] Jac [Schaeffer] didn't even really talk about it either. I assumed that it's just been centuries and centuries and centuries of an on-and-off toxic relationship. Every time they tried to get away, they would find each other over some body at some point, some carcass or a whole coven, and that was their meet-cute somewhere long, long ago. It was a lot of flirting over a bunch of corpses that Agatha had just decimated. (Laughs.) Everything always comes back to Agatha's complicated relationship with Nicky. He was always her kryptonite, because she knew that she wouldn't be able to protect him forever and that he would leave her eventually. That's motherhood! You can't protect your child forever. It's like, you love this thing with everything you have, and you know that you eventually have to let them go — whatever that means — but that's your job, as a parent. It's the worst! So much of Agatha's backstory comes back into focus in the final episode. After inevitably losing Nicky to Death, Agatha essentially tried to fill that bottomless void by killing witches and developing an insatiable amount of power. What did that final episode unlock for you in terms of your understanding of the character, and what was it like for you to play the aftermath of her loss? What I know about Agatha is that she was tossed out of her original coven because [they believed] she was born a bad seed, that she would always be bad, that there was no redeeming her. Her mother and coven, a.k.a. her family of origin, wanted to kill her at the stake! So in terms of childhood trauma (laughs), she definitely had a lot to work with. Since she destroyed her mother and her coven [to save herself], she had been just trying to gain more power. She knew that she got power from [killing other witches], so that was her protection and also her making herself [feel] big and worth it and viable, which was to keep gaining power. Her lack of empathy is pretty intense. And it's all women — she just wants to destroy witches. When she had this little baby boy inside of her and then when he's born, I think that something else cracked open [inside of her], whether or not she'd want to admit it. And to know that she had just a limited amount of time, that she had to beg for that time — I think she forgot that [he would die] at some point, as she was raising him. I think with Aubrey's genius take on Death, Death didn't want to do it. It's out of her control. But again, it's this horrible car crash that you knew was going to happen at some point. For Agatha, it's interesting that we did [her backstory] at the end. I always knew it was where we were headed, and I could not wait to get to it, even though I knew it was going to be so brutal. But having all that track for it really helped, and the kid that played Nicky is so good too. I knew the little pieces that were going to be built up, like the hair in the locket, the dandelion, the bell, her feelings about Billy — all the things that I knew were going to pay off in that last episode. I think that definitely added a lot to the trip I was on leading there, and there was certainly some sort of catharsis when I finally got to go to that episode. It never felt like a total catharsis, to be honest with you. It always felt like there's still this rock of pain on her chest, but also, she's hilarious! It's a great defense [mechanism]. The big plot twist in the finale was that the Witches' Road, the driving force of the season, wasn't actually real. Billy was the one who had created it with his own powers, and the ballad that the witches sang was really a scam. What was your reaction to that twist, and how did that inform the way you played those scenes? My first reaction was, 'Well done.' I was very impressed with this young man who I had written off, but it made so much sense too. It was also very fun to play the 'I'm in on it' and then to play 'I'm doubting it' — to know what to press on the gas in terms of my knowledge and my surprise [about Billy's identity] was fun. I think I had inklings very early on, but it wasn't until much later that it was crystallized. And then to see his twisted mind, it was like, 'Wow, you are a sicko! (Laughs.) Game knows game, I guess. Game respects game.' There's so many little moments that Jac had highlighted for Agatha to really question and then to have to cover it up, because we wanted to give as many options as we could [for the final cut], because that story was going to be so fascinating and people could pick up on [different things]. The with Agatha offering to act as a kind of mentor to Billy as the two of them attempt to track down his twin brother. How different did it feel for you to play Agatha as a ghost compared to a living witch, and where do you think we ultimately leave your character? Ghost Agatha felt the exact same way, except that I had fabulous white hair now. But I think she bounced back very fast. She's had a lot of [the same thing] throughout the centuries, so I think the novelty of figuring out these new powers is a real treat. I also think that after everything that they've been through, especially her and Rio, there's a shedding, almost, of something that just didn't serve her. The acceptance of [what happened to] Nicky and this kind of self-forgiveness — boy, her shame and rage cycled pretty out of control for a while. In that opening, she seems to really look at Billy and love him, and she finds a new purpose. I don't think she'll ever stop killing witches or being who she is, but I think that it really feels good to be a mom, actually, [in a way] that she never was able to be before. There was a recent fan theory that stood out to me: Do you think Ghost Agatha would ever try to use Billy's magic to bring Nicky back if she had the chance? Boy, I really love that! (Laughs.) That's a really good idea. But Agatha is never going to be just one thing. I feel this myself, but as soon as I feel like I've got a handle on her, she'll throw you off track and then you have to run to where she is. But I think she's a gamer. It's a long game all the time. Jac would always say her life has been a hustle. She is a huckster. She just hustles. So I think, unfortunately, you have to always doubt what she's saying, as she does with everyone else. There's not a lot of trust there. When I first got the gig on WandaVision, [executive producer] Mary Livanos gave me a huge binder [containing] every time that Agatha Harkness had been in the comics, which was so helpful. It was also so beautiful to see how she's changed. She had been this really gorgeous crone with her hair up. It was very similar to the look in WandaVision, kind of like an Edwardian outfit. There are recent ones where she's in a bikini or whatever with one strip of silver in her hair. That's very funny. But I think [being] a babysitter and a mentor had been her main thrust through a lot of the comics, so it felt like going home at the end of the series. So, I take it that the door is still open for you to revisit (Ghost) Agatha at some point down the road? Yeah! Oh, believe me, I'm lighting a candle at the altar all the time. (Laughs.) I'm constantly burning a candle — a purple candle. *** The first season of The Studio is now streaming on Apple TV+, with the finale set to release May 21. All episodes of Agatha All Along are now streaming on Disney+. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise 'Yellowstone' and the Sprawling Dutton Family Tree, Explained
