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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘It's very daunting': Luke Kirby on taking the lead in ‘Étoile' after playing ‘vampire' Lenny Bruce in ‘Mrs. Maisel'
The last time we saw Luke Kirby on our screens, he was admittedly in not great shape, playing Lenny Bruce on the downward slope of his career in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Luckily, Kirby is now officially a member of the Palladino-verse — and the husband-and-wife creative team of Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino centered him in their new ballet dramedy Étoile, which debuted last month on Prime Video. Kirby stars as Jack MacMillan, the head of a New York ballet company who engages in a talent swap with a Paris troupe in a bid to revive interest in both. Naturally, hilarity, romance and plenty of dance ensue. 'I'm really happy with how people are responding to the dynamism of the story, the kinetic energy of it, how different it is from our last endeavor,' Kirby tells Gold Derby. 'And I think the biggest thing is just people saying the show grows as the episodes go on, that it does work as a big movie where things are revealed episode to episode where by the end, you have this very rich tapestry of information for these characters and this endeavor to keep their art alive.' More from GoldDerby 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' star Charles Edwards on his tragic death scene: 'He did single-handedly withstand Sauron' 'It keeps me on my toes': 'St. Denis Medical' star Allison Tolman on walking a fine line between zany and 'incredibly heartfelt' Creating a world for Helperbots: Dane Laffrey on the scenic design of 'Maybe Happy Ending' (exclusive images) Here, Kirby tells Gold Derby what it means to step into the spotlight, who he thinks Jack should end up with, and what he wants to see next season. Gold Derby: This may be the first show in the Palladino-verse that has a male lead. Luke Kirby: Well, you know, I'm a womanish man. What did it mean to you to have them write this part with you in mind? It's very flattering. And it's very daunting. The biggest comfort that I get from it is that alongside me, they managed to cull together this incredible group of actors to work with. The show does feel like an ensemble piece, and there is nothing better than finding a unit and becoming a kind of organism in a way where you're together rising as a company. That's the best thing that you can hope for. SEE'Étoile' cast and creators on fast-talking, mean drunks, and what they learned from 'Gilmore Girls' How much did you know about Jack's arc when you first signed on? With Amy and Dan, I don't really ask questions. I mean, it's funny with television. If you're not in the writers' room, you have to be selective as an actor as to when you make suggestions or even ask questions. Obviously, there's important things to know, but the biggest thing that I find helps me is that it relates to real life in that you don't know what's coming. And so just putting your faith in that, the unknown and then being richly surprised every time a new episode comes out is kind of a great adventure. How much research did you have to do? How familiar were you with the ballet world? I would say, in an adjacent orbit. I started studying theater in high school, and I really became quite passionate about it after ninth grade. I really felt compelled by this world and decided as a teenager that it was a world that I could endeavor into. I didn't know if I had talent; all I knew is that everybody I met told me it was going to be really hard. I put this room in my mind where I would have a hot plate and some ramen noodles and a cot. And I said, I'll be good with that. … And then my cousin was studying ballet, and so we were kind of like two trains running side by side in our endeavors. So I was familiar with just how much dedication was required and how competitive, the heartbreak that comes with injury, and rejection and everything else. But this was a wholly new big education. Is it harder to play Jack or Lenny Bruce? Is it easier to invent somebody? With Lenny, all I had to do was open the window at night and then invite the vampire in. I really got to get out of the way at a certain point, something was really happening where it was just time travel and I got to smoke cigarettes. With Jack, it felt like it was more coming out of the mud. It felt a little closer to home in some ways. I'd say I spent more time with Jack in his boyhood than I did with Lenny. I really feel like I understand Jack's childhood in a way that is representative of the man he is today. With both of those characters, I do feel a drive that I do think is similar to that vision of a door closing. Lenny clearly felt that something needed to get done quickly, and I do feel like Jack has the same sensation. It's not that the wolves are at the door per se, but that there's something of a purpose that he needs, a job needs to get done that he needs to do. And if he doesn't do it, Rome will fall. SEE'Étoile' star Gideon Glick: 'I've made a career out of playing strange, interesting people' Did you invent your own backstory for him, or did you have conversations with Amy and Dan about him? We didn't have a lot of conversations about it. It's funny how with them, there's something about the way they are working in the way that a lot of things kind of match up. Maybe we talked a little bit about Jack's father and his influence in the city and where did he go to school, little things like that. But I was amazed as the season progressed and I would get these scripts where we'd be with my mom and my uncle and they would talk about me as a kid, where there were things that were coming alive in the script that had resonated with the work that I had done in kind of imagining this guy's upbringing. It's just, what do they call it, synchronicity! It just sort of happens. That does happen when a group works together the way that Amy and Dan work. I do think that that bleeds out into the whole crew. And I think that synchronicity does just start to bubble up in a really kind of pure and beautiful way. Yes, it serves them well that they have actors and crew that they've worked together for so many years. Even though the characters may be different from show to show, they know how to write to you and you know how to perform to them. As an actor, I think the biggest thing is just finding a way to get out of your own way. Their work is athletic, especially when Amy's directing. A lot of the time it is like a dance. It requires great precision and specificity. As long as you arrive ready to mark that and have as much work done prior to showing up, you can find a rhythm that makes the day feel very heightened and smooth. I don't mean easy, because it's not easy, but just kind of rising to the occasion, because they're aspirational. It's like ballet, what they do. So what's your take on the love triangle between Jack, Cheyenne (Lou de Laage) and Genevieve (Charlotte Gainsbourg)? Who do you think should Jack end up with? I have very strong feelings about this, but I do not know that they're for anybody to know but myself. I will say this — I feel like both of those relationships feel so authentic and I feel that the respect and affection that Jack has with both Cheyenne and Genevieve and the relationship that Genevieve and Cheyenne have together are lifeblood friendships so they're obviously really rolling the dice when things get more intimate. But, you know, it's the ballet! There's no great surprise that this is happening. Is Crispin (Simon Callow) going to pay for the wedding? That's the more important question! And should there be a season two, what would you like to see for Jack and the show overall? I'd like to meet at least one of Jack's ex-wives. I think that would be interesting. Jack does mention having a horse. I'd like to see the horse at least, or maybe even see Jack on the horse. I mean, this me just dropping wishes in the wishing well at this point! Best of GoldDerby 'I do think that I burned down the cabin': How 'Yellowjackets' star Steven Krueger pulled off Coach Ben's mental and physical decline 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' star Charles Edwards on his tragic death scene: 'He did single-handedly withstand Sauron' 'It keeps me on my toes': 'St. Denis Medical' star Allison Tolman on walking a fine line between zany and 'incredibly heartfelt' Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Étoile' creators on writing a show for ‘genius' Luke Kirby
Kelly Bishop. Alex Borstein. Milo Ventimiglia. Liza Weil. Emily Bergl … and Luke Kirby. When it comes to casting, Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino are nothing if not loyal, and their ensembles inevitably feature more than one familiar face from series past. So after his Emmy-winning turn in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, it comes as little surprise that they would put Kirby center stage in their latest series, Étoile. In this installment of the Dream Team: Étoile series, the creators talk with their leading man about his first audition, the 'lifetime' commitment he made to them, and finally fulfilling his costume wish. More from GoldDerby 'The Thursday Murder Club' trailer slays, the cast of 'Hamilton' reunites, and more of today's top stories How 'The Penguin' transformed real NYC locations into Gotham's criminal underworld (see the exclusive concept art) Janelle James on Ava's challenging year on 'Abbot Elementary': 'They kind of threw everything at me this season' Gold Derby: Luke, how did you first find your way into the Palladino-verse? Luke Kirby: I had an audition. My agent called me and said, "You have an audition," and it was for Lenny Bruce. And he said, "You could actually maybe get this role because you kind of look a bit like him." I thought, "Wow, that's the nicest thing you've said to me in 10 years." They sent me a YouTube video of Lenny doing his bit on Steve Allen and a recording of his airplane glue bit. I just went over it and over it and over it. Then I stepped into a room with these two geniuses, and I guess they felt sorry for me. My plan worked! SEE'It's very daunting': Luke Kirby on taking the lead in 'Étoile' after playing 'vampire' Lenny Bruce in 'Mrs. Maisel' Amy and Dan, what was it about that audition that made you fall in love with Luke? Dan Palladino: We had actually cast all of the Maisel cast — we had found Rachel [Brosnahan] and then it was like, "Sh-t, we have to find a Lenny Bruce, because he's so important in the pilot." And by the way, it was originally conceived that we were not going to see Lenny Bruce necessarily past the pilot. A couple of guys came in. The first guy looked like him and did well, and we thought, "Good, we're going to get this guy. Let's see who this next guy is." So Luke walks in and we were just immediately smitten. Luke really studied, Luke knew Lenny Bruce, he knew his stuff, and he just absolutely nailed it. We could have told him in the room that his agent was right, that he's probably going to get the part. Amy Sherman-Palladino: We had the discussion — Lenny was going to be a one-off. And we said, "If we just want to do the one-off, maybe you go with the guy who basically did a Lenny Bruce impression. But if we ever want Lenny Bruce to act, to do something other than his standup, to be a fully fleshed-out person, we have to go with Luke Kirby." So we went with the guy who's going to give us some options in the future. And he came in and it was just so obvious. The more that we worked with him and especially when we got into that scene with him and Rachel at the end, we wanted him to be the first person that put in her ear, this idea of this future of mine can work. It just became, well, that's going to be the guardian angel, that's the muse, that's the weird, twisted, guiding light, if you will, of Midge Maisel's career. That is the genius of Luke Kirby. And he's a delightful man to be around. Kirby: I'm just a vessel. Luke, when you sign on for a Dan and Amy show, you end up becoming a part of a troupe that they take with them from show to show. Did you realize that you were going to be making a lifelong commitment? Kirby: No, I had no clue. All I knew was that in all likelihood that I'd be told to speak faster. And so I arrived on set very, very ready for that note. And it came very quickly. But I didn't know that when I arrived on set, I'd also be immersed into this world designed by all of these different departments that come together and make the transition into the make-believe just seamless. I couldn't believe how fun and transported I felt that first day on set. I just was looking around the street. I was looking at the props. I was looking at the matchbooks. Everything was there to make us feel enmeshed in this make-believe. I thought, "Oh, these people really like to raise the bar and everybody in every department is trying to land on the same island together." That really made an impression. It made me say a little prayer that I would be invited back in some capacity. It took no groveling. I just had to pay a certain piper in the ether. Sherman-Palladino: Now he's just trying to figure out how to get away from us. Palladino: Now he's calling that agent saying, "Wait, was it a lifetime thing? Is there fine print that I did not read?" Kirby: It all felt very seamless. Working in that space and environment was really enjoyable, Early on in my education, I was given the mantra of just do it and show up, and I found myself in a track with Amy and Dan that made sense. So to be invited now into this new adventure, it's great. Dan and Amy, did you always have Luke in mind for ? Sherman-Palladino: Yes. We wanted to put him front and center because he's so great and he can do so much. Lenny was such a great character, but Lenny comes with his own confinement because it's a real person and there was a real end to Lenny and there was a real sad track that he went down. So we couldn't take so many liberties with him and expand him out into everything that Luke can do. We had to stay in the Lenny wheelhouse. So what we wanted to do is make sure that we put him A number one on that call sheet, put him front and center, and tried to write something for him that let him paint with all of the colors in his very strange toolbox. We're just big Kirby fans, and he's got all the stuff that we look for. He's a great actor. He's got that training and that grounding, but he's got a very specific quirk and he can be funny and he's not afraid of being a d--k and he's not afraid of f--king up. There's some actors that have this and some actors that don't. Some actors, you just innately love them even if they're doing something completely stupid on screen. And that's a gift. To get a leading man handed to you who can do all that, it means as writers, you can write him anything and you can let the story go anywhere you want the story to go because you don't have to worry, (a) that he can't handle it or (b) that he's not going to take it one or two steps beyond even where you thought it was going to go. And that's the greatest kind of gift for a writer. Luke, what was your response when you got the pitch? Kirby: Does this mean I have to come in in the morning? [Laughs.] I was really thrilled. I was thrilled more than anything because I felt so sad to say goodbye when Maisel wrapped. I felt like I'd gotten a good taste of the experience with them, a really enriching one, but I felt like I missed out on the daily grind especially with Amy and Dan and with the crew and just being more involved in the conversation. And so to know that we were going to try to venture out into a new experiment together was really just very exciting. And given the themes of the show and the subject matter, the dance world is something that's always been very attractive to me and has a lot of appeal and just felt ripe for picking away at the imagination. I knew already that it was going to mean trying to raise the bar and do something new and different and dynamic. And what about dance lessons? Kirby: I took a little. Jack's not a dancer, I'm sure Jack made efforts to see if he had any talent. Jack certainly is not known in his family as the one with any degree or modicum of talent, but I wanted to know about the language of ballet specifically. And I thought what better way than to take ballet lessons. It did help me understand how a person who lives in that world observes a dancer's body, observes elegance, grace, the things that they're looking for in natural talents and also in a dancer's dedication and determination. In that way, it was very insightful. And I'm here to announce that I'm going to retire from acting because my dance teacher told me that I had a body made for ballet and it's not too late. Dan and Amy, knowing Luke as well as you do, how much are you able to write to him? How much of Jack's quirks come from Luke? Kirby: Can I just say, there is a line where Crispin [Shamblee, played by Simon Callow] says to Jack, 'You were always crying,' and he remembers me crying in my striped overalls. My mother called me after watching the episode and she said, 'How did they know?' I don't know that you talked to anybody, but I feel like they were pulling from some kind of memory that lingers in the air. Palladino: You get to know people. We don't tend to pick a lot of like specifics from people's lives like we did make him a runner that's unusual for us because Luke is a runner but unconsciously you get to know people and you build their quarks in naturally. That's what we always try to do with every actor that we work with, just get to know them as soon as possible and kind of get to know what they can do. Sherman-Palladino: We're vampires. We just leech and hover and hide behind coffin lids. Kirby: Yes, and my neck is always at the ready. Luke, what have you learned working with Dan and Amy besides talking fast? Kirby: It asserts some things that I thought I was discovering early on in doing this work for a living. I had a teacher a long, long time ago, when I was studying Shakespeare, who said, 'You don't do the text, the text does you.' It's very simple advice, but it landed in that regard, but it's carried on, and it has carried on into working with Amy and Dan. When writing is as good as theirs is, it's a really good idea, I think, to get out of your own way. Having a kind of faith in the words can really bring you into new worlds that you don't expect. Their writing is very, very nuanced. I think it's to be deeply felt. Sherman-Palladino: So basically he's saying we're as good as Shakespeare. Kirby: I didn't say that. But I'll say it. Palladino: Now I have to Google Shakespeare to see who this guy is. So I've read in a few interviews that Luke wants a cape. Can we get a commitment from you, Amy and Dan, that he can get a cape in his next role? Sherman-Palladino: Yes, sure, whatever you want. Kirby: Thank you. Wow, look at that. It's just that easy! I was so jealous of Tony [Shalhoub]'s cape. Not a short cape, by the way — it's got to have some length to it, you know. Sherman-Palladino: A full cape — yeah, yeah, we get it. This article and video are presented by Prime Video. Best of GoldDerby How 'The Handmaid's Tale' series finale sets up 'The Testaments' TV Visual Effects supervisor roundtable: 'Black Mirror,' 'The Boys,' 'The Wheel of Time' 'The Wheel of Time' VFX supervisor Andy Scrase: 'I always think of visual effects as the magic of filmmaking' Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Étoile' editor Tim Streeto on reuniting with the Palladinos for the Prime Video ballet series
Étoile editor Tim Streeto was more than happy to run it back with Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino after their successful collaboration on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel led to three Emmy Award nominations for Streeto and years of acclaim. 'There was scuttlebutt that they were planning another show, and so when they asked me to come on, I was thrilled,' Streeto tells Gold Derby as part of our Meet the Experts: TV Editors panel. More from GoldDerby 'Sentimental Value' hailed as a 'masterpiece,' the 'best movie' at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival 'The Daily Show' editor Cathy Trasborg on letting Trump supporters 'reveal themselves' in the edit: 'We just let them play out' 'Beast Games' editor Mack Hopkins on the scene that was inspired by 'Dunkirk' Streaming now on Prime Video, Étoile focuses on Jack McMillan (Mrs. Maisel Emmy winner Luke Kirby), the artistic director of the New York Metropolitan Ballet, and Geneviève Lavigne (Charlotte Gainsbourg), the interim artistic director of Le Ballet National in Paris, and their attempts to resuscitate interest in the art form by switching companies. The meta pull of Étoile is that Sherman-Palladino, who was classically trained in ballet as a child, is trying to do the same thing for ballet with the series itself. For Streeto, separating Étoile from Mrs. Maisel was table stakes. 'I try to approach everything I'm starting as a clean slate,' he explains. 'Even when I've worked with people before, I think having a fresh look at everything is the best approach.' On Étoile, Streeto's leaning into the established world of ballet proved valuable, although he tried to avoid recreating past depictions of the art form whenever possible. 'I watched a lot of contemporary ballet on YouTube, just because I'm not fairly familiar with ballet,' he says. 'I also relied on our choreographer, Marguerite Derricks, and Amy herself.' What he learned is that the stereotype of ballet on screen as being 'dainty, pretty, and precious' didn't tell the entire story. 'What I saw when I was on set watching them and talking to the dancers, and then just the scenes that we had with the dancers, is just how strong and physically powerful these people are,' he says. 'Some of them are tiny in stature, but their strength is just unbelievable, and their flexibility. It's so physical and requires so much strength and dedication.' This article and video are presented by Prime Video. Best of GoldDerby 'The Daily Show' editor Cathy Trasborg on letting Trump supporters 'reveal themselves' in the edit: 'We just let them play out' 'Beast Games' editor Mack Hopkins on the scene that was inspired by 'Dunkirk' 'I was terrified — she has an Oscar for "Million Dollar Baby"': Melanie Lynskey on her epic 'Yellowjackets' fight with Hilary Swank Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
For Luke Kirby, ‘Étoile' Was a History Lesson
After charming audiences as New York City comedian Lenny Bruce in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Luke Kirby returns this week as a new New York star: Jack McMillan, director of the (fictional) Metropolitan Ballet Theater. Kirby's protagonist leads Étoile, Prime Video's ballet dramedy from Maisel co-creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino (the wife-husband team also made Gilmore Girls and Bunheads). In a last-ditch attempt to spark ticket sales, Jack agrees to trade his company's biggest stars with France's (also fictional) Le Ballet National, helmed by Charlotte Gainsbourg's Genevieve Lavigne. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Étoile' Review: Amy Sherman-Palladino's Amazon Ballet Dramedy Pirouettes Gracefully Before Stumbling in the Final Act 'The Amateur' Star Rachel Brosnahan Insists She Still Feels Like an Amateur Amy Sherman-Palladino Recalls "Weird" Network Notes For 'Gilmore Girls': "Why Isn't Rory Having Sex?" Étoile's eight episodes are stuffed with whimsical characters, sharp humor and an impressive cast of real dancers and great ballet. Through it all, Jack and Genvieve's fight to save their beloved art form becomes the show's most central duet. Below, Kirby talks to The Hollywood Reporter about returning to a Palladino set, stepping into the ballet world and learning about how our history can inform our future. *** When did you first hear about ? I'm pretty sure it was 2022. Amy and Dan called me out to dinner and it was right on the heels of Maisel wrapping. What was the pitch? I think it was a free meal (laughs). It may have involved the promise of wearing nice clothes, but I think it was mostly the free meal. And then we started to talk about our shared affection for the dance world. We talked about our romantic notions about ballet and the dance world and then with it being Amy and Dan, the potential for folly inside of that world. It's a workplace. We know that workplaces are ripe for folly. The world of ballet is — as with all art forms, there's the threat of people taking this thing very, very seriously. People that work in the arts, it's serious. It's as important as water. Did you know anything about your character, Jack, at that point? More than anything I remember the idea that this was a guy who was from the city, who had grown up immersed in the world of New York. I certainly romanticized New York in the 1980s, it was a very hot time creatively, a hot and painful time. I thought about this kid — Jack — growing up in that world and having all that greatness within reach. I just got excited about the idea of this guy. Did you look to anyone specific for inspiration? Nobody in the contemporary world. The biggest one was Lincoln Kerstein, because his passion for ballet was so evident. [Famous for his contributions to New York City's arts throughout the 20th century, Lincoln Kerstein co-founded New York City Ballet with George Balanchine in 1948]. Kerstein was such a good spokesperson for dance — he had a clear affection for it, and he was so committed to making it something culturally important in America. That degree of drive is so juicy and exciting. I think he probably had an artistic bent that was never fully fulfilled, and I see Jack similarly. Jack definitely has that drive, but this show is set in the 21st century, and post pandemic at that. The arts are in a different place than they were in Kerstein's world. That feels like part of the comedy, almost, the way your character feels out of place. I think that's right. I think Jack probably laments the age we're in. Born a little bit too late, for sure. I think Amy and Dan have this knack for writing really irreverent characters. I think we like the characters for that reason. They're characters who tell truths we're too afraid to tell. They're certainly not afraid to have cruelty be a part of their nature. But [Amy and Dan's] affection for people — for ballet — comes from a purebred heart. They'll never give you enough time to tell you how serious they are about it without pulling the rug out from underneath that sincerity. Part of how the show gets away with being irreverent and funny is the way the Palladinos hired so many real dancers. The art form is very respected. The dancers were fantastic. They adopted this idea that I was the head of their actual company. They were fully invested, fully engaged in the story. And they had to do the hardest work on set by repeating those moves day in and day out. I found them to be the biggest inspiration, seeing how early in the day they would get there and how dedicated they would be all day. Just as the case was with Maisel, everybody on the crew worked to make the immersion into the world fluid. And those dancers just provided this environment where you just — everything was in a constant state of motion. It felt very kinetic. Kinetic is a great word. I love how much of the show features dancers in the background, warming up or stretching or just talking to each other. It's quite beautiful. I love the touch at the end of the episodes showing dancers in more documentary style, too. Amy and Dan are so specific in that they reject close-ups at every turn, But to give the dancers a closer look at the end just makes it very clear what this love letter is about. Did you learn anything about ballet or dance yourself? I learned a lot about the history of ballet. The biggest thing that stood out was the way that for the first 200 years of the art form, there was nothing written down. The dances lived in the dancers' bodies and they told these stories to each other over the course of time. When you consider the history of turmoil of the countries who practice ballet, it's so remarkable. You get a sense of the meaning of survival of an art form. I don't know if 'hope' is the right word, but it's something. Charlotte Gainsbourg plays your Parisian counterpart, and Europe's arts face similar and different challenges from the U.S. — how did you two play off of your contrast? I think they kind of mirror each other. They find great relief in knowing that there's another one [of them] out there. I think they both share this mysterious thirst-quenching affection for ballet, but also they don't know what odds they'd have at any kind of art [themselves]. I'm such a fan of [Gainsbourg]. Her work is always so compelling, and just to get to have her around for this was a remarkable gift. I couldn't believe our luck. I think she's really remarkable in this show. She's like Gena Rowlands to me, her talent, her ease is really remarkable. The is already confirmed. Do you have any hopes for where the next installment will take us? I do have hopes, but I dare not say them. My feeling with Amy and Dan is that they are the guiding light to this stuff. They're so committed to their stories and I'll follow them. I just hope that they keep digging. I think that there's a lot to be [drawn] from this world. I did have a request for Amy a long time ago, I told her that I wanted to be in a cape. I was really jealous that Tony Shalhoub got to wear a cape [on Maisel] and I don't think that he should be the only one. *** All eight episodes of Étoile season one are streaming on Prime Video. 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
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Étoile' Review: Amy Sherman-Palladino's Amazon Ballet Dramedy Pirouettes Gracefully Before Stumbling in the Final Act
Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has the Emmys and The WB's Gilmore Girls has the two decades of snowballing affection, but if I'm feeling contrary — and I'm usually feeling contrary — I'll say that my favorite Amy Sherman-Palladino show is Bunheads. Because Bunheads only consists of 18 episodes, it's all potential. It started bumpy, found its voice completely and then ABC Family canceled it, so I can eternally believe it never would have been marred by Sherman-Palladino's inevitable flirtations with tweeness or her insatiable appetite for ramming her characters into narrative brick walls. It's pure, delightful, perfectly cast Sherman-Palladino goodness. More from The Hollywood Reporter For Luke Kirby, 'Étoile' Was a History Lesson 'The Amateur' Star Rachel Brosnahan Insists She Still Feels Like an Amateur Amy Sherman-Palladino Recalls "Weird" Network Notes For 'Gilmore Girls': "Why Isn't Rory Having Sex?" Bunheads was also a show about potential. Its key characters were budding ballet dancers, which allowed the show to avoid the challenges of depicting excellence — pressures that Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino struggled with when it came to Midge Maisel and her comedy — and concentrate, rather, on youthful enthusiasm. Sherman-Palladino and Palladino return to the world of ballet with their new Amazon dramedy Étoile, which, for me, triggered some initial concerns of self-seriousness with its title and focus on, well, excellence in an international context. I was more than prepared to write a 'It's no Bunheads' review, but it's a relief to report that, at least initially, Étoile doesn't take itself too seriously. As a result, for six or seven episodes, the hour-long series is likably light-on-its-feet, infused with its creators' love and admiration for this world and boasting strong lead performances from Luke Kirby and Charlotte Gainsbourg as well as a knockout English-language debut from co-star Lou de Laâge. A season-concluding downward spiral follows, one that will be familiar to even the most devoted and forgiving of Sherman-Palladino fans — that thing where characters behave in unjustifiable ways just to set things up tantalizingly for the next run of episodes. Some of the things that happen in the Étoile homestretch are so pointlessly dumb they soured me on a show that I'd mostly been enjoying. Kirby plays Jack, executive director for the Metropolitan Ballet Theater in New York City, while Gainsbourg is Genevieve, interim director of Le Ballet National in Paris. Their respective institutions are struggling and if their new seasons flop, ballet could die forever. Or something. Genevieve offers a solution: They'll swap companies, or at least parts of companies, as somebody puts it, 'to give Paris a jolt of New York City energy and New York City a splash of Parisian style.' To help with the process, eccentric billionaire and possible war criminal Crispin Shamblee (Simon Callow, devouring scenery) agrees to pay. Jack is wary. Jack and Genevieve, who have a romantic past and a flirting present, select members of the other's company to filch for this one-year experiment. Genevieve snags the Metropolitan's brilliant-but-odd star choreographer Tobias (Gideon Glick) and French dancer Mishi (Taïs Vinolo), who was cut from the Parisian company years earlier. Jack drafts Paris' étoile, the no-bullshit Cheyenne (de Laâge), who is introduced as an environmental warrior and then, by the end of the first season, is flying back and forth from Paris to NYC at a moment's notice because lots of characters on this show are introduced with core characteristics that eventually fizzle away. 'Etoile' means 'star' in this context, but don't worry about a necessary learning curve. Étoile is fueled by a love of ballet, its movement and its music — Jack and Genevieve are introduced debating Tchaikovsky vs. Aaron Copland — but this is not a piece of extreme immersion packed with intimidating ballet terminology or references. Nor does Étoile aspire to be some sort of gritty examination of ballet's dark underbelly. There's a show to be made about ballet's crushing physical toll and institutional restrictions, centered on rampant drug use, screwing and abuses of power. I know this, because I watched Starz's Flesh and Bone and found it properly harrowing, if not particularly good. Étoile features jokes about dancers being overworked and about their messed-up feet and whatnot, but acknowledging elements of this world that could be interpreted as physical and psychological exploitation through a different prism is not on the agenda. Instead, it's a Sherman-Palladino-friendly combination of fast-talking whimsy and graceful direction — Amy and Daniel wrote and directed much of the season, though there's a midseason pause for other scribes and director Scott Ellis — in the service of what is, more than anything, a fish-out-of-water workplace comedy about people devoted to an elite art form. The creators' general enjoyment, rather than eagle-eyed interrogation, of the milieu carries over to how Étoile handles dance itself. Several members of the cast have extensive ballet experience, including Vinolo and David Alvarez (West Side Story), who plays the only American dancer strong enough to partner with Cheyenne. But most do not, and there's enough doubling in the dance numbers that those with only a casual interest in the art form probably won't notice who actually is doing their own dancing and when (attentive viewers surely will). Étoile is very selective when it comes to how much dance it actually shows. After the first episode, there's a long stretch in which we only get fleeting rehearsal footage, before a fourth episode with six featured performances, then another gap before a dance-heavy finale. Either way, it's a show that more frequently than not asks you to take the dialogue at its word that certain performances are exceptional or certain creative forces are brilliant. The dance sequences are generally simply shot, lots of full-body and full-stage framings, very few sweaty close-ups — all fitting for a show that aspires to a little distance rather than uncomfortable intimacy. Everything is photographed with a handsome fluidity; it's the rare series that gives the Steadicam operator a prominent position in the credits. Kirby, an Emmy winner as a somewhat excessively lovable Lenny Bruce in Mrs. Maisel, steps into the lead role here and it's no surprise that he vibes completely with Jack's stream-of-consciousness irritation — which, one could argue, he treats as performatively as some other characters treat their dance moves. Gainsbourg matches Kirby's nervous energy, and they have a chemistry that justifies their steady flirtation. It hurts Gainsbourg and the show a tiny bit that in dividing the narrative between New York and Paris — a largely landmark-free version of Paris, complete with a joke mocking Emily in Paris for the ubiquity of the Eiffel Tower — the Paris company gets the socially uncomfortable Mishi and the highly withdrawn Tobias, and therefore lacks the energy of the New York chapters, driven by the animated de Laâge. De Laâge is a well-established French screen presence with a pair of Cesar nominations to her credit, but this is her first English-language TV role. Jumping into English-language television with an Amy Sherman-Paladino show is like walking in a snow flurry for the first time and then deciding to heli-ski down the Matterhorn. And this is not a light Amy Sherman-Palladino role. Cheyenne is a storyteller and the writers are sticking these long monologues in de Laâge's mouth and saying, 'Sell this!' And she does. More than half the laughs I got came from moments like de Laâge's dolphin impression or a lecture she gives to Jack's groin, while the most effective emotional arc of the season is probably between Cheyenne and SuSu (LaMay Zhang), a young girl whom Cheyenne steers into ballet classes. That Étoile largely fails Cheyenne by the end of the season takes nothing away from de Laâge's breakout performance. Favoring levity here, the broadly comic supporting performances work best for me, especially Callow, whose Crispin exists in a far wackier and wilder series, and David Haig as the Metropolitan's artistic director, who has early hilarious moments and definitely gets let down in the season's climax. The show never figures out what to do with Alvarez's Gael, leaving a bland center to several more of those twists in the last episode. The writers are much more confident with getting brief value out of a handful of Sherman-Palladino regulars, including Yanic Truesdale and Kelly Bishop, who show up and steal a scene or two, unsaddled with any of the concluding missteps. I've watched and loved enough Amy Sherman-Palladino shows that I should know that questionable seasonal cliffhangers are part of her storytelling vernacular, and I should know better than to be this disappointed by the end of a season that I mostly enjoyed. Maybe that's why I like Bunheads as much as I do. 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