1 00:00:04,940 --> 00:00:08,539 S1: Hey, this is solar writer and creator Chris Porter. Director 2 00:00:08,539 --> 00:00:10,580 S1: and producer Jenni Curtis. And I got to sit down 3 00:00:10,580 --> 00:00:13,520 S1: with Jonathan Banks, who leads the show as Jamaal and 4 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:15,650 S1: talk through some of our favorite moments in the story 5 00:00:15,650 --> 00:00:18,919 S1: with him. Here we're jumping into the discussion of the 6 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:22,759 S1: two contrasting Mercury flybys in episode four. Here's some excerpts 7 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:23,599 S1: of what we had to say. 8 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:28,440 S2: Okay. We want to talk about episode four, where we 9 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:31,740 S2: experienced two mercury flybys, one pre solar event and one 10 00:00:31,740 --> 00:00:33,870 S2: post solar event. Yeah, I know, John. We said we're 11 00:00:33,870 --> 00:00:35,490 S2: talking to you, but I'm actually going to throw this 12 00:00:35,490 --> 00:00:39,269 S2: to Chris first. Would you talk about the impetus for 13 00:00:39,300 --> 00:00:42,269 S2: this story structure and why there were two flybys and 14 00:00:42,270 --> 00:00:43,770 S2: what it meant to the story of solar? 15 00:00:43,979 --> 00:00:46,680 S1: So pretty early on, I was spending a lot of time, 16 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:48,660 S1: almost as much time developing the characters as trying to 17 00:00:48,659 --> 00:00:50,850 S1: figure out what the mission was and what the experiments 18 00:00:50,850 --> 00:00:53,339 S1: were that everyone was doing and physically what it would 19 00:00:53,340 --> 00:00:54,990 S1: be like. How long would it take to get to 20 00:00:54,990 --> 00:00:56,610 S1: the sun? How long would they be there? How long 21 00:00:56,610 --> 00:00:58,980 S1: would it come back? And I realized that's in close 22 00:00:58,980 --> 00:01:01,860 S1: orbit to the sun would end up pretty much just 23 00:01:01,860 --> 00:01:04,800 S1: inside of Mercury orbit. And because Mercury orbits the sun 24 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:07,500 S1: so fast and I think it's like 88 days, they 25 00:01:07,500 --> 00:01:11,190 S1: would end up seeing mercury at least twice on that mission. 26 00:01:11,580 --> 00:01:14,430 S1: And it suddenly occurred to me because obviously time is 27 00:01:14,430 --> 00:01:17,130 S1: a big aspect of the story and the refractory nature 28 00:01:17,130 --> 00:01:19,530 S1: of it past feeding into the present and feeding into 29 00:01:19,530 --> 00:01:22,070 S1: the future and future, feeding into the past, etc., etc.. Yeah. 30 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:26,220 S1: And so it became really important for this mercury parallel 31 00:01:26,220 --> 00:01:29,610 S1: thing to milestones of mercury flying by with which to 32 00:01:29,610 --> 00:01:32,610 S1: examine how the relationship has changed from this point in 33 00:01:32,610 --> 00:01:35,580 S1: time to that point in time, specifically in relation to renin. 34 00:01:35,580 --> 00:01:38,730 S2: Jamal Mercury Okay. 35 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:42,900 S3: Are you surprised the flyby has been on the calendar? 36 00:01:42,900 --> 00:01:44,790 S2: I know I haven't been on the side of the 37 00:01:44,790 --> 00:01:45,570 S2: ship all morning. 38 00:01:45,930 --> 00:01:52,590 S3: You should look out windows more. It's something, isn't it? Hey, 39 00:01:52,590 --> 00:01:54,180 S3: can you hold this light right there? I need both 40 00:01:54,180 --> 00:02:01,440 S3: hands to unhook this thing. Perfect. I got up early 41 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:04,380 S3: just to watch Mercury for an hour, and I've been 42 00:02:04,380 --> 00:02:07,560 S3: excited about this day since before we launched. So one 43 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:09,330 S3: of the reasons I wanted to go on this mission 44 00:02:09,330 --> 00:02:14,100 S3: so badly for Mercury. Look at it. We'll look at 45 00:02:14,100 --> 00:02:15,600 S3: it in a second. I need you to keep the 46 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:16,110 S3: light here. 47 00:02:16,139 --> 00:02:16,800 S2: Oh, sorry. 48 00:02:18,210 --> 00:02:20,640 S1: In the first one. It's totally Jamal that has the 49 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:22,530 S1: upper hand. And he's like, Look out the window. Look 50 00:02:22,530 --> 00:02:23,970 S1: at this thing, look at it. And they have this 51 00:02:23,970 --> 00:02:26,220 S1: whole discussion. And then at the end, he can't even 52 00:02:26,220 --> 00:02:28,290 S1: he this window's not pointed in the right way and 53 00:02:28,290 --> 00:02:30,600 S1: he has to get Ren to describe it to him. 54 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:34,829 S1: And it just became total. A shift of power dynamic 55 00:02:34,830 --> 00:02:36,870 S1: isn't the right word, but it just became a different 56 00:02:36,870 --> 00:02:40,950 S1: exchange between these two individuals. And that just really resonated 57 00:02:40,950 --> 00:02:42,660 S1: with me, and that's why I wanted to pursue it 58 00:02:42,660 --> 00:02:44,280 S1: and frame the episode in that way. 59 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:47,820 S3: Yeah, listening to it and getting refreshed on it, they 60 00:02:47,820 --> 00:02:51,330 S3: do have a shift because, well, Jamal is asking for it, 61 00:02:51,330 --> 00:02:55,410 S3: but Ren becomes the poet in that moment. It's very 62 00:02:55,410 --> 00:02:57,870 S3: heartbreaking at that moment because in the very beginning, at 63 00:02:57,870 --> 00:03:01,920 S3: the first Mercury flyby, he's such an optimist and he's like, Yeah, 64 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:03,720 S3: you just got to look out windows. He just has 65 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,530 S3: so much joy. And then the second you could just 66 00:03:07,530 --> 00:03:11,100 S3: feel all that being detached and the one thing that 67 00:03:11,100 --> 00:03:13,680 S3: can help him muster a little bit more hope was 68 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:19,079 S3: just hearing how it looks. It's day 548, right? The 69 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:26,690 S3: second Mercury flyby, our last sighting. My window is pointing away, 70 00:03:26,780 --> 00:03:33,150 S3: so I can't at all. Can you look out your 71 00:03:33,150 --> 00:03:34,950 S3: window and describe it to me? 72 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:38,460 S2: I don't know, Jamal. 73 00:03:38,470 --> 00:03:41,280 S1: You're better or worse than I am. Please, Brett. 74 00:03:44,700 --> 00:03:45,150 S3: Please. 75 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:52,890 S2: So there's these two mental states with all the pre solar. 76 00:03:52,890 --> 00:03:57,390 S2: Post solar. Yeah. How did you approach them as an actor? 77 00:03:58,530 --> 00:04:03,300 S3: Well, acting is reacting. That's the first thing you're told 78 00:04:03,300 --> 00:04:07,950 S3: and taught. And I was just reacting to the world 79 00:04:07,950 --> 00:04:15,870 S3: around me. Obviously, 2020, we started recording first, second week 80 00:04:15,870 --> 00:04:21,570 S3: of 2021. And it's also kind of been in my life, 81 00:04:21,870 --> 00:04:24,900 S3: this show. I've had it on and off for three 82 00:04:24,900 --> 00:04:25,810 S3: years maybe. 83 00:04:25,830 --> 00:04:27,990 S2: Yeah. For those of you who don't know which would 84 00:04:27,990 --> 00:04:30,540 S2: be all of you. John was with us since the 85 00:04:30,540 --> 00:04:32,180 S2: beginning of this project. 86 00:04:32,190 --> 00:04:36,060 S3: And honestly, you dream for roles like this that really 87 00:04:36,060 --> 00:04:39,390 S3: feel like your magnum opus as an artist or whatever 88 00:04:39,390 --> 00:04:41,609 S3: your career is at this point. And I just feel 89 00:04:41,610 --> 00:04:45,089 S3: so connected. I felt so connected. I was able to 90 00:04:45,330 --> 00:04:51,270 S3: think how Jamal thought rhythmically, the poetic system, his wittiness, 91 00:04:51,270 --> 00:04:55,590 S3: his humor, his lightheartedness, his anger, his fire, all of 92 00:04:55,589 --> 00:05:00,300 S3: those different components I could relate to. So it was, 93 00:05:00,510 --> 00:05:04,890 S3: pun intended, easy to step into the spacesuit and, you know, 94 00:05:04,890 --> 00:05:05,870 S3: just blast off. 95 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:07,950 S1: I would actually like to dig into your acting as 96 00:05:07,950 --> 00:05:11,760 S1: reacting thing because Jamal is alone a lot of the time. Yeah. 97 00:05:12,029 --> 00:05:14,940 S1: And the only person who he really has to talk 98 00:05:14,940 --> 00:05:17,220 S1: to is Ali, who is also joining us at this table. 99 00:05:17,260 --> 00:05:17,690 S2: Oh, hi. 100 00:05:18,270 --> 00:05:19,620 S3: How does the reveal how did. 101 00:05:19,620 --> 00:05:23,729 S1: That work for you? How did that work for you 102 00:05:23,730 --> 00:05:26,820 S1: mentally as you were doing this role? How were you reacting? 103 00:05:26,820 --> 00:05:30,240 S1: Were you trying to think of the thought process through, Jamal? 104 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:32,310 S1: Were you responding to something. 105 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:34,590 S2: We were talking about for? But I'm glad Chris is 106 00:05:34,589 --> 00:05:36,179 S2: bringing it here because we weren't going to make it 107 00:05:36,180 --> 00:05:38,609 S2: through this conversation without bringing it back to episode one. 108 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:39,210 S3: Yes, that's. 109 00:05:39,210 --> 00:05:40,600 S2: Totally shit, John. 110 00:05:40,620 --> 00:05:43,860 S3: Well, that's the that's the whole genesis of my relationship 111 00:05:43,860 --> 00:05:46,440 S3: with this project was the monologue first time I saw 112 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:50,400 S3: it in the first pages where the monologue and Chris, 113 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:55,080 S3: you have this ability to write in this intricate way 114 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:58,320 S3: that if the actor gets it, they're flying and it's 115 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:02,070 S3: a high like no other, and the audience can receive that, 116 00:06:02,070 --> 00:06:05,460 S3: and the channels open their vessel where you make people cry, 117 00:06:05,460 --> 00:06:08,640 S3: you impact them, you get right to their heart. And 118 00:06:08,910 --> 00:06:12,540 S3: that monologue I just latched right on to it. I 119 00:06:12,540 --> 00:06:14,940 S3: think what it did was I was in a very 120 00:06:14,940 --> 00:06:18,390 S3: introspective space in my life. I was going back and 121 00:06:18,390 --> 00:06:21,510 S3: forth from the bay to Los Angeles because of personal reasons, 122 00:06:22,050 --> 00:06:25,409 S3: and I was talking to myself a lot at that time. 123 00:06:25,410 --> 00:06:27,210 S3: I feel like a lot of us were. And so 124 00:06:27,210 --> 00:06:30,090 S3: I just understood the complexities that he was going through, 125 00:06:30,089 --> 00:06:32,280 S3: not the full totality. Which is another thing I wanted 126 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:33,989 S3: to say before I even came here is like, what 127 00:06:33,990 --> 00:06:38,430 S3: makes things translate is the occupations of the characters may 128 00:06:38,430 --> 00:06:41,940 S3: be far fetched, like an astronaut or like succession, where 129 00:06:41,940 --> 00:06:46,080 S3: they're all multiple trillionaires or whatever. But what always rings 130 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:50,849 S3: true or is that humans going through relatable, circumstantial things? 131 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:55,260 S3: And that was always the driving force that got me 132 00:06:55,529 --> 00:06:58,560 S3: attached to Jamal, made me understand what he was thinking 133 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:02,490 S3: and why the monologue. Kano was like the first episode 134 00:07:02,490 --> 00:07:02,789 S3: of that. 135 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,219 S1: Well, that's a little bit of our behind the scenes 136 00:07:08,220 --> 00:07:11,270 S1: with Jonathan Banks. If you'd like to hear the whole discussion, 137 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:13,320 S1: you can find it in the solar panel on our 138 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:17,040 S1: Apple Podcasts premium channel. Thanks for listening.