S1: Hey, this is solar writer and creator Chris Porter. Director
S1: and producer Jenni Curtis. And I got to sit down
S1: with Jonathan Banks, who leads the show as Jamaal and
S1: talk through some of our favorite moments in the story
S1: with him. Here we're jumping into the discussion of the
S1: two contrasting Mercury flybys in episode four. Here's some excerpts
S1: of what we had to say.
S2: Okay. We want to talk about episode four, where we
S2: experienced two mercury flybys, one pre solar event and one
S2: post solar event. Yeah, I know, John. We said we're
S2: talking to you, but I'm actually going to throw this
S2: to Chris first. Would you talk about the impetus for
S2: this story structure and why there were two flybys and
S2: what it meant to the story of solar?
S1: So pretty early on, I was spending a lot of time,
S1: almost as much time developing the characters as trying to
S1: figure out what the mission was and what the experiments
S1: were that everyone was doing and physically what it would
S1: be like. How long would it take to get to
S1: the sun? How long would they be there? How long
S1: would it come back? And I realized that's in close
S1: orbit to the sun would end up pretty much just
S1: inside of Mercury orbit. And because Mercury orbits the sun
S1: so fast and I think it's like 88 days, they
S1: would end up seeing mercury at least twice on that mission.
S1: And it suddenly occurred to me because obviously time is
S1: a big aspect of the story and the refractory nature
S1: of it past feeding into the present and feeding into
S1: the future and future, feeding into the past, etc., etc.. Yeah.
S1: And so it became really important for this mercury parallel
S1: thing to milestones of mercury flying by with which to
S1: examine how the relationship has changed from this point in
S1: time to that point in time, specifically in relation to renin.
S2: Jamal Mercury Okay.
S3: Are you surprised the flyby has been on the calendar?
S2: I know I haven't been on the side of the
S2: ship all morning.
S3: You should look out windows more. It's something, isn't it? Hey,
S3: can you hold this light right there? I need both
S3: hands to unhook this thing. Perfect. I got up early
S3: just to watch Mercury for an hour, and I've been
S3: excited about this day since before we launched. So one
S3: of the reasons I wanted to go on this mission
S3: so badly for Mercury. Look at it. We'll look at
S3: it in a second. I need you to keep the
S3: light here.
S2: Oh, sorry.
S1: In the first one. It's totally Jamal that has the
S1: upper hand. And he's like, Look out the window. Look
S1: at this thing, look at it. And they have this
S1: whole discussion. And then at the end, he can't even
S1: he this window's not pointed in the right way and
S1: he has to get Ren to describe it to him.
S1: And it just became total. A shift of power dynamic
S1: isn't the right word, but it just became a different
S1: exchange between these two individuals. And that just really resonated
S1: with me, and that's why I wanted to pursue it
S1: and frame the episode in that way.
S3: Yeah, listening to it and getting refreshed on it, they
S3: do have a shift because, well, Jamal is asking for it,
S3: but Ren becomes the poet in that moment. It's very
S3: heartbreaking at that moment because in the very beginning, at
S3: the first Mercury flyby, he's such an optimist and he's like, Yeah,
S3: you just got to look out windows. He just has
S3: so much joy. And then the second you could just
S3: feel all that being detached and the one thing that
S3: can help him muster a little bit more hope was
S3: just hearing how it looks. It's day 548, right? The
S3: second Mercury flyby, our last sighting. My window is pointing away,
S3: so I can't at all. Can you look out your
S3: window and describe it to me?
S2: I don't know, Jamal.
S1: You're better or worse than I am. Please, Brett.
S3: Please.
S2: So there's these two mental states with all the pre solar.
S2: Post solar. Yeah. How did you approach them as an actor?
S3: Well, acting is reacting. That's the first thing you're told
S3: and taught. And I was just reacting to the world
S3: around me. Obviously, 2020, we started recording first, second week
S3: of 2021. And it's also kind of been in my life,
S3: this show. I've had it on and off for three
S3: years maybe.
S2: Yeah. For those of you who don't know which would
S2: be all of you. John was with us since the
S2: beginning of this project.
S3: And honestly, you dream for roles like this that really
S3: feel like your magnum opus as an artist or whatever
S3: your career is at this point. And I just feel
S3: so connected. I felt so connected. I was able to
S3: think how Jamal thought rhythmically, the poetic system, his wittiness,
S3: his humor, his lightheartedness, his anger, his fire, all of
S3: those different components I could relate to. So it was,
S3: pun intended, easy to step into the spacesuit and, you know,
S3: just blast off.
S1: I would actually like to dig into your acting as
S1: reacting thing because Jamal is alone a lot of the time. Yeah.
S1: And the only person who he really has to talk
S1: to is Ali, who is also joining us at this table.
S2: Oh, hi.
S3: How does the reveal how did.
S1: That work for you? How did that work for you
S1: mentally as you were doing this role? How were you reacting?
S1: Were you trying to think of the thought process through, Jamal?
S1: Were you responding to something.
S2: We were talking about for? But I'm glad Chris is
S2: bringing it here because we weren't going to make it
S2: through this conversation without bringing it back to episode one.
S3: Yes, that's.
S2: Totally shit, John.
S3: Well, that's the that's the whole genesis of my relationship
S3: with this project was the monologue first time I saw
S3: it in the first pages where the monologue and Chris,
S3: you have this ability to write in this intricate way
S3: that if the actor gets it, they're flying and it's
S3: a high like no other, and the audience can receive that,
S3: and the channels open their vessel where you make people cry,
S3: you impact them, you get right to their heart. And
S3: that monologue I just latched right on to it. I
S3: think what it did was I was in a very
S3: introspective space in my life. I was going back and
S3: forth from the bay to Los Angeles because of personal reasons,
S3: and I was talking to myself a lot at that time.
S3: I feel like a lot of us were. And so
S3: I just understood the complexities that he was going through,
S3: not the full totality. Which is another thing I wanted
S3: to say before I even came here is like, what
S3: makes things translate is the occupations of the characters may
S3: be far fetched, like an astronaut or like succession, where
S3: they're all multiple trillionaires or whatever. But what always rings
S3: true or is that humans going through relatable, circumstantial things?
S3: And that was always the driving force that got me
S3: attached to Jamal, made me understand what he was thinking
S3: and why the monologue. Kano was like the first episode
S3: of that.
S1: Well, that's a little bit of our behind the scenes
S1: with Jonathan Banks. If you'd like to hear the whole discussion,
S1: you can find it in the solar panel on our
S1: Apple Podcasts premium channel. Thanks for listening.