1 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:16,470 S1: Hey, this is solo director and producer Jenni Curtis. Writer 2 00:00:16,470 --> 00:00:19,050 S1: Chris Porter. And I got to sit down with Aniello 3 00:00:19,050 --> 00:00:22,560 S1: and talk through the intricacies of her character, Jessup. Here 4 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:24,630 S1: are a few excerpts of what she had to say. 5 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:30,990 S1: Like you said, you were in these development workshops with us, 6 00:00:30,990 --> 00:00:34,680 S1: so you kind of saw the show change and grow. 7 00:00:34,710 --> 00:00:37,530 S1: Mm hmm. Was there a difference for you in just 8 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:39,870 S1: from the first time we worked on her in the 9 00:00:39,870 --> 00:00:42,239 S1: workshop to what we ended up bringing into the studio? 10 00:00:42,690 --> 00:00:45,120 S2: I think it just got refined for Jess. I felt 11 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:48,690 S2: like in the workshop Jessie was already kind of fully formed, 12 00:00:48,990 --> 00:00:50,700 S2: and I think we just, like, made little refinements to 13 00:00:50,700 --> 00:00:54,210 S2: like exactly how she approached the different crew members. 14 00:00:54,390 --> 00:00:56,730 S3: How did you find Jess's voice physically? 15 00:00:57,030 --> 00:01:01,590 S2: I felt like Jessa, just like who lives fully in 16 00:01:01,590 --> 00:01:04,200 S2: my chest, if that makes sense. Like, if you think about, like, 17 00:01:04,350 --> 00:01:07,410 S2: where a character lives in your body, she's like, rock solid. So, like, 18 00:01:07,410 --> 00:01:09,959 S2: if I kept thinking of Jessa as just being, like, 19 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:14,399 S2: the most. The most confident and assured that I could 20 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,370 S2: ever be about who I am and what I do like, 21 00:01:17,370 --> 00:01:19,860 S2: that feels like Jessa to me. And that's not to 22 00:01:19,860 --> 00:01:22,319 S2: say that just doesn't have, like, her own worries and 23 00:01:23,010 --> 00:01:27,240 S2: questions about herself. But she's that rock for the crew. 24 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:31,259 S2: And I wanted to, like, feel that whenever I was 25 00:01:31,260 --> 00:01:33,570 S2: in a scene. So that's kind of like the mental 26 00:01:33,569 --> 00:01:35,100 S2: image I had in my brain to. 27 00:01:35,100 --> 00:01:37,830 S1: Talk about being in the booth. We recorded this in 28 00:01:37,830 --> 00:01:39,330 S1: the height of the pandemic. 29 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:39,960 S3: Vaccine. 30 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:44,370 S1: Pre vaccine. So we were in a recording studio, which 31 00:01:44,370 --> 00:01:45,660 S1: I don't know about for you, but for me that 32 00:01:45,660 --> 00:01:47,670 S1: was like a godsend, being able to be in a 33 00:01:47,670 --> 00:01:49,710 S1: studio with other people. Obviously you were on the other 34 00:01:49,710 --> 00:01:51,540 S1: side of the glass, so we never got to interact 35 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:54,030 S1: like face to face. But I saw you. 36 00:01:54,060 --> 00:01:56,970 S2: It was nice. It was one of the first projects 37 00:01:56,970 --> 00:01:59,910 S2: I got to work on in a studio in the pandemic, 38 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:03,690 S2: because like the pandemic happened and everything went remote and 39 00:02:03,690 --> 00:02:06,090 S2: I had to learn how to record remotely. And then 40 00:02:06,090 --> 00:02:08,220 S2: this came up and you're like, We're in a recording studio. 41 00:02:08,220 --> 00:02:09,690 S2: And I was like, Can we is this a thing 42 00:02:09,690 --> 00:02:13,080 S2: we can do yet? And it was and it worked 43 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:15,690 S2: out great. And like all the safety protocols were in place, 44 00:02:15,690 --> 00:02:19,680 S2: like everything felt safe and above board and it was 45 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:21,510 S2: lovely people to see your face through the glass while 46 00:02:21,510 --> 00:02:22,350 S2: we were doing this. 47 00:02:22,950 --> 00:02:26,580 S3: Just to bring it back to Jessa. Yeah, we obviously 48 00:02:26,700 --> 00:02:29,580 S3: very much love Jessa as a character, all of us, 49 00:02:29,580 --> 00:02:32,250 S3: but we tried very hard to make sure that they 50 00:02:32,250 --> 00:02:36,000 S3: were all very human characters. So from your perspective, what 51 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:38,280 S3: is something that you love about Jessa and what are 52 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:41,340 S3: some flaws that you feel are worth acknowledging? 53 00:02:41,730 --> 00:02:45,030 S2: I love that Jessa is just enough of a chameleon 54 00:02:45,030 --> 00:02:47,820 S2: to be able to like, connect with everyone in the 55 00:02:47,820 --> 00:02:51,660 S2: crew because they're all very different. And the way you 56 00:02:51,660 --> 00:02:53,760 S2: have to approach each of those people in order to 57 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:55,620 S2: draw them out, in order to get them to tell 58 00:02:55,620 --> 00:02:57,780 S2: you vulnerable things, in order to get them to become 59 00:02:57,780 --> 00:03:01,200 S2: vulnerable for you. Like that's a different tactic for each person, right? 60 00:03:01,410 --> 00:03:05,130 S2: One of the tactics being her big monologue in episode three, 61 00:03:05,490 --> 00:03:08,250 S2: kind of baring it all herself in kind. And I 62 00:03:08,250 --> 00:03:12,390 S2: think that's so, so valuable, just trying to relate to 63 00:03:12,389 --> 00:03:15,690 S2: people out there in the world. So many people are 64 00:03:15,690 --> 00:03:20,370 S2: un willing to try different avenues to be able to 65 00:03:20,370 --> 00:03:22,680 S2: connect with people that they normally wouldn't. And I feel 66 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:24,090 S2: like just as the kind of person who would be 67 00:03:24,090 --> 00:03:26,760 S2: able to do, you know, how I lost my arm? 68 00:03:27,020 --> 00:03:29,220 S3: A drunk driver. 69 00:03:29,700 --> 00:03:34,900 S2: That's right. One year before self-driving cars became mandatory. I 70 00:03:34,900 --> 00:03:38,290 S2: was driving home with my fiancee and we just had 71 00:03:38,290 --> 00:03:41,800 S2: dinner with her parents. They thought we didn't need her something, 72 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:45,490 S2: so they gave us all their leftovers. I'm sitting there 73 00:03:45,490 --> 00:03:48,400 S2: in the passenger seat with four boxes piled on my lap, 74 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:52,720 S2: and I see these headlights coming real fast toward the 75 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:57,850 S2: driver's side window. And I think to myself, these leftovers 76 00:03:57,850 --> 00:04:02,080 S2: are going to go everywhere. And that's where my memory 77 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:03,700 S2: just ends. 78 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,550 S1: This monologue that we've been talking about in episode three, 79 00:04:06,550 --> 00:04:08,950 S1: I swear, like Jessa became a friend of mine and 80 00:04:08,950 --> 00:04:10,660 S1: a cheerleader of mine, and I would go back and 81 00:04:10,660 --> 00:04:13,930 S1: listen to this monologue when I was having, you know, 82 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:19,450 S1: stress about the show and stress about life and her perspective, like, 83 00:04:19,450 --> 00:04:22,870 S1: helped me as a person. And I guess I kind 84 00:04:22,870 --> 00:04:25,630 S1: of want to throw it over to Chris who wrote 85 00:04:25,930 --> 00:04:29,860 S1: the thing. What is it you were trying to say 86 00:04:29,860 --> 00:04:32,410 S1: with the monologue? Where did it stand in the story 87 00:04:32,410 --> 00:04:36,159 S1: and how did you come to the words of it? 88 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:40,660 S3: Definitely functionally, with this moment in this story, what was 89 00:04:40,660 --> 00:04:44,200 S3: important is communicating who Jessa was and how she works 90 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:46,690 S3: just like and was explaining. She kind of has to 91 00:04:46,810 --> 00:04:49,450 S3: be a chameleon and find a way that she fits 92 00:04:49,450 --> 00:04:52,839 S3: with these other crew members because she's not only there 93 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:56,200 S3: to stitch up fools, as Jessa says, she's actually there 94 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,230 S3: for their mental health as well. And she knows in 95 00:04:59,230 --> 00:05:01,690 S3: this moment Jamal is spinning out. And we know that 96 00:05:01,690 --> 00:05:04,719 S3: in the more present timeline, which is the most future 97 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:09,099 S3: timeline of Jamal facing what could be his imminent death, 98 00:05:09,610 --> 00:05:12,220 S3: he's also spinning out and he needs to hear these 99 00:05:12,220 --> 00:05:16,480 S3: words again that Jessa has relayed to him. So story wise, 100 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:18,849 S3: I knew that that had to be the mission of it. 101 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:21,850 S3: Part of her back story, I knew that she had 102 00:05:21,850 --> 00:05:23,919 S3: to have a bionic arm that was caused by this thing. 103 00:05:24,370 --> 00:05:27,849 S3: Her story about the leftovers going everywhere is actually somewhat 104 00:05:27,850 --> 00:05:30,640 S3: inspired by a true story, where I was leaving a 105 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:33,820 S3: friend's house on Thanksgiving and his family had given us 106 00:05:33,940 --> 00:05:37,390 S3: multiple pies. I had them in my passenger seats, about 107 00:05:37,390 --> 00:05:40,000 S3: three different pies because they were like, Here, thank you 108 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:41,770 S3: for coming to our Thanksgiving. Here's a whole bunch of 109 00:05:41,770 --> 00:05:45,219 S3: extra pies. And thank God it was not a drunk driver. 110 00:05:45,490 --> 00:05:48,549 S3: It was not a situation where I lost a significant other. 111 00:05:48,550 --> 00:05:50,050 S3: It was not a situation where I lost a limb 112 00:05:50,050 --> 00:05:52,539 S3: of my body, but I definitely slammed on my brakes, 113 00:05:52,540 --> 00:05:54,969 S3: reached over to the pies and thought to myself, These 114 00:05:54,970 --> 00:05:57,580 S3: pies are going to go everywhere. And that is where 115 00:05:57,580 --> 00:06:00,280 S3: my memory stops, right? Then it does not kick back 116 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:02,890 S3: in for 3 hours until a cop is questioning me, 117 00:06:02,890 --> 00:06:05,200 S3: asking what year it is and who the president was. 118 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:07,029 S3: And sure enough, when I found my car and it 119 00:06:07,029 --> 00:06:10,000 S3: was totaled, the pies had indeed gone everywhere. But there 120 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:12,760 S3: is always something about that. Like I told that to 121 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,250 S3: the insurance people when they were taking my statement, I 122 00:06:15,250 --> 00:06:17,290 S3: was like, I thought, these pies are going to go everywhere. 123 00:06:17,589 --> 00:06:19,779 S3: And I remember looking back on that and thinking, What 124 00:06:19,779 --> 00:06:22,300 S3: a stupid thing to think, what a stupid thing to 125 00:06:22,300 --> 00:06:25,150 S3: spend that fraction of a second on. And so that 126 00:06:25,150 --> 00:06:28,000 S3: became sort of what happened to Jessa. And I wrote 127 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:30,490 S3: it into the story that way because it just resonated 128 00:06:30,490 --> 00:06:32,409 S3: in my brain of, Wow, this is the way that 129 00:06:32,410 --> 00:06:33,240 S3: humans think. 130 00:06:33,250 --> 00:06:36,100 S2: Yeah, that hit me when I was like reading it 131 00:06:36,100 --> 00:06:38,380 S2: and working on it because yeah, we do think about 132 00:06:38,380 --> 00:06:41,799 S2: really weird stuff at the worst possible moment and that 133 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:45,310 S2: is just human nature and it's so easy to beat 134 00:06:45,310 --> 00:06:47,799 S2: yourself up about that kind of a thing, but you 135 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:51,190 S2: really literally couldn't help it. That was all you were 136 00:06:51,190 --> 00:06:53,469 S2: going to think about at that moment. And having to 137 00:06:53,470 --> 00:06:54,880 S2: sit with that is is hard. 138 00:06:55,060 --> 00:06:57,520 S1: And it's very human. And I think that's what's powerful 139 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:00,490 S1: about the script is there are so, so many human 140 00:07:00,490 --> 00:07:05,350 S1: moments in this and everybody has their own truly human flaws. 141 00:07:05,350 --> 00:07:09,010 S1: Jessa gets to see all of them. Yes, because everybody 142 00:07:09,010 --> 00:07:12,070 S1: spills their guts to her. So what is just a 143 00:07:12,070 --> 00:07:15,700 S1: view of all of the other crew members, all these people, 144 00:07:15,700 --> 00:07:18,610 S1: you know, so deeply? And let's start with the first two, 145 00:07:18,610 --> 00:07:21,790 S1: Jamal and Ren, you become close to both of them. 146 00:07:21,940 --> 00:07:26,020 S2: For Ren, I think Jessa sees like kind of a 147 00:07:26,020 --> 00:07:29,470 S2: kinship with her. Like I think she she sees Ren 148 00:07:30,100 --> 00:07:31,989 S2: kind of respond to the world in a way that 149 00:07:31,990 --> 00:07:34,630 S2: Jessa has in the past like. And I think that 150 00:07:34,630 --> 00:07:38,620 S2: resonates with her. So I get the sense that Jessa 151 00:07:38,890 --> 00:07:42,370 S2: reaches out to her first because she can see her 152 00:07:42,370 --> 00:07:44,980 S2: coming down that same path that just some might have. 153 00:07:45,250 --> 00:07:49,330 S2: But also, I think that makes them closer friends than 154 00:07:49,330 --> 00:07:52,540 S2: probably anyone else in the crew. Not that Ren is 155 00:07:52,630 --> 00:07:57,790 S2: the most outgoing or easy to form relationships with, but 156 00:07:57,790 --> 00:08:01,660 S2: I think Jessa is able to crack the shell a 157 00:08:01,660 --> 00:08:05,110 S2: little bit more with Ren, and part of it is 158 00:08:05,110 --> 00:08:10,150 S2: probably occupational by nature, but some of it is like 159 00:08:10,150 --> 00:08:14,740 S2: just genuinely she appreciates her presence and wants to wants 160 00:08:14,740 --> 00:08:15,310 S2: to help her out. 161 00:08:15,970 --> 00:08:19,030 S1: I love that you said Ren responds to the world 162 00:08:19,030 --> 00:08:21,100 S1: in a way that Jessa has in the past, because 163 00:08:21,100 --> 00:08:23,950 S1: we definitely didn't give you that. That was something you 164 00:08:23,950 --> 00:08:28,030 S1: created as Jessa on your own. Yeah. And I didn't 165 00:08:28,030 --> 00:08:29,410 S1: know that. I didn't know that. 166 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:32,150 S2: I guess I get this. Feeling that Jessa was a 167 00:08:32,150 --> 00:08:35,270 S2: lot like that because she has this I approach it 168 00:08:35,270 --> 00:08:38,450 S2: like just had this life before the incident that she 169 00:08:38,450 --> 00:08:40,870 S2: talks about in episode three and then a life afterward. 170 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:44,870 S2: And she talks about having to change her whole outlook 171 00:08:44,870 --> 00:08:46,520 S2: on life and having to change her whole way of 172 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:51,589 S2: approaching approaching this new world. So I feel like before 173 00:08:51,980 --> 00:08:55,100 S2: she was different and I get the sense because she 174 00:08:55,100 --> 00:08:57,260 S2: was she was going to be a marine, she was 175 00:08:57,260 --> 00:08:59,780 S2: ambitious and all this kind of stuff. And I think 176 00:08:59,780 --> 00:09:01,550 S2: she might have been a little more of a closed 177 00:09:01,550 --> 00:09:05,590 S2: off person like like Ren with the exception of her fiancee, 178 00:09:05,870 --> 00:09:06,170 S2: you know? 179 00:09:06,860 --> 00:09:07,460 S3: I love. 180 00:09:07,460 --> 00:09:12,230 S1: It. Yeah, me too. Well, that's a taste of our 181 00:09:12,230 --> 00:09:14,870 S1: behind the scenes with Anadarko. If you'd like to hear 182 00:09:14,870 --> 00:09:17,120 S1: the whole discussion, you can find it on the solar 183 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:18,530 S1: panel on Apple Premium.