WEBVTT - A Moment Behind the Scenes with ALI (Jenny Curtis) 0:00:03.980 --> 0:00:06.290 Hey, I'm Jenny Curtis. You know, at this. 0:00:06.290 --> 0:00:09.860 Point that I directed and produced Zola alongside creator Chris 0:00:09.860 --> 0:00:12.649 Porter and also I voiced the character of. 0:00:13.490 --> 0:00:15.200 Be honest. She's her favorite. 0:00:15.740 --> 0:00:17.750 Chris and I got to chat through the development of 0:00:17.750 --> 0:00:21.500 thematic elements and overall creation of Ali. And here we're 0:00:21.500 --> 0:00:24.500 jumping into a discussion about finding her voice and as 0:00:24.500 --> 0:00:27.380 Chris puts it, the heart inside the programming. 0:00:31.790 --> 0:00:35.660 But Ali was her own type of really exciting challenge 0:00:35.659 --> 0:00:40.370 because we worked really hard to find how a computer 0:00:40.370 --> 0:00:41.510 could be emotional. 0:00:41.540 --> 0:00:43.640 That's right. What did you feel that you could bring 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:46.849 to the role that you didn't find immediately on the page? 0:00:46.970 --> 0:00:49.610 What was unique and fulfilling for you as an actress 0:00:49.610 --> 0:00:50.420 about this project? 0:00:50.540 --> 0:00:54.860 The thing in a sideways way to answer this the 0:00:54.860 --> 0:00:58.940 gift of being on the creative team of this show 0:00:58.940 --> 0:01:00.980 and having so much time developing it is that we 0:01:00.980 --> 0:01:03.350 had time to get to know Ali. And I didn't 0:01:03.350 --> 0:01:05.660 have to come in and jump into a rehearsal immediately 0:01:05.660 --> 0:01:07.940 and get one take at like, okay, that's her voice 0:01:07.940 --> 0:01:11.270 and then let's go. There was so much time where 0:01:11.270 --> 0:01:14.630 we had the table reads. We had the rehearsals with 0:01:14.630 --> 0:01:17.479 the other actors as we were developing the project. I 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:20.840 was acting opposite them when they were recording and I 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:23.810 feel like where everybody else got a rehearsal or a 0:01:23.870 --> 0:01:27.980 table read at most. Besides the obvious, John, who we've 0:01:27.980 --> 0:01:31.700 already talked about coming in often, I had time with 0:01:31.700 --> 0:01:35.179 her to find her voice, and I think that was 0:01:35.180 --> 0:01:38.450 the most exciting and fulfilling part. And I'm going to 0:01:38.450 --> 0:01:40.460 keep saying this word all the time and I know, 0:01:40.459 --> 0:01:42.500 you know, I love it. But the time to play 0:01:42.860 --> 0:01:46.280 because we wanted her to be different and it's really 0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:51.080 hard to find what is different about a technological character. 0:01:51.410 --> 0:01:53.630 Can you share some of the ways that Ali evolved, 0:01:53.630 --> 0:01:56.450 both in pre-production and throughout the story, to have a 0:01:56.450 --> 0:01:58.040 heart inside the programming? 0:01:58.250 --> 0:02:01.040 Our first table read when we had, I think 12 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:03.830 actors come in and sit around a table and this 0:02:03.830 --> 0:02:07.790 was pre-pandemic and we all read the first four episodes 0:02:07.790 --> 0:02:10.489 of the show, and I knew I enjoyed Ali, but 0:02:10.490 --> 0:02:14.389 we started reading and people were cracking up. 0:02:14.450 --> 0:02:16.010 She has great comedic timing for me. 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:20.750 She has great comedic timing. Yes. Tyler Davis, if you 0:02:20.750 --> 0:02:22.460 go on this mission, we will get along. 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:25.580 Can you keep it secret? 0:02:25.730 --> 0:02:31.340 No. I think are open by anyone would. Having that 0:02:31.340 --> 0:02:35.810 live feedback was so hugely helpful to know this is 0:02:35.810 --> 0:02:37.310 where we can lean in and this is where we 0:02:37.310 --> 0:02:39.829 can develop her and this is where she can have 0:02:39.830 --> 0:02:41.029 a personality. 0:02:41.060 --> 0:02:43.490 You had mentioned that you were directing these people and 0:02:43.490 --> 0:02:45.470 you were reading all the lines to have the actors 0:02:45.470 --> 0:02:48.380 respond to them. Did that experience of having to read 0:02:48.380 --> 0:02:51.260 and perform with this while listening to the other people's performances, 0:02:51.260 --> 0:02:53.910 did that lead you to reconsider how you were performing? 0:02:53.930 --> 0:02:55.820 Ali Once you got to the other side of the window. 0:02:56.180 --> 0:02:59.450 Reconsidered. No, but talking about how it took time to 0:02:59.450 --> 0:03:03.680 develop her, I performed very much on intuition and how 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:08.959 things feel. So the more I got to play outside 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:11.900 of the recording studio, the more I was able to 0:03:12.139 --> 0:03:15.560 comfortably drop in. Once I was and I say comfortably 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:19.190 with a big asterisk on it, because as you know, 0:03:19.190 --> 0:03:22.130 it took a little while originally. I don't know if 0:03:22.130 --> 0:03:23.570 you were going to go here, but originally we weren't 0:03:23.570 --> 0:03:26.120 going to record Ali in the studio because it was 0:03:26.120 --> 0:03:28.520 just you and I and I have a mic at 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:30.590 home and we knew Ali was going to have a 0:03:30.590 --> 0:03:32.780 treatment to her, so it didn't have to sound as 0:03:32.780 --> 0:03:34.970 clear as everybody else. We were going to try to 0:03:34.970 --> 0:03:37.640 record her in the studio we're in now, which I 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:39.830 don't know if anyone can hear what just happened, but 0:03:39.830 --> 0:03:44.210 motorcycles just went by us and that was a challenge. 0:03:44.210 --> 0:03:45.500 And so then we were like, Well, what if we 0:03:45.500 --> 0:03:47.510 record her in my apartment? And I had a really 0:03:47.510 --> 0:03:49.340 nice mic in my apartment and I set it up 0:03:49.340 --> 0:03:51.350 on top of a jewelry case next to my closet, 0:03:51.350 --> 0:03:53.330 and I tried to make myself a little sound booth. 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:58.070 And everything in my being is so anxious. I have 0:03:58.070 --> 0:04:02.210 to have things be perfect. I definitely overthink. And finally, 0:04:02.210 --> 0:04:04.370 we were like, You know what? Screw this. We're going 0:04:04.370 --> 0:04:05.210 to go into the studio. 0:04:05.270 --> 0:04:07.520 We talked about it with John when he was here 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:09.860 in a previous solar panel, that there's a certain level 0:04:09.860 --> 0:04:13.070 of physicality that allows you to drop into that role. 0:04:13.070 --> 0:04:15.440 And I think you had even mentioned like squeezing a 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:18.049 part of your hand at some point. What what did 0:04:18.050 --> 0:04:20.450 you have to do to drop into Ali? And I 0:04:20.450 --> 0:04:22.250 know one of the things you had to do because 0:04:22.250 --> 0:04:24.920 we heard it all, all the time. 0:04:25.339 --> 0:04:27.560 Okay. So, yeah, the hand thing was not an alley thing. 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:29.930 The hand in case anybody didn't go back and listen 0:04:29.930 --> 0:04:33.290 to last week's conversation with John. That's an emotional trigger 0:04:33.290 --> 0:04:35.539 for me. And obviously, Ali, I'm doing it now and 0:04:35.540 --> 0:04:36.240 I'm going to get teary. 0:04:36.260 --> 0:04:38.090 Oh, don't do it. Don't stop it. Stop it. We're 0:04:38.089 --> 0:04:39.500 having a fun interview. Oh. 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:43.609 So it's an emotional trigger for me to dig my 0:04:43.610 --> 0:04:47.270 thumbnail into the center of my palm, which is just 0:04:47.339 --> 0:04:50.810 an actor thing I have in my tool kit. And Ali, 0:04:50.870 --> 0:04:55.670 I would often do this. Oh, and to warm up 0:04:55.670 --> 0:04:58.880 my voice. And then I would go back to Ali's 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:03.349 main line. Searching for mission control. Searching for mission control. 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:07.100 And she would immediately drop into my chest and immediately, like, 0:05:07.100 --> 0:05:09.440 come right here in the sort of front of my 0:05:09.529 --> 0:05:10.640 soft palate. 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:14.660 She's gesturing kind of to like the top of her 0:05:14.660 --> 0:05:16.500 mouth and nasal sinus region. 0:05:16.700 --> 0:05:17.900 But nobody really. 0:05:18.110 --> 0:05:18.620 Kind of on. 0:05:18.620 --> 0:05:19.580 Their mouth in that. 0:05:19.580 --> 0:05:21.310 Way. Usually not. It's a soft palate. 0:05:22.490 --> 0:05:23.960 And that's how I would find out. 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:28.370 Now, in its creation, I always knew that the ship 0:05:28.370 --> 0:05:31.730 was going to be a major character. And the story 0:05:31.730 --> 0:05:35.779 is about dealing with trauma, both physical and mental. And honestly, 0:05:35.779 --> 0:05:37.760 I could think of no better metaphor than have a 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:40.730 ship with a hole literally ripped through it. How much 0:05:40.940 --> 0:05:44.450 of your humanness did you have to remove and how 0:05:44.450 --> 0:05:46.789 much did you have to put in to thread that needle? 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:52.970 That wasn't an active choice, whatever it was. I tried 0:05:52.970 --> 0:05:56.630 really hard to remove all humanness. You know this. I 0:05:56.630 --> 0:05:59.750 would get really, really mad that I would have to breathe. 0:06:00.589 --> 0:06:05.419 It bothered me. Ali doesn't breathe, and I was pissed 0:06:05.420 --> 0:06:06.770 that I couldn't make it all the way through the 0:06:06.770 --> 0:06:10.099 temperature readings without taking a breath. Which, you know, the 0:06:10.100 --> 0:06:12.620 magic of editing. Just stop and breathe. The crazy lady, 0:06:13.040 --> 0:06:15.740 the humanness. And Ali, I mean, there were a couple 0:06:15.740 --> 0:06:18.529 of days, though, like when I would direct obviously we've 0:06:18.529 --> 0:06:20.210 talked about this. I'm on the other side of the glass. 0:06:20.210 --> 0:06:24.780 I'm reading across the actors and performing with them and blah, blah, blah. 0:06:24.860 --> 0:06:26.660 And when I would go into the booth, we would 0:06:26.660 --> 0:06:29.150 do one line at a time, because Ali doesn't really 0:06:29.150 --> 0:06:32.600 need to react to people because she has her cadence. 0:06:33.140 --> 0:06:35.419 But there would be some lines where you would be like, 0:06:35.420 --> 0:06:37.460 where are we going to find the emotion here? And 0:06:37.460 --> 0:06:39.800 then you would feed me a line and I would react. 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:42.860 And it it was helpful in that those moments where 0:06:42.860 --> 0:06:45.860 we needed to find her humanity. Then you became the 0:06:45.860 --> 0:06:48.020 reader on the other side where I was actually acting 0:06:48.020 --> 0:06:51.349 with someone rather than just checking off the lines as 0:06:51.350 --> 0:06:54.290 we go. Right. God, that was fun. Let's do this again. 0:06:55.100 --> 0:06:55.630 From the start. 0:06:58.040 --> 0:06:58.670 And there's some. 0:06:58.670 --> 0:07:01.820 Background on the eighth on language interface. I could talk 0:07:01.820 --> 0:07:04.609 about Ali all day and in fact, you can hear 0:07:04.610 --> 0:07:07.370 more of our discussion about her on the solar panel 0:07:07.370 --> 0:07:10.100 available on our Apple Podcasts premium channel. 0:07:10.850 --> 0:07:11.270 Thanks for. 0:07:11.270 --> 0:07:14.990 Listening. And till next time searching for mission control.