WEBVTT - Reese and Kerry React 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:20.680 Hello, Little Fires Everywhere Heads, LFE heads, Shaker Rights. Did 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:23.639 we ever decided on a fan base name? Anyways? Welcome 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:27.200 back to the final episode of Little Fires Everywhere, the 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:30.360 official podcast. I'm your host, Jamie Loftus, and we have 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:34.520 a banger of a podcast finale for you today, Because 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:37.560 if you're listening to this right after watching this series 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:41.959 finale of Little Fires Everywhere, oh my word. I mean 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:44.240 there's no way to cover it in a spoiler free way, 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:47.639 but I was completely blown away by the final episode. 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:52.839 Just really intense performances, incredible twist and turn writing, beautiful direction, 0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:57.120 just chefs kiss, amazing stuff, which is why for our 0:00:57.160 --> 0:01:00.320 episode today, we wanted to do what we all lease do. 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:02.720 I know what happened behind the scenes from the people 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:05.560 who made the show what it is, and today you 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:09.840 are in for an absolute treat only hitters for guests. 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:13.760 We have the author of Little Fires Everywhere and producer 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:16.119 of the show, so lest In. We have the Little 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:20.440 Fires Everywhere showrunner, head writer and executive producer Liz Tiglar, 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:24.039 and we have the stars of the show. We're talking 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:29.480 Carrie Washington, Race Witherspoon, and Rosemary DeWitt. I know it's 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:31.959 a lot of good stuff. And keep in mind we 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:34.880 were originally going to have a big to do and 0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:37.600 a whole live event, but that was during the before times, 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:40.720 and so for this interview, we are all on Zoom 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:44.919 in full quarantine. So what follows is my interview with Carrie, 0:01:45.040 --> 0:01:47.880 Reese and Liz. And if you did not know, Carrie 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:50.520 and Race are more than just the incredible leads of 0:01:50.560 --> 0:01:54.760 Little Fires Everywhere as Mia and Lena, they're also executive 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:57.600 producers on the show, so their fingerprints and influence have 0:01:57.760 --> 0:02:01.440 been on this project since day one. We talked about 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:04.480 the finale, building out the world of their characters working 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:07.800 together for the first time and more so, let's take 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:17.919 a listen. Welcome Liz Tickler, Carrie Washington, and Reese Witherspoon. 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:21.360 All of our viewers and then listeners of the podcast 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:25.280 have seen the finale, and I'm very interested to hear 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:29.760 from all three of you. Is there any viewer reaction 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:32.680 that is like particularly like surprised you or touched you? 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:36.880 I mean, even throughout all of the episodes, Aring Reese, 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:39.240 what do you think? I mean, I think everything is 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:45.120 so incredibly thoughtful and even people's strong any kind of 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:48.880 strong reaction. Do you have anything even people hating Elena? 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:53.679 It makes me so out of the work that we did. 0:02:53.720 --> 0:02:57.120 And we worked really hard to make sure the assumptions 0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:02.400 that you had about any character would be dismantled by 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:06.560 something two or three episodes later, So it really challenged 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:10.840 your assumptions all the time, and that we really listed 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:15.079 such a beautiful job plotting that and being the architect 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:18.600 of you know, pulling people in and then pushing them away, 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:22.440 and um, it's just a it's a beautiful sort of 0:03:22.440 --> 0:03:25.440 emotional jungle gym that people are going on. And I 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:30.320 haven't gotten to see people's reactions to the finale. Yeah, 0:03:30.320 --> 0:03:33.880 but I'm so excited. Yeah, the ending of the series 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:38.960 is slightly different from the ending of the book, and Louse, 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:42.720 could you walk me through that decision making process. One 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:45.680 thing was clear, which was there's this very humorous thing 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:47.360 that happens at the beginning of the book, which is 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:51.200 this iconic houses on fire, the little fires everywhere, fires everywhere, 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:54.160 and you know in the beginning kind of on the 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:56.400 first page that is he's the one who did it. 0:03:56.840 --> 0:03:59.040 So for a series, you know, it kind of begs 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:01.680 the question, like if you didn't know Izzy was the 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:05.240 one who did it, but even if all things point 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.600 to Izzy, or the assumption is that it's Izzy, is 0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:12.880 there an overarching mystery to not knowing that answer that 0:04:12.880 --> 0:04:17.080 could be propulsive and compelling. Um. Then it became this 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:21.680 great challenge to think, well, obviously we know it could 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:24.000 be easy, but if it wasn't Izzy, who could it be? 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:26.359 And I think we went on a real journey with 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:29.400 that challenge, which at first, you know, thinking what would 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:32.240 be who would be the most dramatic character that you 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:34.680 would not expect to burn the house down that would 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:37.080 have to go the furthest and have the furthest. Arc 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:40.680 obviously felt like Elena, and that was what we kind 0:04:40.680 --> 0:04:42.640 of talked about at first. But I think all of us, 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:45.920 the Carrie, reaese Um, Lauren and Player are producing partners 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:48.880 and myself we talked about this idea of like is 0:04:48.960 --> 0:04:51.920 that real? Is that just too far for for this 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:54.680 woman to go? Would any adult do this? There's obviously 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:57.400 something about it that so you can really buy a 0:04:57.400 --> 0:04:59.800 teenager doing it much more than you can then a 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:02.920 her own person would need to do that. And then 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:05.480 as we you know, went on our journey with it, 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:08.920 I remember thinking like, who could it be be Lexie, 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:10.599 would it be Trip, would it be Moody? And it 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:12.720 didn't seem like it would be any one of them. 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:15.599 But then this idea kind of struck me of well, 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:18.360 could it be all three? And what would it mean 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:20.520 if it were all three? And could we take the 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:23.360 spirit of the book, which is Easy wanting to start 0:05:23.440 --> 0:05:27.000 a fire, and could it kind of take on a 0:05:27.040 --> 0:05:30.599 life of its own, so that Easy starts it and 0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:33.360 the kids finish what she started and they have their 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:36.600 own reasons from their own arcs for like lighting these matches. 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:39.799 For Carrie and Reest, I guess I'm interested in your 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:43.680 reactions to where your characters land and where they might 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:48.120 go from here. Carrie, I feel really grateful that both 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:53.160 Mia and Elena that they there, They had to have 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:58.239 their illusion of control ripped from them, that they both there. 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:01.919 There were real costs two in the secrets that they kept, 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:04.520 in the ways that they were living their lives trying 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:08.200 to control the world around them by controlling their children, 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:12.320 that they both really had to they were forced to 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:15.480 let go of that, and I think that was so 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:19.840 beautifully designed by Celeste in the book and then really 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:26.719 just dimensionalized and and glorified by Liz is just really 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:31.839 so beautifully painted. Absolutely at the end of the show, 0:06:31.920 --> 0:06:34.800 there's definitely a sense of hope that isn't necessarily in 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:36.640 the book. Boy, I just when I read the book, 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:45.839 I bawled my eyes. You can't treat your children that way. 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:48.560 And I think, you know this idea. I think we 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:51.280 all kind of longed for our mother to understand us, 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:54.599 our mother or whoever the parent is that raised you. 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:58.320 You just you want that that unconditional acceptance. And Izzy 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:01.360 doesn't get it. There's a lemmer of hope that Elena 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:05.440 holds the feather and says Izzy instead of Isabelle. It's 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:08.360 a big moment that Liz built in that It's like 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:11.640 you're always longing for your parents to truly understand you, 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:15.280 and and not just to understand you, but accept you. 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:19.000 And it comes. You know, that's a for many many 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:22.960 people in this world never happens. Yeah. I also I 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:27.240 like this idea of na Um. You know that car, 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:30.440 like taking that car from place to place, that car 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:35.120 was her everything and literally driving that car was how 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:42.160 she controlled Pearl's worldview. Um And to say to Pearl, 0:07:42.280 --> 0:07:44.880 like you get to decide where the car goes next 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:49.920 Um and to be led two back to her home, 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:52.800 even though she assumed that Pearl would want to find 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:58.120 her dad, but she lets Pearl lead her somewhere equally 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:01.360 uncomfortable and lets herself get out of the car to 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:06.040 follow Pearl back into her her place of origin. Is really, 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:11.840 I think, also hopeful. I really like the adjustments made 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:15.840 from book Mia to show Mia, and I'm curious as 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:18.520 to where some of those came about where, um, part 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:21.200 of it's just flashing out her history more. But we 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:23.400 you know, in the book she doesn't have a sex 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:26.280 life really of any kind, and that was changed for 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:29.400 the series. And so where where did that idea begin? 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:32.679 A lot of that came from the writer's room and 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:37.080 this you know, Liz and this phenomenal room full of 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:44.800 just dynamic, intelligent, raw, courageous writers, and they decided early 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:48.840 on that there was, you know, this sort of um 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:53.599 image throughout history and literature of black women being a 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:57.880 sexual and so they wanted to make sure that Mia 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:01.680 that there was so missed read around her sexuality in 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:05.480 her sex life, but that it was embodied more so, 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:08.320 A lot of those traces really came from the writer's room. 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:13.480 And their desire to have me to be fully realized 0:09:14.480 --> 0:09:17.480 on on your end, when you're kind of plugging into 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:21.280 this character and preparing, where were you able to meet 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:24.640 and understand her to build up the performance? You know, 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:27.640 I just had an experience of her when I read 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:30.400 her in the novel, and so I just felt like 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:35.520 I was constantly climbing toward that, like there was kind 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:38.880 of a soul of an understanding of her that existed 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:42.000 outside of me that as I read the book, I 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:46.720 saw her, I could smell her, I could hear her, 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:50.960 and I was just constantly trying to work in my 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:55.280 process to get close to that thing. Um that was 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:58.400 that that I felt was this combination of what I 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:01.800 read on the page and who why was the alchemy 0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:04.440 of that created this other thing outside me that I 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:08.480 was just aiming for all the time, down to even 0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:12.240 like taking photos and and like embodying her art life too, 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:16.000 which is so amazing. Yeah. I got to take photography 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:19.240 classes and learned to be a photographer because I feel 0:10:19.280 --> 0:10:22.280 like there were things I would discover about Mia even 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:25.760 just from that learning process. And there were you know, 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:29.200 like even the way that she engages with people that 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:32.680 that her chosen art form, you know, like Greece and I, 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:36.400 our chosen art form is to like take on somebody 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:42.360 else's entire emotional and psychological being and like surrender ourselves 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:46.079 to live in somebody else's shoes and brain. And and 0:10:46.200 --> 0:10:49.360 MIA's chosen form of art work was really about like 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:56.600 being on the outside, observing, capturing, manipulating, not giving herself 0:10:56.640 --> 0:11:00.040 fully over, but trying to transform how you see a 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:02.680 supposed to transforming how you know how I see. So 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:05.439 just things like that that could help me understand how 0:11:05.480 --> 0:11:09.360 she thinks. For reasons, I'm interested in how you were 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:12.439 able to find a connection and build out a lot 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:15.440 of depth in Bolina as well, where when we meet 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:19.720 her she's kind of this quintessential upper crust white housewife, 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:23.040 and then as the lawyers are are more exposed, she 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:26.160 has this very rich in her life. What what drew 0:11:26.160 --> 0:11:28.880 you to her? And how did you build out that character? 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:33.320 I always look at characters that we see, you know, 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:37.280 you can read it very one dimensionally and and really 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:41.000 see her as this very rigid person from a place 0:11:41.840 --> 0:11:44.400 at a time. But I always think of characters when 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:47.320 I meet people who are so rigid in their ideology 0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:52.600 I'm always fascinated with digging deeper. Where does that? Where 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:56.719 did that come from? Where? What is that? Where did 0:11:56.720 --> 0:12:00.400 that ideology come from? There's something sort of interesting about 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:03.640 that to me too. This in sense of entitlement, sense 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:07.400 of protecting a bubble that she grew up in and 0:12:07.440 --> 0:12:10.960 that her children will grow up in. It's inevitable that 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:14.440 the world comes in and what happens to someone who 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:20.680 has that force field almost like a impenetrable idea of 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:24.120 what is right and what is good. And it's all 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:29.560 in the book. I mean, it's beautifully said in the book. Um, 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:31.840 you know that she believes that people who behave the 0:12:31.840 --> 0:12:36.360 way that Mia does create chaos and they can burn 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:39.760 the whole world to the ground. Um, and then you 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:45.040 see obviously something else happens. But um, it's sort of 0:12:45.160 --> 0:12:48.120 it was fascinating. I have deep tender thoughts about her, 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:52.560 as you have to in order to get inside these things. 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:56.240 Is as Gary said, you have to have you have 0:12:56.400 --> 0:13:00.559 to have compassion and curiosity. And I I will say 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:03.000 to you know, for people who you don't think of hers, 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:05.319 they kind of love to hate her, which I totally 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:11.439 get that too. There there elements of it of deep 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:14.880 loss and sadness of her own identity. She was never 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:19.400 allowed to explore her identity. Yeah, and I mean, I 0:13:19.640 --> 0:13:22.240 think it is kind of incredible over the course of 0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:26.000 the series to not just see so distinctly who Elena 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:28.760 and who me are, but that they end up on 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:34.240 the opposite ends of the conflict of the adoption storyline 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:38.720 and of mailing. And you, you know, no matter who 0:13:38.760 --> 0:13:41.960 you agree with, you fully understand where they're coming from 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:46.280 and why they're coming from that place, and that storyline, 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:48.160 I mean, for just me as a viewer was one 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:51.840 of the most fascinating and challenging that that I've seen 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:54.480 in TV in a long time. And so as speaking 0:13:54.480 --> 0:13:58.839 as executive producers as well and as mothers. How how 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:01.560 was navigating that story reliant for everybody over the course 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:04.480 of production. Well, I mean, I don't know about y'all, 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:07.640 but I've had the best conversations about it with people. 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:10.560 I think it was always meant to illicit conversation, and 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:12.600 I think there isn't a right or wrong or how 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:16.280 we feel like I don't know, I would vastly wildly 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:20.040 between who that baby would thrive with, you know, And 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:22.960 I think people said to me yeah, what did the 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:25.760 parents do wrong? I mean, what does that woman want 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:28.760 the baby back? And and then you go, okay, well, 0:14:29.840 --> 0:14:32.760 but isn't her biology it's her biological child. What would 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:38.760 And it's a very fantastic conversation. Yeah. There was one 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:40.600 day once that it was very I think it was 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:44.040 her first day she was working little Baby Molly, and 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:49.480 the call she had said m Mirabelle. And I saw 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:53.600 I heard some folks on set reacting um, and so 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:58.400 I went to our amazingly sensitive, phenomenal line producer, Mary Howard, 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:01.680 who I worked with on Scandal for seven seasons, um, 0:15:01.720 --> 0:15:04.000 and I said, I think we need to change it, 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:07.120 I think, And we started labeling it as baby m 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:10.560 on the call sheet because like whether to put may 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:15.359 Ling or marabel on the call sheet was a big deal. Yeah, 0:15:15.520 --> 0:15:20.520 it's didn't know that that's amazing. Oh yeah yeah yeah yeah, 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:22.720 because people, even just in the hair and makeup trailer, 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:24.920 people were like, why is it? Why is it Mirrabelle? 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:27.480 And I was like, oh, well, let me go see 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:33.080 what I can do about that. That story like cuts 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:36.560 to the quick of what you believe, like like people 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:38.920 hear that story or see that story and you have 0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:45.200 an immediate gut instinct based on not necessarily things as 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:50.440 negative as prejudices or even as um obvious as biases, 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:56.040 but just um, just based on your own life and circumstances, 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:58.240 you will have a gut reaction to that story. I 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:00.800 am an adopted kid. When I opened up that book 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:03.880 and started reading, I was like, the mccullas are the parents. 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:06.480 There's no way you can't have a little bit. You 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:09.120 can't have been with their parents for ten months and 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:12.200 then be ripped away. But of course what you do 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:15.040 then as and that's how I came into the room. 0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:18.160 Other writers came in in the complete opposite way. And 0:16:18.200 --> 0:16:19.800 I will say, by the time we got done with 0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:23.880 the story, not that our paths had crisscrossed in that 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:28.120 we were saying the polar opposite thing, but I could 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:32.960 no longer say that that was the mcculla's baby, because 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:38.600 once you understand the circumstances in which BB gave had 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:43.160 to give up her child, you can't say she should 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:49.000 be penalized for circumstances that are beyond her control. Now 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:52.200 that the whole series has aired, what do you hope 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:56.160 that viewers take away from having watched Little Fires everywhere. 0:16:56.840 --> 0:16:59.480 I had to train for this movie once where I 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:03.320 was with in C Double, a multiple time champions softball 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:05.840 coach from U C. L A. I mean, I learned 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:08.480 so much from this woman, y'all in four months. It 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:11.239 was like she was like another mother to me in 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:15.400 certain ways. She said something so profound to me. She said, 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:20.119 what parents don't realize is that their children's minds aren't 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:23.040 aren't a dry race board, Like you don't get to 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:25.919 say something and then take it away. You write on 0:17:25.960 --> 0:17:31.399 your child's mind with a sharpie. And it was so 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:33.840 profound when she said it to me. I had a 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:36.719 little a seven year old, a three year old, and 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:40.840 she said, be so careful with what you tell them 0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:45.440 about who they are, who you are, what is possible. 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:47.800 And I've always taken that to heart. And I think 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:50.760 that's that That's one thing. There's so many things in 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:54.560 this show, but I do think be you know that 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:57.399 that is a cautionary tale. Be be thoughtful of the 0:17:57.440 --> 0:18:00.760 things that you say to your children, because they they 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:05.000 take them in. It becomes it's very real for them. 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:10.000 A phrase that I love is don't compare your insides 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:13.600 to other people's outsides. This idea that you know, you 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:17.639 just don't know what's going on for other people. And 0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:20.879 I love that, particularly in episode six, you really learned 0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:26.160 that Mia and Elena are much more similar than anyone 0:18:26.400 --> 0:18:30.360 They were like each other there in their younger lives. 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:36.159 I think it's so important for us, particularly now, to 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:39.639 have this understanding that there's more going on for people 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:42.760 than we could have imagined, and that that could be 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:46.120 a reason for us to be more patient with each 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:51.120 other and accepting of one another rather than more kind 0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:56.600 of fearful and judgmental of one another. Absolutely, I think 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:59.480 there's this idea that like, look, these two women were 0:18:59.520 --> 0:19:02.320 so immeler um, I mean, so different in so many 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:05.080 ways but similar, and that they fiercely wanted to do right. 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:09.480 They didn't see what they were doing that was so destructive. 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:12.520 But the point is you teach your children what you know, 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:17.280 and you hope that your children are going to take 0:19:17.359 --> 0:19:19.480 that and be even better than you were. And I 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:22.240 think what's so beautiful about the and and then by 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:24.879 that you are raising them to be better even with 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:27.000 the good and the bad. And what I think so 0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:31.040 beautiful about this story is the end result is these 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:36.680 two women raised these brave kids to not only transform 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:39.359 their lives, but to go back and to transform the 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:43.439 lives of their own mothers, to give them hope and 0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:47.320 give them what they're longing for, which is certain kinds 0:19:47.359 --> 0:19:52.560 of freedom and choice. And that's beautiful. I just hope 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:56.080 that this is a conversation for people you know and 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:59.159 and and that they if you identify as one character, 0:19:59.240 --> 0:20:02.120 that you're seeing the reality of a different character. And 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:05.359 I think that's the real beauty of this show. I 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:08.800 think it is really eye opening too, you know, as 0:20:08.840 --> 0:20:13.760 we become even more switched into our little bubbles. Remember 0:20:13.880 --> 0:20:18.720 there's there's others. There's so many different people out there 0:20:18.760 --> 0:20:21.600 doing the best they can with what they've got where 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:24.480 they are. Well. Thank all three of you so much 0:20:24.560 --> 0:20:29.159 for joining us, and congratulations on such a beautiful show. 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:33.159 Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Handsome She. 0:20:38.520 --> 0:20:43.119 Thank you again to legends Carrie Washington, Greese Weatherspoon, and 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:45.480 Liz tag Alre. I now know what it feels like 0:20:45.560 --> 0:20:48.000 to be star struck over Zoom. And for the record, yes, 0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:50.960 of course I did uh fully dress up because I'm 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:53.920 a professional, but yes, total honor. And I can't wait 0:20:53.960 --> 0:20:58.000 to see how recent carry collaborate next question mark, but 0:20:58.080 --> 0:21:01.760 white listeners, there is more more In addition to reason carry, 0:21:02.040 --> 0:21:04.520 Liz take a Laura Night got to speak with Rosemary 0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:07.719 de Witt, who plays Linda may Link's adoptive mother in 0:21:07.880 --> 0:21:10.920 the Little Fires Everywhere series, and she made some time 0:21:10.920 --> 0:21:13.399 out of her busy Quarantine schedule to catch up with 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:16.080 us after the finale of the show aired on Hulu. 0:21:16.480 --> 0:21:19.720 Rosemary de Witt is a veteran actress and an adoptive 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:22.600 mother herself in real life, so she has some truly 0:21:22.600 --> 0:21:26.199 amazing insight into Linda's storyline and character, and so I 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:28.359 was very thrilled to speak to her about that, the 0:21:28.400 --> 0:21:36.360 finale of the show and more. Let's listen to our conversation, Rosemary, Liz, Hello, 0:21:36.640 --> 0:21:41.360 thank you for joining us in in Quarantine. So, Rosemary, 0:21:41.400 --> 0:21:45.800 what was your reaction to the finale of of the 0:21:45.880 --> 0:21:52.920 story and particularly where where Linda ends. I appreciated that. Uh. 0:21:53.200 --> 0:21:57.440 For me, it was surprising the ending and it was complicated, 0:21:57.680 --> 0:22:01.119 and especially as far as a storyline that I was 0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:05.840 involved in. Maitlan has two mothers and you know that's 0:22:05.880 --> 0:22:08.560 there that's left standing at the end of the show. 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:12.439 Going back to when you first read the book, what 0:22:12.640 --> 0:22:16.679 drew you to this part and to this project I 0:22:16.840 --> 0:22:18.960 was really also for me, I think I was drawn 0:22:19.000 --> 0:22:23.200 into Linda's journey with her sort of pregnancy and child 0:22:23.240 --> 0:22:25.720 loss because I think that often gets swept under the rug, 0:22:26.359 --> 0:22:29.639 you know, and it it often defines a mother not 0:22:29.680 --> 0:22:33.359 only how she builds her family often but how she 0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:37.119 then parents. So that's really what pulled me in to it, 0:22:37.200 --> 0:22:39.720 Like that's what was so heartbreaking to me was when 0:22:39.760 --> 0:22:43.239 she had to give birth to a stillborn baby and 0:22:43.280 --> 0:22:46.040 then you know, and she definitely it's what drives the 0:22:46.080 --> 0:22:48.800 fight of just not being able to endure that loss again. 0:22:49.520 --> 0:22:52.439 Were there any storylines, whether it was yours or others, 0:22:52.440 --> 0:22:55.520 that were particularly challenging. We have like all these different 0:22:55.520 --> 0:22:59.200 stories of actors and crew members going in with one 0:23:00.080 --> 0:23:02.440 opinion on an issue and then coming out with like, 0:23:02.640 --> 0:23:05.720 oh god, I don't know. And I was so moved 0:23:05.760 --> 0:23:09.200 by the young performers on our show, like they're all 0:23:09.440 --> 0:23:12.800 so talented. And for me, when I watched the show, 0:23:12.840 --> 0:23:16.720 I thought the breakup scene with Elena's eldest daughter and 0:23:16.760 --> 0:23:19.679 her boyfriend, like that just broke my heart, you know, 0:23:19.880 --> 0:23:21.679 like you realize like a lot of people's hearts are 0:23:21.680 --> 0:23:24.960 in the right places, and the executions terrible or they 0:23:24.960 --> 0:23:28.480 were taught you know, maybe values that were suspect or 0:23:28.520 --> 0:23:31.119 you know, or they're just all working through and and 0:23:31.160 --> 0:23:33.760 just in general, the kids, you know, the children and 0:23:33.760 --> 0:23:37.240 the story just are really struggling to have their own identity. 0:23:37.840 --> 0:23:40.480 Liz and I can speak a little bit to just 0:23:40.760 --> 0:23:42.960 the kind of the Linda in the book, and then 0:23:43.080 --> 0:23:48.880 how Rose came in and like I think even elevated 0:23:48.960 --> 0:23:53.160 and deepened and made her even more nuanced. I think 0:23:53.160 --> 0:23:57.680 the Linda in the book, like her blind spots were glaring. 0:23:58.560 --> 0:24:00.800 Do not I did not like Book Linda at all. 0:24:00.920 --> 0:24:04.800 I don't think you root for Book Linda. When Rose 0:24:04.920 --> 0:24:08.920 came in, I mean, she is so winning and root 0:24:08.960 --> 0:24:13.679 for able anyway, but I felt like she brought this 0:24:13.680 --> 0:24:17.520 this humanity to this character and a care to this character. 0:24:18.119 --> 0:24:20.639 This was one of those where I never saw a 0:24:20.680 --> 0:24:23.399 writer work harder on a script in my life, Like 0:24:23.440 --> 0:24:27.040 the script was never finished in anything that popped up 0:24:27.080 --> 0:24:32.080 in the courtroom or any discovery, or if Carrie improvised 0:24:32.080 --> 0:24:34.200 a line or set a line in a certain way, 0:24:34.440 --> 0:24:38.120 and that could change the whole like where it landed, 0:24:38.200 --> 0:24:39.879 and then we could go over and whisper by the 0:24:39.880 --> 0:24:41.840 monitor and then say, I think Linda has to have 0:24:41.880 --> 0:24:44.480