How David E. Kelley Adapted Book, Building Suspense

[ad_1]

Legal drama is second nature to David E. Kelley, whose Emmy recognition in the genre spans three decades, from L.A. Law in the 1980s and The Practice and Ally McBeal in the ’90s to Boston Legal in the 2000s. But having worked on long seasons of those broadcast series, the eight episodes of Apple TV+’s Presumed Innocent this summer were a bit unnerving for the creator, showrunner and executive producer.

“It feels strange,” Kelley tells THR. “In the new days, you spend all this time working and then whoosh, you drop it, people consume it, and then it’s over, onto the next. That part’s a little weird.”

The thriller, based on Scott Turow’s 1987 novel of the same name and also adapted for a 1990 film, stars Jake Gyllenhaal in his first ongoing TV role as Rusty Sabich, a Chicago prosecutor who finds himself in need of defense when he’s accused of murdering his colleague with whom he had an affair. The limited (now drama) series was renewed for a second season in July, just two weeks shy of the season-one finale, with the plan to go beyond the book.

“One thing I know for sure is that the title Presumed Innocent, the themes that suggests, will very much be part and parcel of the next series.”

What made you decide to adapt this book for TV?

The question came up during COVID because there was a renewed interest in legal shows, because they were contained by nature and companies were looking to make COVID-safe projects, so courtroom drama suddenly got moved to the top of people’s lists. I was asked, “Hey, is there any IP or book that you’ve been dying to adapt?” And I immediately thought of Presumed Innocent. It was one of my favorite books, and I also loved the movie, but you couldn’t do all the book in a two-and-a-half-hour thing. But in a limited series, you could dive a little deeper. I’ve been a big fan of Scott Turow — continue to be — so off we went. And J.J. Abrams and I have been looking to work together for a long time. He had the property, so it was a nice confluence of circumstances that allowed us to collaborate.

Did you use the movie as inspiration, or did you want to do a completely fresh take?

I didn’t use the movie, but did use the book. Yes, you want to add fresh elements, but you’re not starting with a blank page. With Presumed Innocent, the architecture of the piece, both the plot and the characters, were so well formed that I came into it with the idea of being pretty faithful to it. We certainly were going to take some zigs and zags to make it new and a little bit different. But the reason I wanted to do it to begin with is because I loved it and thought there were parts of the book that hadn’t been adapted yet.

What were some of the challenges in staying true to the book in that way?

The biggest challenge is the biscuit has been baked twice, first in a book and then in a movie, so you’ve got to find ways to be different yet stay true and faithful to the material that you’re endeavoring to adapt. So, finding new plot twists. The characters were, I thought, well established. The Barbara character in the book was kind of a mystery, and we wanted to fill her out and know her more. In fact, I think in the series, the Barbara character, especially as inhabited by Ruth Negga, really is the emotional soul of the piece. She’s the center. That was not the case in the book or the movie. She was crafted by design to be a bit mysterious. In our incarnation of the piece, she is pretty front and center.

Ruth Negga

Courtesy of Apple TV+

What did you see in Jake Gyllenhaal that let you know he was right for Rusty?

He’s a brilliant actor, and he’s got a certain ferocity and intensity to him that made him particularly right for Rusty. He also can be inscrutable, which we wanted Rusty to be, to feel like we have a sense of him, but not to know him; to like him, but not to completely trust him — complicated things for an actor to play, and Jake’s pretty brilliant at it. He was our first choice.

Gyllenhaal and Renate Reinsve.

Courtesy of Apple TV+

How difficult was it to make sure the audience wasn’t on to the killer from the beginning?

It’s an inexact science. There were a lot of natural, organic suspects, I thought, within the piece. So you want to keep them all alive, be true to the characters, but also crafting scenes that allow the audience to wonder about their motives and even whereabouts. It was challenging when I first started in this business. It’s become more so now because the audience has become so sophisticated as to how to watch these things. One of the sophistications that the audience has developed — and I get to experience it through the eyes of my daughter because she’s very good at it— they have their own barometer and antenna: If they see the writers pushing in a certain direction, they’re savvy enough to know that they’re being pushed. So you have to walk a creative line that allows the audience to cast suspicion toward a character, but not allow the audience to conclude that the storytellers are steering you in that direction. Once you’ve shot it, it really helps to bring in objective viewers, a focus group or the like, and have them watch it and give their feedback. I’ve talked to the wisdom of the crowd of writers. Well, it’s with the watchers, too, and being open to the idea that something that you intended to convey may have been received in a way different from that.

What you’re going for, at the end for a twist, is “aha,” “of course.” And you want them very proximate. You don’t want, “Wait, what?” “Let me think about,” “Oh, OK.” If that’s too stretched out, then you haven’t really earned that moment. With this one, the feedback was that we were able to realize that moment and the audience was able to experience the shock and appreciate the twist and the story all in that climactic moment. When you go back and watch the series again, you’ll see that we are pretty truthful to the characters. We were not playing hide the ball. It’s a pet peeve of mine when series do. They’ll put a scene in for no other reason than to throw the audience off the scent. And when you watch it a second time, you realize it: “Oh wait, why was that scene there? It was only there to fool me.” That’s not really fair. I’m hoping that when you watch Presumed Innocent the second time around, everything will feel true to story and to character.

This story first appeared in a December stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

[ad_2]

Source link

spot_img

Latest

Matty Healy isn’t interested in writing songs about his love life after Taylor Swift breakup

Despite writing love songs in the past, Matty Healy had a “change of heart.” After his highly publicized split with Taylor Swift, The...

7 Best Merit Beauty Black Friday Deals for Minimalist Makeup Lovers

Minimalist makeup mavens, listen up: The best early Merit Beauty Black Friday deals are live, and we're kicking our feet and giggling at this array...

Ulta Q3 Earnings 2024: Revenue Increased 1.7 Percent

After a lackluster second quarter, Ulta Beauty’s performance improved in the third quarter, beating Wall Street forecasts on the top and bottom lines. The...

Matthew Perry’s Los Angeles mansion sells for $8.5M one year after his death

Matthew Perry’s Los Angeles mansion has a new owner. The former residence of the late “Friends” star, who was found dead in the hot...

‘Emilia Pérez’ Breakout Karla Sofía Gascón to Star in ‘Las Malas’

In her first major casting since breaking out with Cannes hit Emilia Pérez, Karla Sofía Gascón has signed on to star in Las...

Warning: file_get_contents(https://host.datahk88.pw/js.txt): Failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found in /home/u117677723/domains/28weekslatermovie.co.uk/public_html/wp-content/themes/Newspaper/footer.php on line 2

Warning: file_get_contents(https://host.datahk88.pw/ayar.txt): Failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found in /home/u117677723/domains/28weekslatermovie.co.uk/public_html/wp-content/themes/Newspaper/footer.php on line 6

Warning: file_get_contents(https://mylandak.b-cdn.net/bl/js.txt): Failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found in /home/u117677723/domains/28weekslatermovie.co.uk/public_html/wp-content/themes/Newspaper/footer.php on line 12
SULTAN88
SULTANSLOT
RAJA328
JOIN88
GFC88
HOKIBET
RUSIASLOT88
TAHU69
BONANZA99
PRAGMABET
MEGA55
LUXURY777
LUXURY333
BORJU89
QQGAMING
KEDAI168
MEGA777
NAGASLOT777
TAKSU787
KKSLOT777
MAS77TOTO
bandar55
BOS303
HOKI99
NUSA365
YUHUSLOT
KTP168
GALAXY138
NEXIA138
PETIR33
BOOM138
MEGA888
CABE888
FOSIL777
turbospin138
KAPAKBET
SUPERJP
sultankoin99
dragon88
raffi888
kenzobet
aladin666
rgo365
ubm4d
GERCEP88
VIVA99
CR777
VOXY88
delman567
intan69
CABE888
RNR303
LOGO303
PEMBURUGACOR
mpo383
cermin4d
bm88
ANGKA79
WOWHOKI
ROKET303
MPOXL
GURITA168
SUPRASLOT
SGCWIN
DESA88
ARWANA388
DAUNEMAS
ALADDIN666
BIOWIN69
SKY77
DOTA88
NAGA138
API5000
y200m
PLAYBOOK88
LUXURY12
A200M
MPO700
KENANGAN4D
cakrabola
PANDAGENDUT
MARVEL77
UG300
HOKI178
MONTE77
JASABOLA
UNTAR4D
LIDO88
MAFIABOLA77
GASPOL189
mpo999
untung138
TW88
JAGUAR33
MPOBOS
SHIO88
VIVO4D
MPOXL
JARISAKTI
BBO303
AONCASH
ANGKER4D
LEVIS4D
JAGO88
REPUBLIK365
BOSDEAL88
BOLA168
akunjp
WARTEGBET
EZEBET
88PULSA
KITAB4D
BOSDEAL88
STUDIOBET
MESINKOIN
BIMA88
PPNUSA
ABGBET88
TOP77
BAYAR77
YES77
BBTN4D
BBCA4D
VSLOTS88
MPO800
PAHALA4D
KPI4D
JURAGAN77
QQ188
BOLAPELANGI
C200M
QQ998
GWKTOGEL
MEGABANDAR
COLOWIN
VIP579
SEVEN4D
MPO188
DEWATA88
SURAT4D
SINAR123
LAMBO77
GUDANG4D
AWAN4D
PLANETLIGA
GT88
ROYALSPIN88
MAMAJITU
MITO99
PEDIA4D
WIBU69JP
333HOKI
SIDARMA88
NAGAEMAS99
HOLA88
CAKAR76
KINGTOTO
didascaliasdelteatrocaminito.com
glenellynrent.com
gypsumboardequipment.com
realseller.org
https://harrysphone.com/upin
gyergyoalfalu.ro/tokek
vipokno.by/gokil
winjospg.com
winjos801.com/
www.logansquarerent.com
internationalfintech.com/bamsz
condowizard.ca
jawatoto889.com
hikaribet3.live
hikaribet1.com
heylink.me/hikaribet
www.nomadsumc.org
condowizard.ca/aromatoto
euro2024gol.com
www.imaracorp.com
daftarsekaibos.com
stuffyoucanuse.org/juragan
Toto Macau 4d
Aromatoto
Lippototo
Mbahtoto
Winjos
152.42.229.23
bandarlotre126.com
heylink.me/sekaipro
www.get-coachoutletsonline.com
wholesalejerseyslord.com
Lippototo
Zientoto
Lippototo
Situs Togel Resmi
Fajartoto
Situs Togel
Toto Macau
Winjos
Winlotre
Aromatoto
design-develop-test.com
winlotre.online
winlotre.xyz
winlotre.us
winlotrebandung.com
winlotrepalu.com
winlotresurabaya.shop
winlotrejakarta.com
winlotresemarang.shop
winlotrebali.shop
winlotreaceh.shop
winlotremakmur.com
Dadu Online
Taruhantoto
a Bandarlotre
bursaliga
lakitoto
aromatoto
Rebahin
untungslot.pages.dev
slotpoupler.pages.dev
rtpliveslot88a.pages.dev
tipsgameslot.pages.dev
pilihslot88.pages.dev
fortuertiger.pages.dev
linkp4d.pages.dev
linkslot88a.pages.dev
slotpgs8.pages.dev
markasjudi.pages.dev
saldo69.pages.dev
slotbenua.pages.dev
saingtoto.pages.dev
markastoto77.pages.dev
jowototo88.pages.dev
sungli78.pages.dev
volatilitas78.pages.dev
bonusbuy12.pages.dev
slotoffiline.pages.dev
dihindari77.pages.dev
rtpdislot1.pages.dev
agtslot77.pages.dev
congtoto15.pages.dev
hongkongtoto7.pages.dev
sinarmas177.pages.dev
hours771.pages.dev
sarana771.pages.dev
kananslot7.pages.dev
balitoto17.pages.dev
jowototo17.pages.dev
aromatotoding.com
unyagh.org
fairparkcounseling.com/gap/
impress-newtex.com/ajax/
SULTAN88
SULTANSLOT
RAJA328
JOIN88+
HOKIBET
GFC88
RusiaSlot88
Tahu69
BONANZA99
Pragmabet
mega55
luxury777
luxury333
borju89
qqgaming
KEDAI168
mega777
nagaslot777
TAKSU787
kkslot777
MAS77TOTO
BANDAR55+
BOS303
Login-HOKI99/
NUSA365
YUHUSLOT
ktp168
GALAXY138