Anatomy of a dance sequence
Jennifer Holland —PHOTO COURTESY OF HBO GO
It may look like dancing in the opening sequence of “Peacemaker” was easy-peasy for Jennifer Holland, but the 35-year-old actress said she really put in a lot of work to make it seem so.
Along with the rest of the cast, Jennifer, who plays Emilia Harcourt, the no-nonsense A.R.G.U.S. agent assigned to Project Butterfly by Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), is seen dancing in the series’ opening credits.
“We had the best choreographer,” Jennifer told Inquirer Entertainment when we asked her how the production number came about. “Her name is Charissa Barton. She came in and did what [director] James Gunn wanted for this dance sequence. And she expanded upon it and made it the weirdest and most amazing thing that I’ve ever gotten to do.
“I definitely rehearsed this a lot. We have some good videos of me in the kitchen of the house we were staying in Vancouver, and James hadn’t seen it all put together yet (laughs). But everybody had a ton of fun that day. And if they weren’t having a good time, then they were acting like they were. We were all there in the room dancing together having this sort of communal blast.”
James later told us what his concept was for the scene and how actor-comedian Alan Tudyk (“Resident Alien”), who isn’t part of the cast, “indirectly” helped execute Charissa’s choreography.
Alan Tudyk
No holds barred
“That choreographed scene was part of the script from the very beginning. If you have seen my movie ‘Super,’ which was my second film, there’s a similar dance sequence at the beginning of that, which is anime. This time, I thought I had a little more money to make this, and every episode costs significantly more than that whole movie itself.
‘I just thought [showing that dancing sequence] would be a fun way to showcase ‘Peacemaker’s’ characters and show that we’re willing to go to any degree for this show… like there’s no holds barred in terms of what we’re doing creatively, emotionally, politically, spiritually or comedically. This isn’t your regular DC or Marvel TV show.
Rewarding experience
“Charissa is the woman who choreographed that stuff. I hired her because I liked her work. Then, I found out that she’s married to my friend Alan Tudyk. It was such a great joy when she sent me short videos of the moves from her home—and it was Alan doing all those moves, which was hilarious to me! That was a great way to vanquish the ‘skip credits’ part of every episode.”
For Jennifer, seeing her character from “The Suicide Squad” enhanced and expanded in the TV series was a rewarding experience.
“I love this role so much,” she shared. “I had a great time with everyone on that film (‘The Suicide Squad’), and I got to work with Viola Davis in it. But the spinoff series has really allowed me to create a more nuanced character and enabled me to dive deeper into developing this badass woman.
“We learn a little about her background in the series, but we really don’t know much about what makes her as cold as she is. We know that she’s been doing weapons training and flight training since she was a kid. We find that out early on in the series. She’s much cooler than I am, that’s for sure (laughs).“I think the most interesting characters to play are the ones who are complicated and complex, like we are as human beings. We’re not one level all the time. We all have times when we’re either tougher or sweeter… in a bad mood, in a good mood. “Sometimes, we’re jerks and sometimes, we’re really friendly. So, getting to play a character who has levels like that, who isn’t just one note, is an incredible opportunity to delve into who that person is and why she is who she has become.”
