David E. Kelley on why there are 2 competing shows tackling the same murder case
David E. Kelley (right) with wife Michelle Pfeiffer —AFP
We were just as thrilled to speak to writer-creator David E. Kelley and director Lesli Linka Glatter as we were with the award-worthy lead stars of the seven-part true-to-life series “Love & Death,” which will drop its fifth episode on HBO Go tomorrow.
After all, the mighty duo is responsible for some of TV’s most beloved shows ever produced: David for the iconic likes of “Ally McBeal,” “Doogie Howser, MD,” “Picket Fences,” “Chicago Hope,” “The Practice” and “Big Little Lies,” and Lesli for “Mad Men,” “Homeland,” “House MD,” “Pretty Little Liars,” “True Blood,” “The Newsroom” and “The Morning Show.” What a lineup!
So it shouldn’t also come as a surprise that the two didn’t disappoint as interviewees, especially when we spoke to them recently about “resurrecting” a gruesome but largely ignored murder case that happened 43 years ago, and why two TV shows about it are suddenly being shown one after the other: HBO’s “Love & Death” and Hulu’s “Candy.”
“When I decide to take on a project, I start with, ‘Is there a great plot here? Does it have rich and compelling characters? Do they have pathologies that are worth mining? Is it dramatic and funny enough to be entertaining?’—and this ticked off all the boxes for me,” David explained. “When the idea for ‘Love & Death’ was first brought to my attention, there was a presumption against it because I like making up the details [surrounding a story]. If the facts come to me already fully baked, what’s the point [of pursuing it]?
‘Complicated creatures’
“But when I read the [Texas Monthly] articles and the book [John Bloom and Jim Atkinson’s ‘Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs’], the story was just too juicy, too rich and too delicious to turn away from—so that was my starting point. I think Lesli read it and responded the same way I did.”
Lesli nodded, “Look, if this story wasn’t true, you couldn’t make it up. So, as I was reading about what actually happened, I thought, ‘Oh my God, we humans are truly such complicated creatures!’ And that’s what I love delving into as a storyteller.
“I’m not a true-crime aficionado—that isn’t what interested me about this story. Yes, it’s about a horrible crime, but I was more interested in the juxtaposition between who these characters were and why this happened rather than the how of it, which is right up the true crime genre.
“More than anything, this is a deep character exploration, with some situational humor to it. Then, the tone shifts in the middle provided a very exciting challenge for me as a director. But how do you navigate that shift?”
David, the lawyer-turned-writer who happens to be Michelle Pfeiffer’s husband, added, “Another element for me in deciding to do this project is that this story had never been told before. I think it had made it to ‘Dateline,’ ‘48 Hours’ or one other newsmagazine show, but it had never been delved into as a TV series.
“In terms of the decision to make the show, this was a very surprising, original and fresh material. Obviously, it has since been tackled as a series twice, but when we started down our path, it had never been dramatized before. But someone came along after we began filming our show and did it faster, then got it out before ours.”
But what did David and Lesli think happened in the United States recently that drew attention to this particular story and, suddenly, we have two competing series about the same story?
“Well, I’m still asking that question myself. I lack full clarity about the whole situation,” David admitted. “What I will conclude is that the moral footing under [that other] world feels a bit gravelly to me.
“We based our project on a book. But the authors of that book went and pitched the same idea to Hulu, who then said, ‘Let’s go.’ I have some questions about the moral judgment [behind it].
“I love my friends and partners at Hulu … I’ve worked with them on other occasions. But I have the same question: What happened here? Because we set forward with our project, then suddenly, another one rushed forward based on the very same IP …”
Extramarital affair
Interjecting, Lesli asserted, “We actually had licensed the rights to the Texas Monthly articles, as well as the book. So we maybe naively thought we were protected …”
David further pointed out, “The other series claimed it was not based on the book. It just happened to be based on an idea supplied by the authors who wrote that book. We can all do the math on that one, but for me, two plus two does not seem to equal four.”
“Love & Death” tells the story of two deceptively happy couples—Candy and Pat Montgomery (Elizabeth Olsen and Patrick Fugit), and their friends, Betty and Allan Gore (Lily Rabe and Jesse Plemons)—and the extramarital affair that leads one of them to pick up an ax!
Our Q&A with David and Lesli:
Do you think the specific place in which these events happened in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s in a tight-knit Christian community had a particular influence on the situation that unfolded between Candy and Betty?
Lesli: Absolutely. I think they’re intricately woven together. To me, this is a story of that particular time in a small town in Texas.
What intrigued me about it on a character level was the fact that women particularly in places like this were expected to follow a certain path or trajectory in life—you get married at 20, have two kids, move to the suburbs, your husband works in the community while you stay at home to raise the children—and everything seems great and bucolic from the outside.
Elizabeth Olsen (right) with Brian d’Arcy James in “Love & Death” —PHOTO COURTESY OF HBO GO
But why is it that the women feel so deeply unsatisfied, like there’s a hole in their heart and psyche without the skill set to address that problem. So, a lot of choices were made that resulted in something quite tragic.
With disco music, loud outfits and big hair inherently part of that period, how did you handle all that without going over the top?
David: Well, I’m routinely accused of being over the top (laughs), so I was thrilled that I had a defense baked into this one … that these are based on real events. The truth can be a double-edged sword, and we were stuck with it. Since we were relying on this set of facts, it turned out to be a blessing.
Lesli: For me, I never want people to play the period; I want them to play their characters, who just happened to live in the period between 1978 to 1980. But we also tried to be very accurate with the hairdos, the wardrobe, the music they listened to, and the TV shows they were watching at the time—because it is a true story. Admittedly, it is a fun period!
In your view, what did Elizabeth and Jesse bring into their respective roles?
Lesli: When I read David’s amazing scripts, the first person that immediately came to mind as Candy Montgomery was Lizzie (Elizabeth). She has this incredible ability to be very emotionally accessible … she lets you into these deep places inside.
It was pretty much the same process with Jessie. But there was something that intrigued me about Allan, his character. If you’re a woman who decides to shake up your life by having an affair, you’ll most likely go for the hot guy, right? But Candy decided to have an affair with the husband of a friend from the church choir, who was not the obvious object of one’s desire.
In fact, as written in the articles, Allan is a bit paunchy. But all Candy and Allan needed was just to be “seen and heard.” They wanted friendship, which was an intriguing choice. We had to create a “real” community with characters that felt believable.
David, what did you find most challenging about writing the script for this?
David: You know, when you’re “hatching the beast” for any project, you get a certain adrenaline, if not euphoria, from the idea itself. The intoxication that comes with breaking a story fuels you as a writer. You become the contractor armed with hammer and nails as you piece it together.
When you’re not breaking the story. There is a risk that the fuel will not be there, and it’ll feel like you’re doing all carpentry and no creative work. In fact, I had resisted doing adaptations for that reason.
“Big Little Lies” was the first one that made me realize, “Oh, there’s plenty of creative work that can be done within an adaptation”—and you can have the best of both worlds. I can flex my creative muscles, but I can also go in directions that I might not be inclined to think of on my own.
With “Love & Death,” it came presented as the truth. So, one of the greatest challenges was, how do I stick to the facts, keep it entertaining and resist my own temptations to heighten it?
As a practical matter, it didn’t turn out to be a big challenge because the facts were fantastical. They have, in fact, defied credulity, and there were a couple of places where I had to ask, “Did this really happen?”
So, I would say that my biggest burden was to be disciplined. Because the characters, the interesting story and the element of entertainment were all there. I came in with a monitor this time, so I just had to remind myself, “Don’t screw it up (laughs)!” INQ
