“Étoile” is not the first television series Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino has done about the ballet world. This distinction belongs to “Bunheads”, the ABC family drama that was broadcast during a season more than a dozen years ago. Since “Bunheads” was a story of age about four future ballerinas that grew up in a small coastal city, the married, 10-o’clock Emmy-winning creators “Étoile” as their first real workplace comedy.
The main video series, the couple’s first television project since “the fantastic Mrs Maisel” and was was canceled June 6 after a season (After we talk to them), two well-known ballet companies follow in Manhattan, the other in Paris-Var’s and artistic directors, Jack McMillan (Luke Kirby) and Geneviève Lavigne (Charlotte Gainsbourg), consent to replace their best talent in a last talent for a last talent for a last talent for a final talent for a last talent for a final talent for replacing their best
“Set a workplace comedy in the ballet world, you look behind the scenes, you can focus on the dancers’ lives and who they are like people,” said Sherman-Palladino, who trained as a dancer from a young age. “It’s not so much about the ballet you see on stage, is the ballet for what is required get on stage. That’s what we really wanted to dive in here. ”
What was different about bringing “Étoile” to life compared to “The fantastic Mrs Maisel” and “Gilmore Girls”?
Daniel Palladino We had never worked equally in two different countries (France and the US), so it was new, challenging and fun at the same time.
Amy Sherman-Palladino And we don’t speak French, so you go.
Palladino We wrote scenes that were intended to be spoken in French by French actors, so we needed a translator that we really trusted. We went through a lot and finally found a translator; Our French actors said, “It is popping up from the page now as your English words do.” It was a challenge, but we like a challenge. We get bored very easily.
How did you handle the New York page versus the Paris side of the production? Which half was harder to crash?
Palladino For two people who are very practical, aka control freaks, it was a real challenge to know how soon in advance we really needed to plan some dances. Some places had to be locked in much, much in France than in New York. Then we encountered the Olympics (Paris) and every production was closed during the Olympics, including “Emily in Paris, “who is one of the reasons Emily tools on a motorcycle in Rome for part of the season.
Sherman-Palladino In Paris, they have different hours – they work 10 hours, there are meals. We really needed to know that we could get our work done on each of these Paris days because there was no alternative.
Palladino We shot the first six episodes of Paris scenes first, then we came to New York and shot all New York stuff and then went back to Paris and shot the last two episodes. It was very filmed from the sequence, much more than we usually do. In fact, we did not finish the first episode until the last week.
You have worked with Luke Kirby before on “Maisel”, but Lou de Laâge was someone the show presented me to. And Charlotte Gainsbourg was a rework. How did you land them?
Sherman-Palladino Luke has Stockholm syndrome right now. He is kind of a happy hostage right now.
Palladino I don’t think (Lou had) ever been in an American movie. She was a working French actress. There is an extremely strong actor in France, and there are so many films that the French do that never come to America. Lou was one of a dozen very, very, very excellent auditions that we got for the Cheyenne character. But she immediately appeared to us – her courage, her beauty. And she’s nothing like the character.
Sherman-Palladino I know! She is pretty lovely and lovely.
Palladino She is a pretty lighter, giggling, funny person to join and then when she unbuttones in Cheyenne she gets very scary. We obviously knew Charlotte. We had two or three of her CDs; We all had her father, Serge Gainsbourgs, CDs; And we had two of (her mother) Jane Birkin’s CD discs.
Sherman-Palladino We knew her serious work, but we had never seen her doing comedy or didn’t think she was interested in comedy.
Palladino We were a little surprised that she sat out there. She read the script …
Sherman-Palladino … and her people called.
Palladino She wanted to meet and she had eaten a meal with Amy, who thought it would be a sales job. At a certain time, Charlotte caught it and said, “I want to do it. You don’t have to (sell me).”
Sherman-Palladino Yes, it was like, “Stop talking, that’s good. Just tell me when we start so we can all get out of this restaurant.” It was amazing to see her live up in this, especially her physical comedy. It was a revelation for us.
You have created a stable of actors that you have gone back to time and time again like Luke, Kelly Bishop and Yanic Truesdale. Has it helped, to know that there is already a brief with them?
Palladino They are all in the next room waiting for us.
Sherman-Palladino We promised them at sex.
Palladino Kelly Bishop is very unique. The role we wrote for Luka’s mother in “étoile”, there are very few other actresses who can do that role. We are basically writing for her because we know what her comic forces are. The Yanian thing, we didn’t plan it, and then we realized that Yanic speaks French and it made sense.
Sherman-Palladino And we could finally do something for him who was not Michel (from “Gilmore Girls”). Luke Kirby, we wrote this to him because we have been looking to do something with him where he has to come in every day. He did not come in enough (on “Maisel”). Basically, it’s about we need friends.
“Étoile “was picked up for two seasons. Since the first season ends on a cutter, what season 2 comes? (Amazon canceled the series on June 6 After our interview took place.)
Sherman-Palladino Do we know (season 2) comes? We don’t know it will. Two-season pickups just mean that you have to shoot half the cost of the sets from season 1 to season 2. This does not mean much more than that.
We’re there. We are waiting for the Amazon’s supervisors to bring down their Hover Ship and tell us what was decided in the ten minutes Katy Perry was up there that revolved by the earth.
A version of this story first ran in the comedy emission of Thewrap’s Awards Magazine. Read more from the comedy question here.
