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We’ve all heard how Very bad Creator Vince Gilligan initially thought his beloved crime drama would tell the story of how a Mr. Chips-type everyman would turn into… Scarface.
But during a panel at the South by Southwest Film & TV Festival on Saturday morning titled “Albuquerque Aftermath: From Very bad to Multiple“, Gilligan said he found a notebook that contained the first idea for the show — and it was only nine words.
“I found this old notebook in my office a few years ago, and it was the first idea for this,” Gilligan said. “Who knows where ideas come from? But she said, ‘A good man does a bad thing to save his family.'”
Gilligan then retold the story of how his idea of a high school chemistry teacher with cancer who cooks meth to support his family was fleshed out and then pitched to Sony Pictures Television. Gilligan says a senior executive, who no longer works at the company, told him: “This is the worst idea I’ve ever heard.” Gilligan quickly added: “To his credit, he’s a good guy, and he’s admitted it.” [his mistake later]”.
Of course, Sony eventually embraced the show, and then AMC came on board as distributor. Gilligan was also famous for his scams Very bad to HBO, which he described as one of the worst meetings of his life, as then-HBO executives exuded “toxic gamma rays of disinterest” in his presentation.
Gilligan, who has struck a reputation for being a popular, suave showrunner, was also asked about working in the writers’ room and how he decides whether to follow one of his own ideas or someone else’s.
“The best thing you can do is learn very quickly not to care about whose thoughts,” Gilligan said. “I don’t record the results in my head. The moments I’m most proud of [my] Appears, I don’t remember who [suggested the idea]. The best idea wins. There are a lot of ways to do this job, and we can be dictators, and maybe this will work for some, but at the end of the day, I’m very proud of this work. We don’t cure cancer on our TV shows. There is no reason why people can’t enjoy coming to work. Once they get there, they will work hard. But there is no reason for them to make things difficult for each other.
Later in the painting, Multiple Star Rhea Seehorn responded strongly when an audience question suggested her character on the show, Carol, was “undesirable.”
“I understand the question, but the question behind the ‘unlikable’ question is, I think, misuse or overuse of female characters,” Seehorn said. “Because the way people have defined what’s likable in a woman is very limiting for playing the character. It’s very important for that character to be accessible in some way, and for me to act honestly and honestly the moment people say, ‘Wow, she’s really not polite when they bring her things.’ [The Others] I killed my wife. My career is over. I might die alone watching Golden girlsso sorry if I’m a little offended cheerful … Carol is allowed to be the full spectrum of human behavior … I find it complex and difficult and challenging.
Gilligan then added that since “The Others” are so overwhelmingly and uniformly nice, it’s “drama 101” to have a protagonist who balances that out.
An audience member also asked Seehorn when she found out why Multiple It was about to.
“It’s really cool to play a character who doesn’t understand what’s going on,” she said. “I don’t know. Is it about human nature? What does it mean to be human, and redefining the pursuit of happiness? How do you find success, love, and relationships?”
Gilligan said he would evade the question of meaning MultipleBut he pointed out, “This is the most difficult.” [show] Of all of them to explain. I’ll try to let people tell me what our show is about, because I learn things all the time when people tell me. What is any show about? What is it According to Jim on?”
Participants included Gilligan and Seehorn, composer Dave Porter, costume designer Jennifer Bryan, and producer Trina Sioppi.
