Showrunner Alena Smith and star Hailee Steinfeld chatted with Variety about the feminist storyline in their upcoming Apple TV Plus series “Dickinson,” during the Variety and Apple TV Plus Collaborations panel.
“I was excited, but shocked and a little blown away by the parallels that are in this show thematically that, somehow, we are still dealing with today,” Steinfeld said. “I loved the idea that through this person, through Emily Dickinson, and through this time in history, bringing to people’s realizations and my generation how far we’ve come, but how much work there is to be done.”
“Dickinson” follows teen poet Emily Dickinson as she navigates her sexist society.
“It was so important and incredible to cast Hailee in this role because I feel like [her] performance is so defined by this kind of fearlessness,” Smith said. “That is so important as a model for young women and men and everyone. This Emily Dickinson takes no prisoners. I’ve even compared her to Khaleesi in ‘Game of Thrones’ because she’s going after those dragons.”
“Dickinson” stars Steinfeld, Toby Huss, Jane Krakowski, Anna Baryshnikov and Ella Hunt. The series premieres on Nov. 1.
