Hugh Laurie has never heard of an “escape room,” the wildly popular immersive games that require teams to crack puzzles in order to get out of a locked chamber. It’s ironic, because he’s a huge…
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Hugh Laurie has never heard of an “escape room,” the wildly popular immersive games that require teams to crack puzzles in order to get out of a locked chamber. It’s ironic, because he’s a huge fan of mystery, as evidenced by his Britbox series adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel, “Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?”
Laurie, the writer and director of the three-part series (in which he also acts), sat down with lead actor Lucy Boynton and Variety deputy awards and features editor Jenelle Riley for the Variety Streaming Room presented by Britbox, during which he discussed his love for the genre. He noted that he’s a big fan of Christie’s work and the original 1934 novel of the same name, which explores a curious murder case and the meaning of the dying man’s last words, which are eponymous to the novel’s title.
“What I have always loved about it is that it’s such a beautiful blend of the character and the central mystery device, which I think is one of her most brilliant,” Laurie said. “It still gives me chills just thinking about it when I first read it, the way it’s revealed is so beautiful.”
Boynton, who plays Frankie alongside Will Poulter’s Bobby, said she hadn’t read the novel until after she had read Laurie’s script.
“I fell in love with Frankie,” Boynton said. “I’ve never read a character like her because she’s so grounded and rooted in the reality of being a young woman, but written with such moxie and gumption. And she knows herself so well, which means that she can operate with such confidence because she knows she’s got good intentions and a good heart.”
Among the many challenges of creating the show, including frequent location changes and a tight schedule, Laurie said he was particularly concerned with the story’s final reveal, in which the audience (and readers) learn what the dying man’s final words mean.
“That, to me, was like the diamond at the middle of the whole thing,” Laurie said. “And it was such thrill and a relief to me to be able to sit in the editing suite and watch Lucy do this thing and go, ‘My God, I have got the same chills on the back of my neck watching her realize as a character what I realized as a reader however many decades ago it was when I read it.’ It was thrilling to me that we had got that. I felt like we got that right.”
Watch the full conversation in the video above.