Having taken careful pains to tell the tragedy of Candy Montgomery and Betty Gore with nuance, levity and respect, the series’ creatives are hopeful for the series to spark thoughtful conversations.
“Do I think the real Candy Montgomery will watch this show and like it? I don’t know,” muses Glatter. “I really don’t think she intended to kill Betty. If she had just walked out the door when they started arguing, maybe it would have never happened? We will never know. I hope embedded in this story is compassion for the human condition. We are fallible beings and we need to embrace the holes in our heart before damage ever occurs. Secrets are so damaging. I think that is very potent. And real life is always stranger than anything we could try and create.”
Kelley offers an immense amount of credit to Glatter— whom he calls “a phenomenal leader” –and her contagious commitment. “This was a labour of love for everybody and it’s a real tribute to Lesli the way the crew and the actors showed up. You don’t always have that experience on-set,” says Kelley.
“Lesli’s a total force of nature,” agrees Saari. “And not to mention during COVID and extreme weather conditions! There is no captain who’s more of a pro and steady at the helm.”
Saari also acknowledges his producing partner, Kidman, whom he credits for having “incredible insight and acumen for scripts, casting and the whole process leading up to production. She’s a bit of a guardian angel for us and is very proud of the series.”
“David and Lesli were absolutely the right people to tell this story with holistic care, while simultaneously making it a show I think people will want to watch,” says Rabe. “I first worked with David on [HBO’s] The Undoing. I love him. I trust him. And he is in his own class when it comes to writing thrillers centred on women who are fully realised.”
Pelphrey says that he hopes viewers can look beyond the violence of the story and perhaps glean a life-saving lesson. “Maybe there’s a conversation, albeit a hard one, you should have with your partner, instead of looking elsewhere for happiness,” he says. “If a relationship is so bad that you’re about to be unfaithful then you might as well risk ending it! At that point, what have you got to lose?”
For Olsen, who bears Love & Death’s greatest burden – infusing objectivity into a notorious murderer – the story never ceases to be first and foremost an American tragedy.
“A lot of people have asked me, ‘Do you feel weird protecting this woman, protecting this character? And to that I feel like that my job as an actor – for as long as I want to be one— is to try and understand people whom we immediately want to judge,” says Olsen. “And then try and understand where they are coming from, understand their circumstances and, maybe, along the way, gain empathy.”
Source
ITV Press Centre
