The Morning Show exec producer talks Jon Hamm's phallic introduction
Executive producer Mimi Leder spoke exclusively with RadioTimes.com.
Apple TV+’s The Morning Show is back for more drama behind the scenes of fictional TV breakfast programme TMS, with stars Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon returning as competing news journalists Alex Levy and Bradley Jackson.
The third season picks up a few months after season 2, with Alex set to make history by taking a ride into space, live on TV, in a sub-orbital rocket owned by arrogant corporate titan Paul Marks (played by Mad Men’s Jon Hamm).
In an exclusive chat with RadioTimes.com, executive producer Mimi Leder (who also directed the episode) revealed how she and production designer Nelson Coates came up with the memorable design of Paul’s space rocket, Hyperion, which has a shape that could be described as rather phallic.
"Nelson and I, we looked at Space X, we looked at Blue Origin, we looked at a lot of the suborbital rockets that go up 62 miles and he designed what he thought our rocket ship would look like. I thought it was great, and yes, I felt it was a bit phallic, but they all are, really!"
The first episode includes the launch of the rocket, which meant Leder had to direct a scene featuring the actors – including Hamm and Billy Crudup, who plays UBA station head, Cory Ellison – floating around the ship in zero gravity.
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"It’s really hard to do space, especially on television," Leder explains. "I had the good fortune of directing the movie Deep Impact, where I had a lot of experience in flying actors around on wires, and working in zero gravity.
"But it took a lot of training for our actors to be in these wires. You have to have a big core strength to flip over and to be able to stay in the character, even when you’re being manipulated below camera with stunt people."
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The scenes on Hyperion mark our first introduction to suave billionaire Paul Marks, who early on becomes involved in a possible takeover of UBA, so did his macho character inspire the shape and size of the rocket?
"Ha, well, you know, I never thought of it that way," laughs Leder. "But if you saw that, I say yes!"
The Morning Show season 3 premieres on Apple TV+ on Wednesday 13th September 2023, with seasons 1-2 available to stream on Apple TV+.
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