0:05

Hey, this is director Jenny Curtis. You'll

0:07

hear me say this in the coming clip. But the character

0:09

of Chelsea is one of my favorites in the entire

0:11

series, and she is played beautifully

0:14

by Julia Henning. Julia

0:16

is a friend of ours. So when she joined Chris

0:18

Porter and I to talk about the role, we had

0:20

a really candid conversation about who

0:22

Chelsea is and the joys and

0:25

challenges of recording this character.

0:29

You guys kind of took the words out of my mouth in

0:31

terms of Chelsea being the

0:34

personification of the thing that's left behind.

0:36

We know Chelsea to be Jamal's best

0:38

friend. They're like brother and sister. They

0:40

were neighbors. She was his greatest

0:42

cheerleader is in so many ways.

0:44

But in my mind it was like she's

0:46

the humanity in the show that

0:49

like, carries across

0:51

gravity. So you think about your isolated

0:53

in space, you're isolated in yourself.

0:55

I mean, if solo is so much about being

0:57

separated, but the unity of hope,

1:00

of grace, of the will to live, the will

1:02

to survive, I feel like Chelsea represents

1:05

what we're surviving for, what we're

1:07

living for. I loved that she

1:09

kind of had, you know, this

1:11

energy to her. We're hearing

1:13

so much of the crew in space kind of panicking

1:15

and struggling. And I feel like she's going through these

1:17

moments of tender celebration and these moments

1:20

of tender reflection. And she's so

1:22

innocent and beautifully

1:25

naive to the whole situation

1:28

of what Jamal going into space is. And for

1:30

me, that's just such a beautiful representation

1:33

of. You know, love

1:35

like people are going through crazy things,

1:37

and yet we just think of them as being

1:39

our best friend. You know how you're in space. But like

1:42

she says, she's like, What up, J? You know, she talks

1:44

to him as if there's no distance or

1:46

proximity between them. So for

1:48

me, Chelsea was so

1:50

much the essence of what

1:52

we're fighting for and who we

1:54

are at our core. And I actually

1:57

I love that in the show, you guys talk about

1:59

so much of the Russian doll, and I

2:01

felt like Chelsea in a lot of ways was

2:03

the core of the Russian doll. She's, you

2:05

know, part of what they keep peeling back.

2:07

Oh, I love that. I love it.

2:08

Also, I want to mention that the what up, Jay was

2:10

100% Julia country.

2:12

Oh, yeah.

2:13

We didn't say no. No, you're.

2:14

Right. You did. You forgot about.

2:17

I've said this before. I'll say it again. That's the beauty of working

2:19

with actors, because you guys come in with

2:21

personalities that we couldn't have

2:23

anticipated and surprises.

2:26

And I remember moments we were in the booth

2:28

and we're finding like where the humor is and where

2:30

the gravity is. And I remember one of my favorite

2:33

things is the joke of Schrodinger's

2:36

box. And Chelsea doesn't know

2:38

what Schrodinger's no, And so

2:40

Julia mispronounced it and

2:42

we were like, Huh, that's funny, but maybe say it right

2:44

once just so we have it. And they were like, How? How

2:47

do I pretend.

2:48

Like this is real time, real

2:50

life? I have no idea what that says.

2:52

But it like, became this really wonderfully

2:55

rich moment because it felt

2:57

so authentic.

2:58

Yeah, I know there's some quantum component that

3:00

you mentioned, so I don't get this joke, but here goes.

3:05

Schrödinger's cat walks

3:07

into a bar. That's

3:10

it. That's the setup by

3:15

J. O.

3:18

I do remember that moment to actually my

3:21

laugh in the take that you guys kept

3:23

was true was honest

3:25

because I just remember we got it. I finally

3:27

said it right and then I laughed because I was like, I

3:29

don't know. I had no

3:32

idea what this means.

3:33

Just to go back into the editing in

3:36

the first monologue in episode four, you go,

3:38

Here I am sending you this message.

3:40

Woo! The

3:42

woo is actually not

3:44

from that chunk. I think we had

3:46

like said, okay, we got it. And you went, Woo!

3:49

And that was like somewhere else. And I was like,

3:51

I love that. That's got to go.

3:53

I was going to say, I don't remember reading

3:56

there and I was listening to it again yesterday

3:58

and I was like, okay, I was really excited

4:01

for it. I think really you can hear

4:03

it. You can feel it. You leave Earth

4:05

orbit the day you start getting these messages.

4:08

So here I am sending

4:10

you this message. I

4:13

mean, I'm sure that will come up again. But I in

4:15

talking about recording, nothing will ever be the story

4:18

of me getting over

4:20

the question mark line. There is

4:22

one line. I don't remember what it is, but Dear

4:24

Jenny had to stop me so

4:27

many times and literally

4:29

go, Julia. This is a statement

4:31

with a period and you keep making

4:34

this a question. And I was like, okay,

4:36

I got it. So I would do it. Question

4:38

Mark. And I was like, okay, mirror to me,

4:40

Jenny, tell me, what am I doing wrong

4:42

about this line? And of course, as an actor, you can't help

4:44

but like suddenly become really conscious

4:47

of that because when somebody gives you a

4:49

very specific thing and you're like, I got to get it right and

4:51

nothing will ever be me hearing you say

4:54

it. I mirrored it back. And then

4:56

as soon as you press record couldn't get

4:58

out of it, it was like, I'm sorry, this

5:00

is going to be a question from here on out.

5:02

It's also the director actor

5:04

thing of like finding the performance and finding

5:06

who the character is. And I think you as Julia,

5:08

are such a grounded person.

5:10

You're like the most grounded person

5:13

I know. It gives me chills just thinking

5:15

about with Chelsea. Like

5:17

you said, she's light hearted, and

5:19

I think that encourages

5:22

the little bit of thinking

5:24

like this.

5:25

Yeah, exactly. And I think.

5:26

That's what we kept trying to get out of. But we

5:28

didn't end up in question. We did end up.

5:30

You got it. Because you literally I remember you, like, conducted

5:32

me with your finger. You were like, go up

5:34

now. Go down with the statement. Go down

5:36

with the statement. And I was like, And it's done,

5:39

done. I remember when we had it

5:41

and I was like, Can we please provide? We're

5:43

doing that right now. Those are my favorite

5:46

moments, though.

5:46

That was also part of like me as a director,

5:49

but not a learning process for me in this.

5:51

But I did that with a lot of our actors where

5:53

there would be like a line or a word.

5:55

Sometimes it was just like the word yes. And

5:58

I swear to God we did it 20 times and

6:00

everybody in the booth, like, not in the booth because they're on Zoom,

6:02

but everyone be like, okay, Jenny, you

6:04

have 20 takes of. Yes, like move on.

6:07

That actually came up, though. I was thinking about that.

6:09

That was actually a really beautiful

6:11

moment that I kept between you and I

6:14

during that, because you even said, you know,

6:16

I'm an actor and I'm directing and

6:18

we're friends. I'm hearing

6:20

this line in this monologue in my head

6:22

and how I would say it. And so that's coming

6:24

through a little bit in how I'm directing you. And I

6:26

remember separating in that moment

6:28

as an actor, you know, some people with

6:30

I think a thicker ego might go,

6:33

okay, this is my time. I'm

6:35

the actor. But it actually was really impactful

6:37

to me. A that admittance

6:40

and that humility because I was able to go

6:42

I want to hit what she's hearing in her head

6:44

as a director and as an actor

6:46

because the resonance of the emotion underneath

6:49

both of our performance, if we can

6:51

amalgamate those two tones,

6:53

then it's going to come out and it's going to hit so many more

6:55

listeners. And I just remember as an actor going,

6:57

I understand that the actors director, I understand

7:00

the director's actor, those two roles coming

7:02

together. And I don't know, it just taught me

7:04

a lot in that moment. I was really grateful that you shared

7:06

that with me because it allowed me to understand your process.

7:08

And I think open up as an actor a little bit more.

7:10

I love you so much of you,

7:13

but it is. And I've had this conversation

7:15

with John Bangs to working with friends

7:17

who you can really just be

7:20

with. Yeah. Has been a huge

7:22

learning tool for me because

7:24

there is that graciousness there

7:26

of let's stumble through this together. And I

7:28

really love that when I really said that to

7:30

you was when we were doing the second monologue

7:32

from ten, which when I say these are two of my

7:34

favorite monologues Chris has written, the second one

7:37

is just gut wrenching.

7:38

I mean, it was, Yeah. Oh my God. It was an honour.

7:41

Best with it. Thank you, guys. Like I have said

7:43

before, I was like, I was almost upset that I was Ali

7:45

because I would have just

7:47

seen.

7:48

So I, like.

7:48

Perform.

7:49

That monologue. I feel that.

7:50

I think that's why I did have to say to you, I'm

7:53

aware of this thing that I have

7:55

so totally thank you for working through it with me.

7:57

But also when we were trying to

7:59

get through it and we were going through the

8:01

various takes and I was probably asking for too many

8:03

takes and whatever, I think we were doing the thing.

8:05

Everyone's like, okay, you got it, you got it, you got it. And I was like,

8:07

okay, I want to do it one more time. And I gave

8:10

you this direction. Julia

8:12

I just want you to think about how much art

8:14

means to you.

8:16

So that night you scrawled

8:19

on a series of 15 napkins.

8:21

Hiroto showed them to me a

8:23

list of every book. Every

8:27

movie, every show,

8:31

every song. Every

8:33

play and

8:36

free musical. Anything

8:39

that had ever given me joy. Anything

8:42

that you knew. I loved any

8:45

piece of creativity you ever saw

8:47

me digest and comment on. And

8:49

you told Hiroto that if he read

8:52

every book, watched

8:54

every movie, listened

8:57

to every piece of music

8:59

on that list, that

9:02

he would know who I was. That

9:06

he would know how to love me. Oh,

9:08

my God. I remember.

9:10

That. That's like

9:12

the acting in the show is phenomenal, but I did a

9:14

lot of micro cutting. I really

9:16

crafted some things in this show. That's

9:19

just a take, man. Like you went through.

9:21

You're when it starts in the monologue, too, because

9:23

the beginning, again, was kind of that energy where we were like,

9:26

This is foreign to me a little bit, especially when

9:28

coming out of the pandemic. I mean, and that

9:30

being the first recording, that energy, accessing

9:33

that levity in myself was an

9:35

exercise with you guys that I felt safe to

9:37

do. But the minute I remember that, the minute

9:39

you said that you hear it, I'm

9:41

choked out from the beginning. And it's like

9:43

your lines, Chris, when you're like the

9:46

movies, the plays and the musicals.

9:48

When I hit musicals, it was like my

9:50

favorite musical is Phantom of the Opera and Cats. And

9:52

I do not I do not apologize

9:55

for it. So deal with it. You

9:57

know what I mean? Like, I know the difference. But

9:59

I just remember thinking that and especially

10:01

at that time, the relationship

10:04

I was going through at that moment, those were the things that

10:06

we bonded over. So that art

10:09

became like, Oh my God, the people

10:11

who know me, it's in my voice now. Who

10:14

the people who know me know where art lives

10:16

in me. And I don't actually share that part of

10:18

myself with a lot of people. And so

10:20

when you said that, I just remember being like,

10:23

We're not going to go any deeper than this. You opened

10:25

up my heart and it was perfect. Oh, thank you

10:27

so much for that. What a gift to be reminded

10:29

now. Thank you. Thank you both.

10:31

Thank you, everyone. I guess

10:34

we would just say that I love us.

10:40

Julia has so much more to say about Chelsea,

10:42

and it's all available for you to listen. To

10:45

hear the entire conversation in the solar

10:47

panel on our Apple Podcasts Premium channel.