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Notorious is a show loosely based on the reality of the intertwining of news and entertainment. Thirty six years ago, Emmy Award-winning producer Wendy Walker began her career at CNN, working her way up to Senior Executive Producer of Larry King Live. Her focus was aimed at covering breaking news including everything from 9 US presidential elections to 9/11. Today, she sits on the set of ABC’s Notorious, providing feedback to actress Kate Jennings Grant who plays Louise Herrick or “anecdotal points of reference about the nature of the dynamism” between Piper Perabo (played by Julia George) and Jake Gregorian (played by Daniel Sunjata). The show is loosely based on Wendy’s relationship with defense attorney Mark Geragos.
Notorious – A Stylized Take on Reality
Notorious debuted on ABC this Fall, and at present, three episodes have aired. The crime and legal drama series, created primarily to entertain audiences, focuses on the complex and obscure relationship between criminal law and the media as defense attorney Jake Gregorian (Sunjata) and Julia George (Perabo) attempt to control the media and the justice system to manipulate headlines and sway public opinion.
During a set visit this week, I had an opportunity to speak with J. August Richards (who plays defense attorney Bradley Gregorian), Daniel Sunjata (Jake Gregorian), and Kate Jennings Grant (Louise Herrick) about landing their roles on Notorious, the development of their characters and their interplay with the show’s premise.
In Notorious, Richards and Sunjata are brothers who have inherited their father’s law firm where they represent the elite using the media to absolve their clients in the court of public opinion. “I feel like this show takes on hot button issues, but always in a very subtle way…that deals with how it’s viewed in terms of the media and law (Richards)”. This is Richards sixth role as a lawyer and his first role as a defense attorney. To prepare for his role, he read Geragos’ book Mistrial. “The most important thing I learned about playing a defense attorney is that most people think you are trying to get guilty people off, and that’s not the case. A lot of times the prosecutors will charge someone with a worse crime than was committed and sometimes its’ about appropriately getting the person sentenced (Richards)”.
Richards likened the development of his character to a computer file, in constant revision. As the series is brand new, the audience doesn’t really know much about Bradley. “I feel like my character is an empath and that is what makes him a great lawyer. He can hop into your body and figure out what you’re feeling in order to figure out how to defend you (Richards).”
The inspiration for Jake Gregorian is loosely based on real-life defense attorney Mark Geragos, who has represented well-known celebrities like Michael Jackson, Winona Ryder and Chris Brown. While actor Daniel Sunjata has had access to the high profile attorney, he isn’t available to consult daily due to his busy client schedule. Wendy Walker serves as one of the Executive Producers of the show and Sunjata feels like his gets a lot of exposure to Mark through Wendy. In addition to reading the script and initial consultations with Mark and writer/producer Josh Berman, Sunjata spent time watching shows like Making a Murderer. Through his preparation, he came to understand Jake’s character, specifically that he knows how to work the media and the press.
According to Sunjata, we learn that Jake’s relationship with Julia is key to his success. As the series evolves, audiences will see the nuances and that “when both of their agendas are simpatico, everything is peachy.” But there are times when “my cases and her headlines don’t necessarily fall into step.” The show is not hard news but rather infotainment, fashioned in the likes of Larry King Live. While there are journalistic standards of integrity that must be adhered to, “there is also wiggle room and opinions can clearly be slanted, clearly biased.” When it comes to influencing a pool of potential jurors or winning the battle in the court of public opinion, her show the relationship between the two of them is key.
During our time on-set, we had an opportunity to see a scene being shot. “Today we are shooting a Louise Herrick live scene, which is really challenging technically,” Kate Jennings Grant remarks. “It will take eight hours to shoot this one little section because we film the show, the who within the show, and the control room looking down on the show being filmed.” There are 3 cameras on-set, each with a different set-up and Grant has a real earpiece in her ear. What this means is that while she is conducting an interview, she is also hearing Julia cue Louise and the conversation that are going on. “Some moments I have to be totally quiet and Pantomime my words while others I just say them and this can be very confusing.”
To prepare for her role, Grant went to CNN in Atlanta with the team on the day Obama was announcing his supreme court nominee. “I always wanted to be a reporter, and as a little kid I used to do fake newscasts with my brother.” For Grant, this is her dream role. “I get giddy every time I walk onto the set.”
Because we are so early into the series, audiences are still getting to know Louise Herrick. “There is more to her than meets the eye. You’ve seen her play hard and now you will see her work hard.” Grant appreciates that Herrick is good at her job and does some tough things, asks some tough questions. According to Grant, Herrick aspires to get the truth and she often breaks the walls down to get to that truth. “You earn your way into your own show and you don’t get to sit in that chair unless you’ve really done your homework.” I am personally excited to see Herrick’s character develop through the series.
Tonight, Tell Me a Secret, episode four of Notorious, debuts on ABC. After journalism school grad Megan Byrd (played by Sepideh Moafi) provides Julia with breaking news about a murdered college football player, a young man is accuse of killing the student via an app which allows users to broadcast anonymous messages. Jake decides to take on the case when he learns that the suspect is the son of a high school friend. Don’t miss the next episode of Notorious on ABCTV, airing tonight at 9-10 pm EDT.
https://youtu.be/5g-7wJlF-ps
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