If
a recent interview with Vulture—which
was supposed to focus on Harry Lloyd’s current involvement with WGN America’s Manhattan (2014)—is symptomatic of the
bigger picture, it is that the actor is still typecast as a character whom he
played for all of six episodes in Series 1 of a show with five seasons now
under its belt. It’s no matter that
Lloyd sizzled and shocked in The Fear
(2012), for which he earned a well-deserved Best Supporting Actor BAFTA
nomination in 2013. His Herbert Pocket
in Great Expectations (2011) was
delightful, loving, and romantically clueless: the most loveable a Dickens
character can be. And even Meryl Streep
shared a deep affection for the talented actor during their work on 2011’s The Iron Lady. Yet, it is the blond-turned-golden-crowned-head
of Viserys Targaryen in Game of Thrones (2011-Present)
that gains Lloyd the greatest recognition.
Although the Vulture interviewer,
Jennifer Vineyard, tries endlessly to get Lloyd to reflect upon playing Viserys
(and wearing that wig), Lloyd returns the focus to his current role. Think less blond hair, more Brylcreem. He
thinks audiences will be “surprised” at the direction in which his character, a
scientist, goes, which is “the same for a lot of the characters in Manhattan — where they start off and
where they finish, you really don't know where it's going” (Lloyd, qtd. in
Vineyard).
Photo Above: Harry has a prime seat on
that 1940s cycle—that should be a good sign of things to come, right? The cast of WGN America's Manhattan features Ashley Zukerman,
left, Rachel Brosnahan, Alexia Fast, Daniel Stern, John Benjamin Hickey, Olivia
Williams, Michael Chernus, Eddie Shin, Katja Herbers, Harry Lloyd and
Christopher Denham. (Photo © Justin Stephens, WGN America)
This
is the project of Projects—literally.
Not
only is WGN America’s new 1940s period drama about the Manhattan Project, but
it is also the latest project for Harry Lloyd, who (without a wig or mere
background role this time) seems continuously better-poised to make more of an
impression on American television viewers.
And not just because he plays a dragon-obsessed whiner who gets what he
deserves in the end. While Lloyd’s Big Significant Things (2014) continues
to play at independent film festivals, gaining him some high accolades in
smaller circles around the country, Manhattan
has also kept the British-born actor busy and in the United States of late. While Lloydalists often likes to joke about
the Harry Lloyd “drought” that is often followed by the “deluge” of news on the
actor, we are certainly feeling the diluvial nature of Harry Lloyd’s career at
this time—ironically so, given how dry is that New Mexican desert featured so
heavily in his new show!
Begun
last year and filmed earlier this year on location in New Mexico—which has
become the place to film following television favorite Breaking Bad (2008-2013) and current show Longmire (2012-Present)—Manhattan
tells the story of what came before the atomic bomb was dropped in Japan during
World War II. Not to be confused with
the borough of New York City, Manhattan’s
title is a direct reference to the infamous Manhattan Project, the super-secret
development of the atomic bomb in Alamos, New Mexico. The official statement of the show explains
that is a drama that “follows the mission to build the world's first atomic
bomb in Los Alamos, N.M., and centers on the brilliant but flawed scientists
and their families as they attempt to co-exist in a world where secrets and
lies infiltrate every aspect of their lives” (Goldberg, “WGN”). Furthermore, Matt Cherniss, President and
General Manager of WGN America and Tribute Studios, has said that the company
feels that the show “has all of the elements to make for a provocative and
memorable series and are excited to have the support of Skydance and Lionsgate
as WGN America continues its rapid expansion toward year-round original
programming on the network” (qtd. in Goundry).
Indeed,
there has been a lot of faith in Manhattan
from the very beginning. Nearly as soon
as the show was announced, a full season of thirteen episodes was ordered
(Goldberg, “WGN”). As of today (July 28th),
and following Season One’s pilot that aired on WGN yesterday night (Sunday,
July 27, 2014), the television and movie streaming service Hulu Plus has
secured exclusive streaming rights for the show—even before the first episode
aired (Deadline). Those people without
WGN in their cable network or who do not already subscribe to Hulu Plus may
find now the prime time to sign up for Hulu Plus and take advantage of their
free trial. Amazon Instant Video also
has each episode of Manhattan the day
after airing for $1.99 each (as of today, there is still no discounted “Season
Pass” option), and iTunes also carries the show. Fees may vary depending upon state taxes and
countries.
While
it is inevitable that the period-piece Manhattan
should draw comparisons to AMC’s popular Mad
Men (2007-2014), and while the two dramas do share—at least so far—a
similar aesthetic in the way of the subdued visualization and cinematography, Manhattan latches more firmly onto a
realistic world due to the very nature of the story it is telling. Plus, it takes place a good generation (or
two decades) before AMC’s show. Still,
as Mad Men makes its final bow this
year, Manhattan allows
mid-twentieth-century aficionados to roll their love right over to the new
series. (Bonus: in comparing the two
series, you get to see just how slowly men’s fashion really changes in time.)
The Show
Manhattan is as much
about the two years or so leading up to the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima
as it is about the secret community that surrounded the scientific premises,
like a cellular wall around its fragile nucleus. The season opens in 1943 (August 6, 1945 is
when the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima), and while the pilot episode seems
to build tension, mystery, suspense, and characters alike at a pace that almost
made me nervous (“save some room for later!,” I found myself crying in the
voice of the greedy Augustus Gloop’s mother from 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), dramas like this also tend
to start with a bang and turn into a slow-burn once the desired audience is
ensnared. Interestingly, and hopefully,
show creator and executive producer Sam Shaw reveals that he has already mapped
out stories that could span multiple seasons, should the series be renewed
(Keveney). While it is too soon to tell
whether or not the pacing of the storylines should prove to be an issue,
Lloyd’s own comments about his character (see below) suggest that the show’s
writers know precisely what they’re doing.
In
Manhattan, charismatic actor John
Benjamin Hickey stars as Frank Winter, “a brilliant and self-destructive
physics professor tapped to help lead the Manhattan Project, a mission that
will jeopardize his family and his sanity” (Goldberg, “Big”) and the head of
the six-man-team of scientists (five men and one woman) that includes Harry
Lloyd’s character. Meanwhile, Olivia
Williams—always a sheer joy to watch onscreen—plays Frank’s headstrong and
perceptive wife Liza, the kind of character who you just know has more brewing
beneath the surface. So far, Hickey’s
character seems the one to watch, especially after the premiere’s suspicious
and semi-cliff-hanger-y ending. But I
have a sneaking suspicion that Liza (and Williams) may very much steal the
show: already, her refreshingly cool, natural presence in the series seems to
float seamlessly from the domestic to the scientific elements that merge in Manhattan.
Lloyd
himself describes the premise of Manhattan
as unexpected, a “strange world with its secrets, and [where] the stakes
are so high, there are so many different stories to tell. You really don't know
where it's going to end up, other than that the bomb will get dropped in August
1945. But within that, we need to be kept on our toes” (Lloyd, qtd. in
Vineyard). He adds that the milieu of Manhattan is that of “an impossible
situation,” a “morally complicated, sinister world” (Lloyd, qtd. in
Vineyard). Thus, “just trying to see
people deal with that, trying to deal with doing the right thing in an
impossible situation, I think that gives you a world you'll be fascinated by”
(Lloyd, qtd. in Vineyard). Although Manhattan is a series taking a look back
at an America (an ugly world in general) over 70 years ago, the show still
resonates with contemporary audiences.
For instance, writer/creator Sam Shaw has mentioned how there still
exists, as there did then, a “question of how we treat issues of secrecy in our
culture, what kind of faith and trust we place in hands of politicians and our
leaders, how we wield military force in the world and what the morality of
power is” (qtd. in Keveney). The writer,
who claims to have truly dug into the research of the actual Manhattan Project,
learned that it “came to feel like the fundamental origins story of
21st-century America and the world in a way. It was the moment when this one
America ceased to exist and another was born” (qtd. in Keveney). Anyone who has spent two seconds on the
internet lately, watching the news, and/or reading a newspaper will understand
just how correct are Shaw’s assertions.
When, in the pilot, one character asks another what will happen if there
is another war, it is as if the writers are asking the audience that same
question—what if there is a World War III?
What if there is something bigger, worse, than the atom bomb that
becomes a necessity in a tragically ironic way of gaining peace?
If
Manhattan seems to have the
half-shadow of history intermingled with the half-light of hindsight lingering
over it so far, it would be an accurate assessment. Shows like Manhattan that are rooted in history, especially such a specific
event or project, can often feel clinical, expected, and even overdone. Already, though, the series opener maintained
an unexpected element of the “non-scientific”—the focus on the wives who mingle
about the shanty-town-meets-Dust-Bowl-looking arena, attempting to make the
desert into “home” with their painted wooden house with too-thin walls adds a
dose of reality and an escape from the “gadget” lab. So far, Rachel Brosnahan’s Abby Isaacs—a
newcomer from Boston who has followed her Ph.D.-touting husband Charlie (Ashley
Zukerman) across the country expecting to find a new place reminiscent of
Cambridge and Oxford—is the character who aligns most readily and immediately
with also-newcomers, the show’s audience members. Her disgust at her new home and the way in
which her infatuated-with-work husband revels in his new surroundings while
simultaneously becoming sickened by them not only allows Manhattan’s viewers the necessary empathy to engage with the story
immediately but, even more so, represents microcosmically the ordeals of the other
wives and outsiders (including non-Anglophones) in the community.
The
(mostly) male scientists may be keeping secrets as to what they’re really doing
at “work” in the middle of the desert but their wives, too, wear the masks and
maintain the facades of happiness when, meanwhile, food is scarce, water is
constantly lacking, lice epidemics require children shave their heads and
consequently look like “convicts” (another microcosmic reminder of how everyone
on the Manhattan Project compound is just that, slaves to secret lives), and a
second World War is waging in the world beyond.
Following
the Television Critics Association press tour less than a week ago, Washington Post’s Opinion Blogger Alyssa
Rosenberg had this to say about Manhattan:
“The show could stand to lighten up a little bit: even this far removed from
World War II, it is hard to imagine its potential audience does not know at
least the basics of the atomic bomb project. But [Manhattan] has a reasonably deft sense of how to communicate scientific
competition and the claustrophobia of being in a closed community.” Bill Keveney of USA Today explains the show in more alluring, if unbiased, terms:
“At its heart, Manhattan is a story
of secrets — big and small, those affecting the security of the world and
others influencing individual lives – in a place whose existence was
classified.” Because the Manhattan
Project is, by now, such a well-known project—and atomic bombings well-known
events—it will be quite a task to keep the show fresh and mysterious, and this
is where it will be imperative for the show-runners to feature the characters’
backstories and home-lives as opposed to simply relying on the mathematics and
tests being run in the claustrophobic, boondock-looking labs. Already, though, and
from what the first episode reveals, the writers and producers have found
startling yet subdued ways to build an audience investment in the show. Somehow, a lot happens in the premiere—but
you’re really no closer to knowing anyone or anything more than when you began
watching.
Harry’s Role: A Reflection on “You
Always Hurt the One You Love,” the Pilot Episode of Manhattan
Announcement
of Harry’s role—of a scientist—was first made in early 2014 (Andreeva), but it
wasn’t until shooting on the show from writer Sam Shaw and director Thomas
Schlamme, Skydance TV, Tribune Studios and Lionsgate TV, began in March 2014
that more about the actor’s contribution to the series came to light. Despite Manhattan
being about an actual historic event, the characters are fictional, combining
some elements of real people here and there.
Anyone with even a passing knowledge of History will recognize some of
the names referenced, although, “the series isn't trying to be a docudrama,
says executive producer Thomas Schlamme,” who is directing three of Season
One’s episodes, including the first two (Keveney).
In
truth, had Harry’s character been a real person, it may have been easier to
find information about him in advance of the series premiere—thereby removing
some of the allure of the role, not to mention disallowing Lloyd from putting
his own self and spin more richly into this character.
Photo Above:
Harry Lloyd suits-up and slathers on the Brylcreem to play Oxford-educated
scientist Paul Crosley, whom Lloyd calls “a bit frustrated and impatient”
(Lloyd, qtd. in Vineyard). (Photo © WGN America)
In
Episode One, about 12 minutes in, Harry Lloyd makes his Manhattan debut. His role,
as are 95% of them, have a medias res
feel: we are not at the beginning of much here, save what the Isaacs family
endures from their cross-country move.
The only difference is that the idea of an atomic bomb has become more
and more possible and now it is more a matter of figuring out a way to shave a
week (or more) off the creation of such a device, the horror of which is
euphemistically dubbed a “gadget.” It
may not seem like much—working three months to save 7 days?—but, as the boss
puts it, every moment counts, especially when the enemy is on the other side of
the world and concocting who-knows-what at that very moment.
Because
Manhattan focuses not specifically on
the inherent violence of nuclear weapons but on the power that comes with
brain-activity and knowledge—scientific insights over violence—we can expect
that Harry’s character and his cohorts are well-educated, motivated, and
ambitious. That they’re already pulling
all-nighters and even making bribes of the computers (in 1943, “computers” are
the secretaries—women—who compute!) in order to complete tasks on time indicates
that despite the few lighthearted moments in the lab (and an Independence Day
party), at the end of the day, these scientists are work-first kinds of people.
And work comes first because their
country and patriotic (or human) duty comes first.
Harry
Lloyd plays Paul Crosley, “an ambitious Oxford-educated physicist whose
loyalties are called into question as he works to build the world's first
atomic bomb,” according to media reports (Goldberg, “Big”). Yes—that means that despite Manhattan being an American period
drama—and despite Harry having played an American with a convincing American
accent for the aforementioned Big
Significant Things—the actor is able to keep his lovely lilt intact. But don’t let the lushness of the British
accent lure you into thinking this character is a regular gentleman, the Mr.
Darcy of a Jane Austen novel. There
isn’t a soul on the scientific team that seems taken by Crosley’s posh sound:
he’s just another one of the rats in the lab.
You don’t have to listen closely, either, to understand that Harry’s
scientist is a bit racist and misogynistic (two qualities much more frequently
encountered during this era, sadly).
Yet, these “shades of grey,” so to speak, characters are more
fascinating and realistic: we never know what they’ll do next, what their true
colors are, and where their greatest loyalties and abilities lie.
After
episode one, we have had some glimpses of Crosley’s questionable personality
and behaviors, but not enough to give away an entire portrait of his
character. Perhaps it is wise that the
series producers have Lloyd lingering on the outskirts of the show so far,
interjecting with a few quips or rude responses at the most irreverent (if not
irrelevant) moments. We feel his
presence but not in a way that will make viewers grow tired of him as a mere
character actor with shtick and throwaway lines. Indeed, we want to know how this Briton
earned his place amongst these other five scientists—just as we want to know
about his colleagues.
While
Harry Lloyd is one of the ten main actors listed in the show’s opening credits
(with names listed alphabetically, Harry clocks in as number seven), The Internet Movie Database so far has
the actor listed for only two of the thirteen episodes of Manhattan. The accuracy of
this report is questionable at this time, considering the series premiered less
than twenty-four-hours ago, but rest assured that Lloydalists will be watching Manhattan with rapt attention, waiting
to see how things (and the character of Paul Crosley) develop…and unravel. Already,
Harry Lloyd has offered a glimpse of what is to come. Of he and his fellow scientists, the
“implosion team,” Lloyd says, “we get some of the stranger stories, deep and
dark stories about how morality and how people feel about this weapon of mass
destruction. But it's also a strange place to look at domestically, because
everyone was having sex, because it this thing where men and women were thrown
together in the middle of nowhere” (Lloyd, qtd. in Vineyard). The actor adds that the kinds of people like
the one he plays “were working hard, but they were playing hard as well. So
there are all kinds of interesting story lines that have nothing to do with
science, the office drama that's fun to play. It wasn't just all these
scientists sitting there and doing math. All kinds of things happen” (Lloyd,
qtd. in Vineyard). Of course, with only
one episode in, viewers will simply have to stick around for the next 12 weeks
to see what “kinds of things happen.”
In
another, albeit related, sense, although Crosley is more part of the scientific
team than his own individual person, Lloyd uses that haughty-meets-snarky
attitude fans will recognize from prior roles in order to explain how he uses a
stash of nylons to woo (to put it nicely) women. Of course, this “stash” comes into use for
more valid purposes later, but that’s beside the point. Perhaps Crosley will wind up as one of those
characters whose deviance always seems forgiven due to his shenanigans being
reappropriated by the more civil-minded for a greater good. Still—there’s something about the sight of
Lloyd holding out a pair of stockings that unfurl like a white flag indicating
a peace offering as a room full of tired yet desperate for nylons women look on
that is at least a bit funny—even though this is, of course, a show about the
creation of the atom bomb. What’s that
Rosenberg said about the show needing to “lighten up a little bit”?
Sadly,
with the entire first arc of Season One episodes filmed, there isn’t much
likelihood that Harry will draw enough of a following to urge producers to give
him more dryly-witty lines and screen time, but we shall see what happens. In truth, there are lots of people involved
in the project—the Manhattan one and the show itself—and, thus, the time
dedicated to each character has to be portioned depending upon the needs of the
storylines. Yet, the British actor has described his character fondly, with
promising projections of what is to come.
In
a recent interview, Harry has talked about the difficulty of “look[ing] like I
own” 1940s fashion and nuclear physics alike, absorbing a history he’d never
learned (when asked what he knew before accepting the role, Lloyd responded, “[p]retty
much zero. Don't think I even knew the bomb was built here in the desert...”),
yet loving the research part of his job (Bentley). Says Lloyd, “you can build
this world before you step into it” with research (Lloyd, qtd. in
Bentley)—something of which he would not have so much flexibility or luxury if
the scientist he plays was a strictly real person. The actor does confess to disliking “sticky
hair” (Lloyd, qtd. in Bentley), but perhaps there is a little relief when the
actors are allowed to let their daily Brylcreem routine fade a bit when they’re
meant to play the worn-out, pulled-an-all-nighter scientists with a wave of
dark hair sweeping their foreheads and wholly out of place.
Lloyd
has also called Paul Crosley “frustrated and impatient,” a bit Viserys-like in
his selfish abilities to think only of his own career (Lloyd, in
Vineyard). Lloyd promises that, as Manhattan continues, Paul “becomes more
interesting. We start off thinking we know this guy, and he keeps confounding
us. He starts off, he's snide and he's sarcastic and you think he's clearly
bitter to be on that team, to be on this team of misfits, which isn't even the
main bomb design team. But as we go on, we realize everyone has a story about
why they ended up there” (Lloyd, qtd. in Vineyard). While the pilot episode
hasn’t given Harry too much screen-time yet, the actor promises, “[q]uite early
on, we have a big story line for my character that challenges everything, and
we realize, the more we learn, the less we know” (Lloyd, qtd. in
Vineyard). It almost sounds as if the
actor is speaking in riddles—but it’s enough to pique my interest.
Photo Above: A
look at the young male scientists in the group of six at the heart of Manhattan.
From left to right: Christopher Denham as Jim Meeks, Eddie Shin as
Sid Liao, Harry Lloyd as Paul Crosley, and Michael Chernus as Louis ‘Fritz’
Fedowitz. (Photo © Greg Peters/WGN America)
In Conclusion
After
completing my first viewing of the Manhattan
Pilot episode, my initial reaction was, “well, so far so good.” But with the advent of online-only television
series, the rising ubiquity of three-digit cable channels, and various media
platforms that allow for the purchase, download, and/or streaming of various
television and film programming, shows like Manhattan
are going to have to be more than “good.”
In
the meantime, the show’s producers should consider a wider distribution beyond
select WGN America markets, even with the ability to watch the show on Hulu
Plus (after three days, episodes will be stream-able for free on Hulu; the five
newest episodes will remain available until the series ends), iTunes, and Amazon
Instant Video. People buy Cable Packages
with the goal of watching all their worthwhile options, not to have to
supplement the already-expensive cable-package with an online package as
well. Still, with no WGN America
available in my area (and because I haven’t owned a television for thirteen
years), I’m happy to find the show online the day after its premiere.
Only
time will tell how audiences take to Manhattan,
but I hope that the initial great faith shown in the series, not to mention the
excellent talent involved in the show, continues to grow with each coming episode. As the old Brylcreem advertisement campaign
slogan used to insist, “a little dab’ll do ya.” A little “dab” of Manhattan so far just leaves me wanting
more.
Schlamme
has mentioned that this isn’t a show concerned with factual truth, but is one
that highlights “the emotional truth of what was going on there [during the
Manhattan Project], what it felt like to be in this place where once you
entered, you couldn't leave; what if felt like to be transported from a rather
traditional lifestyle into this kind of a POW camp that was all in transition,
with no sidewalk, no addresses” (qtd. in Keveney). He has faith that this is a chance to tell
the types of stories deemed too pedestrian for history—the stories of those not
only in the science labs or part of the U.S. Government but the immigrant
workers, children, wives, and outsiders also affected by the “gadget” at the
heart of the show’s eponymous project.
From the clues gathered so far, it seems most critics, show-runners, and
production companies have faith in the “Project project,” if you will, and for
now, audiences like those of us at Lloydalists will continue to have faith that
this show will continue to bring something new to television, as well as for
Harry Lloyd.
For
more on Manhattan, see the articles
and links in the reference section below.
Works Cited
& Consulted
Andreeva,
Nellie. “Harry Lloyd Cast In WGN’s ‘Manhattan’, Mark Deklin Joins ‘Devious
Maids’ As Regular.” Deadline.com. 9
Jan. 2014. Web. 9 Jan. 2014. <http://www.deadline.com/2014/01/harry-lloyd-cast-in-wgns-manhattan-mark-deklin-joins-devious-maids-as-regular/>.
Bentley, Jean.
“‘Manhattan’: Harry Lloyd is Just as Comfortable with '40s Fashion as Nuclear Physics.”Zap2it.com. 22 July 2014. Web. 22 July
2014. <http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/harry_lloyd_manhattan_wgn_america_nuclear_physics_40s_fashion-2014-07>.
Deadline Team,
The. “Hulu Plus Picks Up Streaming Rights To WGN Drama ‘Manhattan.’” Deadline.com. 28 July 2014. Web. 28 July
2014. <http://www.deadline.com/2014/07/hulu-plus-gets-wgns-manhattan-as-streaming-exclusive/>.
Ge, Linda. “TV:
First Promo for WGN America’s Historical Drama ‘Manhattan.’” UpandComers.net. 18 Apr. 2014. Web. 18
Apr. 2014. <http://upandcomers.net/2014/04/18/tv-manhattan-first-promo-teaser-trailer-wgn-america/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+upandcomers%2FCixf+%28Up+and+Comers%29>.
Goldberg,
Lesley. “'The Big C's' John Benjamin Hickey to Star in WGN America's
‘Manhattan.’” HollywoodReporter.com 6
Feb. 2014. Web. 28 July 2014. <http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/big-cs-john-benjamin-hickey-677934?mobile_redirect=false>.
Goldberg,
Lesley. “WGN America Orders 'Manhattan' Drama Straight to Series.” HollywoodReporter.com. 4 Sept. 2013.
Web. 5 Sept. 2013. <http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/wgn-america-orders-manhattan-drama-620873>.
Goundry, Nick. “New
Atomic Bomb Drama Series Manhattan to
Film on Location in New Mexico.” TheLocationGuide.com.
6 Sept. 2013. Web. 28 July 2014. <http://www.thelocationguide.com/blog/2013/09/ng-television-new-atomic-bomb-drama-series-manhattan-to-film-on-location-in-new-mexico/>.
Keveney, Bill.
“Take a First Look at WGN America’s ‘Manhattan’ Cast.” USAToday.com. 15 May 2014. Web. 28 July 2014. < http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2014/05/15/wgn-american-manhattan-photo-and-premiere-announcement/9103783/>.
Rosenberg,
Alyssa. “The Friday Five: ‘Manhattan’ and ‘Maine.’” The Washington Post. 25 July 2014. Web. 28 July 2014. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2014/07/25/the-friday-five-manhattan-and-maine/>.
Vineyard,
Jennifer. “Harry Lloyd on His New Show Manhattan,
Game of Thrones’ Viserys, and Epic
Targaryen Hair.” Vulture.com. 25 July
2014. Web. 25 July 2014.
<http://www.vulture.com/2014/07/harry-lloyd-manhattan-game-thrones-viserys-chat.html>.
~Written, Researched, & Posted by C;
Edited by K & C~
