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And I was instantly smitten.
and that they loved the Neff character and all of that.
I think that decision happened a year into it.
That was when they decided to make Vivian a character.
You wanted a tour guide into this world.
Its useful to have somebody there to take you through it and experience what I experienced.
They called me with the idea, and it was one of those are you sitting down?
Nobody wants to see a reporters shitty apartment.
The show is fictionalized, and the character is a guide to this universe.
I understood why it made it in.
Were you involved in the process of casting Anna Chlumsky?Oh, no, not at all.
What was your reaction to her and Julia Garners casting?Shes wonderful.
Its funny because Julia Garner is also wonderful, but I didnt think she looked like Anna.
Julia had really mastered the voice.
Julia was very observant.
When was the last you were in touch with Anna?Its been a few months.
Shes still in custody.
The Vivian character is pregnant on the show, and you were pregnant while working on the story.
What was your experience reporting the story?Obviously those are not our actual bosses atNew York.
Our bosses are quite the opposite.
I think the show bosses are a stand-in for patriarchal offices in general.
But this is a thing where fact is braided with fiction.
It was not a no-brainer to do an 8,000-word story about a non-famous person.
It might be now.
Theres an emotional truth to it all, even though the details are different.
I had a conversation with [Annas lawyer] Todd Spodeks real wife recently.
And shes like, Oh, but that did happen.
But the restaurant was different!
How much of that is real?I definitely did not take a stab at break into anyones home.
I did go to Germany though.
So I went, but it was not quite like that.
There was a lot more laughing.
It definitely comes out in that last episode, which is hard for me to watch.
You cant get all the nuances of everything.
It was more like this kind of screwball sequence of ridiculousness.
I wasnt reporting on the trial.
I had written the story already, so I was just there out of curiosity.
And Neff and her stylist friend were doing their thing.
There would be these hiccups with the clothing deliveries.
So everyone was just waiting around.
Jury members who had taken time off of work.
So when either Spodek or his paralegal was like, Can you just go to H&M?
I was like yes, for Gods sake, lets move this thing along.
Otherwise everyones time was going to be endlessly wasted with this wardrobe shit.
Because prisons have very strict rules about this stuff.
I did throw in one of my dresses at one point, but it was black.
I did not feel like it was a conflict at all.
I felt like,This will be a funny story someday.
The other thing that must be surreal is having Anders Holm play Vivians husband.Isnt that the best?
Can you make a super cut for Valentines Day of his best moments for my husband?
I thought it was nice that Shonda said she wanted to portray a happy marriage.
I had a spreadsheet.
But thats not very visual.
That would have beenGoogle Docs:The Show.
