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I didnt know that it was really this guys journey the entire time.
What kind of a person is Marshall?
So much of it stemmed from this one line of, hes just a guy trying to get by.
Hes a passive participant.
He doesnt opt in.
He hasnt considered the societal reality.
He doesnt have a lot of strong social opinions, religious ties.
Hes in a bubble, like we all are.
My marriage has dissolved.
This is my problem.
How can I navigate this problem?
How do I connect with my daughter?
Is my work actually meaningful?
Hiro and I would have endless conversations about it.
And he probably doesnt even have the final say.
He has this meaningless job that hes getting paid for, most likely better than Shaniqua.
This season ofAtlantais all connected and ripe with metaphors in every single turn.
As you were saying, Marshall doesnt think that the reparation stuff is going to affect him.
Hes very confident about that.
At first hes like, Well, that guy has a lot of money.
Who cares if a Tesla guy is being sued?
All I would say is I get a little uncomfortable when you say very sure of himself, confident.
This is a guy that is not very sure.
He more errs on the side of conflict averse.
He does not want to be uncomfortable.
Regarding the hotel-bar scene, does the script make explicit that E is the guy from episode one?
Or did you have to piece that together yourself?No, that was explicitly in there.
Its all purposeful and its all from these great artists minds.
That scene was definitely the hardest to shoot, for a lot of reasons.
I saw it as kind of this purgatory.
It reminded me in a weird way ofDefending Your Life, the Albert Brooks movie.
Its really the first time that Marshall is letting someone else in.
It changed a little from the script, that conversation.
It took some time to get it right, because Es further on his journey from Marshalls perspective.
E is a guy thats already in the acceptance phase of his grief.
And when he sits down, he knows where Marshalls at.
He also knows that Marshall cant quite let him in.
It was balancing this idea of,How much can I really understand what this guy is saying?
I cant quite fully accept that we deserve this.It has to be before the acceptance.
Hes still battling with this strange, amorphous emptiness.
For the first time, he is able to be empathetic to this other womans personal reality.
Then the man of acceptance kills himself.
So hes presented with a crossroads.
You could either go this way or you could go this way.
Lets see which path hell choose.
Then in the epilogue, obviously you see what path he chose.
E certainly seems to have reached acceptance but then he goes outside and kills himself.
Who knows if Marshall could have gotten there without that act?
I really dont know.
All I know is that I am so proud of this.
Its just so whole and it opens up a conversation.
Thats what its for.
As long as its received and people are talking about it, I think that is the point.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
