Character actress Ann Dowd gets some Emmy love for her complicated roles on "The Leftovers" and "The Handmaids' Tale"; The National Latino Media Council has embarked on a campaign to pressure the four major broadcast TV networks into hiring more Latinos; Don McLeod uses his training in mime for a career as a living statue.
CBS addresses its poor track record of hiring Latinos after fierce lobbying efforts
One of the big four networks has doubled its number of Latino writers and actors since last season. But it didn’t get there without a little persuasion from The National Latino Media Council, a group that is working to improve minority representation in Hollywood.
Seventeen years ago, the major TV networks agreed to share hiring data and add more minority employees. But follow-up analysis by the Media Council found that CBS specifically had fallen short, employing fewer Latinos in the current season than it did 10 years ago.
Alex Nogales is a board member of the National Latino Media Council. The group includes 10 organizations, including MALDEF and the group Nogales leads — the National Hispanic Media Coalition. He told The Frame about the steps it took to put pressure on CBS:
We've been training a cadre of about 35 people to carry on social media, to do letters to the advertisers. So, when we went to visit with CBS, we were prepared to fight. Fortunately for us, and for CBS, they had some very good news for us.
When asked about CBS' motivation for bolstering its staff of Latino actors and writers, Nogales said:
As we were preparing, the press was coming down really hard on CBS. [The network] looked around and said, It's time to do something drastic here, otherwise we are going to be caught in a situation that we won't be able to control.
After winning concessions from CBS to boost the number of Latino hires, the Media Council is setting its sights on the three other big TV networks — Fox, ABC and NBC.
How this veteran actress went from 0 to 2 Emmy nominations in a year
Ann Dowd has had a long and varied career as an in-demand character actress. She’s been in "The X-Files," "Freaks and Geeks," "Masters of Sex," "Olive Kitteridge" and "True Detective," just to name a few of her television roles.
And now, just this year, she’s been nominated for an Emmy Award for the very first time. In fact, she has two nominations — for her roles as Patti Levin in the HBO series, "The Leftovers," and as Aunt Lydia in Hulu’s "The Handmaid’s Tale."
Dowd stopped by The Frame studios recently to talk with John Horn about her approach to acting, and her roles in "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Leftovers" in particular.
Interview highlights:
On gravitating toward challenging material like "The Leftovers" and "The Handmaid's Tale":
Because human beings are complex, if a role isn't complex and challenging, there's something missing, I would say. The thing that has changed for me over time is that I can drop the panic a little sooner. Because, seriously, some days you'd go in and just say, Let me just get through this on my feet. And now I just say, It's going to be hard. First several takes are going to be rough, no question. You're not going to know her all at once, you're going to have to accept that. And let's not waste time being frightened to death. That's the thing that has changed over time. It's just, Yep, this is my friend, fear, but it’s not going to run the day.
On how she absorbed the role of Aunt Lydia in "The Handmaid's Tale":
You start with the material, always. And then you read it again and then you read it again. And then I said to [series creator] Bruce Miller: What did Lydia do before, do you think? And he said she was a teacher, in his mind. Oh my gosh — that opens the door immediately. Since I love to teach — I've done so at certain periods — right away I'm in. And then I think of my own education, being educated by Catholic sisters, who in no way were cruel like Lydia. I hesitate to bring this example up because nuns get a raw deal and shouldn't. But just the notion of work ethic and how I was educated and when a job wasn't complete I was taken right back — Do it again, do it again. And then I start to think about a woman whose life was so rigidly outlined. Her belief system, you know, the narrow path, couldn't get much more narrow. Why? Why that choice, Lydia? Then you let your imagination go: Well, could she have had an abortion? Did she get pregnant at 15? And never told a soul? And promised God, If you just give me one more chance I will make sure this never happens to another person?
On how she explains "The Leftovers" to people who aren't familiar with the series:
I say, On a given day, two percent of the population departs. And they think, Uh huh, so it's a sci-fi kind of thing? Well, no, it's not. I don't explain a whole lot about it because I don't know how to explain it, but I do say, If you stick with this show it will change the way you think about life. It will change the way you think about loss. Now, that can either draw a person in or they can say, Thanks very much I'll check in another time ... For the real devotees of "Leftovers," you can tell immediately when you're talking to them because it just has meant so much. One wonderful journalist said, "Honestly I put my life in 'BL' and 'AL' — Before 'Leftovers' and After 'Leftovers.' I thought that was pretty extraordinary.
On her work in "Law & Order" and what that show meant to actors in New York:
Oh, we loved 'Law & Order.' They were very good to New York actors. I had some of the best experiences doing that show. I remember Jerry Orbach — he was wonderful. I had to "walk and talk" — terrifying — and land at the hospital door. And I was frantic. I thought, How will I do it each and every time? He said, "I'm going to teach you a trick." And so he took me to the end place and said, "Now, start your line here, that's your end place, and walk back." Just little things, because these were the ones who were there every day. And they saw we'd come in like deer in headlights. There were some amazing experiences on that show ... And you always felt like you really were a New York actor when you had done "Law & Order." It was just some kind of thing where you’re like, Yeah, I'm all right.
To hear the full interview, click the blue player above.