“The story of the Watergate scandal under the presidency of Richard Nixon has been told over and over again, but never from this perspective,” Variety reviews about ‘gaslit’, the Starz series based on the ‘Slow Burn’ podcast, in which journalist Leon Neyfakh delved into forgotten characters and plots he believes were overlooked in the scandal’s best-known account.
The protagonists are the stars Julia Roberts and Sean Pennwho on Monday stole the flashes on a red carpet in New York, to which dozens of celebrities invited to the first viewing were added.
In ‘Gaslit’, Roberts plays Martha Mitchell —John Mitchell’s wife—, a complex figure who found the signs of what would be the Watergate casebut was ostracized by Republicans and died of cancer a few years later.
YOU CAN SEE: Julia Roberts and Sean Penn together in Watergate
The winner of two Oscar he gets into the skin of John N. Mitchell, attorney general of the United States and campaign manager of President Richard Nixon in 1972.
“I think (Martha) is the peach pit that no one ever paid attention to: everyone ate the peach and threw the pit away. I’ve never explained it like that,” Roberts said with a laugh.
Penn, unrecognizable in the series under layers of makeup and prosthetics that remove hair and add kilos, considered that it is the “opportune” moment to remember this forgotten figure, and a “reminder of how things are not done”.
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The revision proposed by the series over eight episodes goes beyond the historical event that triggered Nixon’s resignation, as its title (‘Gaslit’) anticipates, which alludes to a type of psychological abuse in which the victim to question his own sanity, comments the EFE agency.
Creator Robbie Pickering told Variety: “I’ve always written conservative southern women. It’s what I like the most, because I’m writing about the ladies of the church that I grew up with and I love and hate them. I had the world’s most worn VHS copy of Steel Magnolias. Julia Roberts as Shelby!”
Roberts was at the top of the list to play Martha, and Pickering admitted he “couldn’t believe” she was on board. She then came the role of John Mitchell.
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“I never thought we’d get her, but her only requirement was that I act with Sean Penn. You didn’t have to twist my arm, but I didn’t say yes right away, I had to have dinner with him,” she said.
Although Pickering was familiar with Penn’s political views, he had no interest in discussing that, since the show is more about relationships and human dynamics, adds Variety.
Once Sean Penn Y Julia Roberts They were on set together, everyone could see their chemistry. “They know each other very well, they have a very deep love for each other,” he added. Pickering. “You’re really looking at two people who have known each other for decades.”
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