He's directed huge films like Iron Man, Iron Man 2 and Cowboys & Aliens, but Jon Favreau has now helmed his first TV pilot with Revolution. Debuting on NBC Monday (though you can watch it now on NBC.com and Hulu.com), the series centers around a world where all power stopped working fifteen years before and teams Favreau with J.J. Abrams and Supernatural creator Eric Kripke.
I spoke to Favreau about his approach to Revolution, how much he might be involved going forward -- both behind and in front of the camera -- and why this show is going for a different and less dark tone than other post-apocalyptic stories on TV right now.
Question: Beyond directing the pilot, what has your involvement been with the show as they've moved into future episodes?
Jon Favreau: I’ve been in the writers room as they were breaking the whole set of storylines here in LA. I popped by the offices the other day looking at cuts and dailies on my iPad. Technology makes life easy. I’ve been reading drafts of scripts and casting new, important characters. But I have to be honest with you, my notes are very few and far between. I’m really excited, and unexpected surprises have happened as they’re translating our story arenas that we’ve worked on together into actual scripts and episodes. I’m surprised by what they’re discovering along the way. It’s a very inspired creative environment, and I haven’t been around something like this before. It’s like my first time in the carnival.
Question: What do you most want people to get out of Revolution?
Favreau: I would love it to be escapism. The best type of escapism is something where you enjoy watching it because it takes your mind off of your day-to-day problems or struggles. You get to live in another world for an hour once a week, and speaks to the better part of human nature and that there are actually strong themes that have a hopeful message in light of this very dangerous and potentially depressing set of circumstances. I want it to be an uplifting story that we’re telling, in a world that you enjoy going back to and don’t feel like you have to escape from. That’s an exciting challenge.
Question: Is there the chance you’ll direct more episodes?
Favreau: I might. We’re talking about whether my time is best spent directing or acting, but I definitely want to be more involved. I’ve gotta be honest, I would love to swing a sword around. It was fun to direct swinging a sword around, but I would love to learn how to pick the right weapon. You never get to do that, and I have a lot of sway with the creative segment in the writers room. Eric and I sit down and talk about what it is I would like to try in it, but I would love to be a part of this world. It would be fun to play in. It’s like playing dress-up.
Question: You mentioned that sword fight, which I loved. You don’t often see that kind of action sequence on TV. How fun was it to stage that scene?
Favreau: Oh, it was amazing. That was the funnest part of it. I pushed to make it more than it was on the page because I knew I loved it and Eric loved it. I knew it would be a celebration for us. Now we’ll see if audiences dig it as much, but there is a fun, unfettered, swashbuckling appeal to seeing the clash of steel as the good guys fight the oppressive militia. It’s just so much more fun than what you’re used to seeing. Not everything has to be explosions and high-tech combat. I like the low-tech stuff. It’s somehow a little bit more heroic and more escapist.
Question: There have been plenty of post-apocalyptic stories, and they currently seem to be en vogue on TV. You’ve got things like The Walking Dead and Falling Skies, but this does stand out by being very different in tone. Was the idea, “Let’s approach it from a different viewpoint?”
Favreau: Yeah, I think we needed to give it its own signature. Some of it was the nature of the characters that Eric wrote, some of it was just the simple aesthetic of that lush, romantic, beautifully backlit fantasy world that hopefully looks like something out of Tolkien - an American spin on that. Then also the weapons that you let them use in the rules of the show. Most of the firearms are black powder, which if you look at the Civil War, they’re good for one or two shots and then you’ve got to affix your bayonets. Any excuse to back ourselves into sword fights on staircases and swinging from chandeliers and kicking over burning braziers -- that’s the stuff that excites me, and you never get to tell that story. Jackson’s gotten to do it with the Tolkien stuff, and to some extent it’s coming back with The Hunger Games, with the bows and arrows and stuff. But again, that’s a more violent, scary take in many ways. We want it to be escapist, action-adventure.
Question: We’ve seen Giancarlo Esposito as an amazing villain on Breaking Bad. What was it like working with him on this?
Favreau: If I’m not mistaken, he’s the first guy we set, and it was not written for him. It was a physically completely different dude. But as soon as we brought up his name we jumped in and said, “It’s gotta be him.” Not only is he an amazing actor, not only has he made great, unexpected choices with the work he’s done with tremendous range -- especially if you think of the Spike Lee stuff he’s done before -- but he’s just a helluva dude. I don’t know if you get a sense of it from interviewing him, but he’s the most game, excited, collaborative guy you’ll ever meet. In many ways, he’s the heart and soul of the show, as far as the certain amount of dignity and experience he brings to it and a definite enthusiasm. As you say, he has that locker room leadership. He’s definitely a team captain - Between him and Billy Burke, who’s also a veteran. All these young actors have these great guys with great habits to look up to. As a filmmaker, that’s what you want. That’s as important as talent.
Revolution debuts Monday, September 17th on NBC at 10pm and can be seen now on NBC.com and Hulu.
Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN.
Source : ign[dot]com
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