The new limited series Sharp Objects on HBO already has audiences intrigued after just the first episode. On July 13, the second episode was screened at Chicago History Museum, with a couple cast members and the author in attendance.
Amy Adams stars as reporter Camille Preaker, who returns to her small hometown to cover the murder of a girl and the disappearance of another. Over the course of eight episodes, Preaker explores her past, which is clearly affecting her current life.
A red carpet proceeded the screening and the cast and creatives stopped to talk exclusively with Windy City Times.
Actress Patricia Clarksonwho plays Preaker's mother, Adora Crellinwas asked why she was so attracted to the character in the first place. "Well, I am attracted to complicated characters that will take something from me and take me someplace else," she said. "I haven't quite been in this territory since Blanche DuBois back in 2004 at the Kennedy Center for A Streetcar Named Desire. When I started to read the first several episodes I got these pangs of Blanche. Blanche was one of the most brutal things I have ever done. I really had to consider it. I talked to Gillian and director Jean-Marc Vallee before I agreed to do it. I knew I would have to jump and take a big leap, not to soften her or minimize her. She's a very brutal, heartbreaking character. I tried to get all of it."
Since Sharp Objects is about returning home she was asked if she goes back to her hometown often and she replied, "I am going back to New Orleans tomorrow!"
When asked one thing she learned from playing a lesbian in High Art, she exclaimed, "That I can play a lesbian! I don't have to be one to play one because love is love. If everyone understood that, we wouldn't have any fucking problems in this world!"
Actor Chris Messina described his character, Richard Willis, as the big city detective that comes in and is unwanted. "After sharing information with Camille Preaker, we develop a relationship," he shared.
Messina was previously in the same HBO series as Clarkson ( Six Feet Under ), but they didn't work together until the movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona. He was in the film Julie & Julia, with Amy Adams, playing her husband. "I ate a lot of her food in that one," he said.
He added it was difficult to land the part in Sharp Objects. Adams had told him to read the book and he loved it. He had to read for the director in LA then said that Adams pushed for him to get the role.
When asked about appearing in the music video for Sam Smith's "I'm Not the Only One," Messina said he had no idea who Smith was originally but his wife was a fan and encouraged him to do the video. He found out that Smith was a great guy and blew up in popularity after that.
Messina has a new small-budget movie with John Turturro called The True Adventures of Wolfboy that's coming out soon. However, he didn't know when it will be released.
Author Gillian Flynn made her debut writing Sharp Objects before going on to major success with Gone Girl. As far as LGBT characters in the small town in the miniseries, Flynn explained it's a mystery on who is or who isn't: "There was a gay bar but they have left. One person uses the f word to describe the murderer saying it could be a faggot because she wasn't raped. It immediately characterizes the town to me. It shows the type of town it is."
Comic books have been a huge influence on her with her father being an avid comic fan. "He kept them in special wrappers. I was raised with that. He was a DC Comics guy. My stories reflect that serialized idea and don't let the reader go. There is a cliffhanger element so stay tuned!"
The next show Flynn is working on is for Amazon, and is called Utopia. She described it thusly: "Five comic-book nerds stumble upon an underground utopia that could lead to a world-ending virus. Hopefully, we are filming at the end of this year in Chicago."
Sharp Objects airs Sundays at 8 p.m. CT on HBO.