The writers, creators and stars of the Amazon series open up to ET about their first Emmy nomination and what's next for their onscreen counterparts.
What started as a Twitter friendship quickly turned into a
creative partnership for Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan, resulting in an Emmy
nomination for the Amazon series Catastrophe.
“We decided to get together and have a cup of coffee,”
Delaney says of their first encounter after he and Horgan followed each other
on Twitter. “And then we decided to make a television show that would be global
and successful.”
While it was an idea the two had -- “in sort of an abstract
way,” Horgan says -- it wasn’t until Delaney was offered a script deal that
they had an opportunity to make good on it. “Then he came to me and said, ‘Oh,
I haven’t written a script before. Would you write a script with me?’” Horgan
recalls.
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After drafts, re-drafts and eventually finding a home on
Channel Four in the U.K. and Amazon in the U.S., Delaney and Horgan came up with a
show about the sweet, harsh reality of two strangers who decide to fall in love
after they get pregnant.
Now, the two are nominated for Outstanding Writing for a
Comedy Series and open up to ET about putting together that first script, their
characters’ onscreen fights and Horgan’s other buzzy project, Sarah Jessica
Parker’s return to HBO.
ET: You two are
nominated for the pilot episode. I was curious if you could tell me a little
bit about actually writing that first script.
Rob Delaney: That
was really us really getting to know each other while writing that script. The
final thing that got shot was vastly different from what we first initially
wrote. But we went through redrafting it and then kind of playing with when it
would be set. Should it be right when they meet? Should it be years into their
relationship? So, we kind of monkeyed around with the help of the network and
their ideas. We've had fun doing it. We were tentative in the beginning because
we didn't know each other terribly well, but then we, you know, just kind of
got better and better. We really warmed up and started to have fun pretty
quickly, I'd say.
Sharon Horgan: The
pilot episode is quite chunky. I mean there's a lot going on in it and I think
it ended up like that because it was originally two scripts. Channel Four
originally commissioned one after our first stab at the pilot -- or what we thought
what the pilot would be -- and they asked us for another script. We had episode
one and episode two and then they suggested that they might want to combine
those two scripts. Basically, they were saying, “These two scripts are funny,
but they could be doubly funny if you pushed them into one.” So, the job was a
real challenge, but it was a good idea that worked out because you get the
setup of the relationship. Then you also get to see them fully kind of having
made the decision to get on with their lives. Hopefully it ended up a lot more
satisfying and denser.
You both have a lot
of roles on the show. You're creators, stars, producers and writers. What does
it mean to be nominated as writers this time around?
SH: Just from my
own point of view, I started as an actor and Rob started as an actor. I still don't
even identify as a writer, as bonkers as that sounds. So, it's just a really
lovely affirmation. It's a pat on the back.
RD: It’s so cool
because obviously without a script there's no show. So to think the thing that
we really labor over and devote the most time to, which is of course the
script, to have those [efforts] recognized is just amazing.
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I read that the
original pilot also had the time jump, what became the start of season two with
having had the baby. By pulling back on that, is that where you really figured
out who Rob and Sharon are?
RD: Our initial
inclination was to start deep into the family experience. It's possible we did
that because we thought, “Well, we'll never actually get to make a series, so
we’d better cram several seasons’ worth into one episode.” But then once they
decided to make it, they were like, “Hey guys, slow down. You can stretch it
out a little bit.” We were as surprised as anybody how much we enjoyed watching
them get to know each other.
For me, at least, the
fighting between Rob and Sharon is the most refreshing thing about the series. Was
there a conversation about that element and how you guys would either write
that or play that onscreen?
SH: A lot of it
is also just banter and them finding each other funny, I think. Then obviously,
like in episode six, they have a full-blown horrific insult, back-and-forth
argument. But I think by that point, we figured they’d earned it. They're in this
pressure cooker. You know, not knowing each other, the health scares and all
the sh*t that went along with it: Rob having to move to London, the insecurity
of this new relationship and having a baby. So we thought, “Oh, they're
definitely at that one.” And we allowed ourselves it. But generally we kept an
eye on the tone. Anything in the script that seemed harsh, we knew we could
lighten it up because of who the characters are. We knew that onscreen, something
that sounds barbed, we could probably make it charming.
When it comes to the
fighting, is that all scripted or is there any improv in there?
RD: It's almost all scripted. It’s 99 percent scripted.
SH: Point eight.
RD: We really say
what we're writing out loud as we write it and we read and rewrite, read and
reread it. Everything that our characters say we want to make sure that it
sounds like stuff that people really say. So nothing get shot before we battle
test it and yell it at each other across the table maybe 40 times.
SH: Yes, but those
characters insulting each other are really fun to write.
With the show being
renewed for two more seasons, what does that mean in terms of the storytelling
and what you guys can do? Does this also mean that there's an end date in mind?
SH: Well, I don't
think we have an ending in mind. In terms of storytelling, it does make you
reach a little bit farther. Like, when you're writing season three and you know
you have a season four expected of you, there are some things you think, “Maybe
that's for later,” where in other seasons, we just threw everything else out. You
have to have an overview of the series and know what it's about and know what
you want to say so you're not just continuing to just drop out episodes. You
need to have a really good understanding of what you want your audience to get
from it. As long as you have that in your mind, it sort of becomes a little bit
easier. I don't think we ever think about it in terms of how we think we see it
ending. Because it's slice-of-life-like, isn't it?
RD: I certainly
don't think about how it would end, because this show -- more than a lot of
shows -- is more about the process than about how these two characters relate
to each other and how they deal with challenges. Sure, we have some crazy and
challenging things happen to them, but really, at the end of the day or the end
of the series, it's not about what happens to them but how they deal with it
and how they affect each other and how they help each other. That would be what
I'll remember about this show when I'm old and grey.
SH: Yeah, that's
true. We do have this weird fantasy that -- because we're both huge Richard
Linklater fans -- if it did end, in 10 years’ time, we might pick it up again.
Just see what happens.
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Will the show ever
take place in the U.S.?
RD: It's not out
of the question. We're always thinking about it. We're not there yet. We would
never want it to be gimmicky, so we totally talk about and imagine how we might
do it. It would have to be really organic, rather than have it like The Brady Bunch Hawaii episode just for
the hell of it.
SH: We’re also very
in love with Carrie Fisher [who plays Rob’s mother], so we always try and think
of how we can get her in it more. Obviously, heading back to Rob's hometown
would give us more time with her. Hopefully, at some point it'll happen. But
like Rob said, we're not trying to force it. We're trying to see what happens
in the script that takes us there or might take us there.
Sharon, you also have
Divorce coming up on HBO. What are
you getting to do with that show that you're not able to do with Catastrophe?
SH: Well, this
feels completely different because one is about the total collapse of a relationship
and all the dynamics around that. It's more procedural, and I guess the challenge
in that is finding the comedy within something that's super heartbreaking. It’s
a different kind of beast. Catastrophe,
certainly initially, was about the very genesis of a relationship and then
about staying in love. Weirdly, there's not much crossover.
Was there any added
pressure when it became a Sarah Jessica Parker series?
SH: From the very
beginning, I couldn't think about it, because if I had thought about it, I
would freeze. Everything I've ever done has always been a small show, but just
by luck or chance it kind of became something, whereas this started out as
something -- before I even put pen to paper. I felt a huge pressure, but also
it was a ridiculous situation to be in, to be writing for someone that good and
that well-known.
