**Press Conference**
Q) Kyle and Aaron, I want to start with you. The dynamic between Hal and John really roots the premiere and roots the story, and immediately we can really delight in the humor and the charm between them, but we also feel this tension. The conflict. And for each of you, what was most important to establish right away, from the word go in the first hour of the series, about how your character sees himself, but also how he sees the other person?
Kyle Chandler: Well, you know, I mean, to break it down, at the very beginning, I don’t remember exactly what thoughts I had on how to do everything that you just asked me to do. But the first thing that we did was to get to know each other on the set and to get to know all the other people on the set. And because it all takes a certain tone eventually that really- there’s certain things outside of what the actor wants to do that guide performance and everything. But, I mean, obviously, once Aaron and I got to work together, it was very quick. And along with James Hawes and Chris behind the monitor and working the cameras and sharing with us what they wanted, not what they were thinking, it became obvious really quickly that there was going to be a very cool collaborative process which freed us up. And they were more than willing, I think, to let us make mistakes and to find our way so everyone could find something. And because of that, it didn’t take long for Aaron and I. I believe we both agree to find a spot where, “Oh, okay, that’s you, that’s me, that’s my character, that’s your character.” And then we started playing back and forth. And all the rest of it fell into place, it’s all in the writing. I mean, it’s not too hard to figure out that Hal has a competitor here and he doesn’t want to admit it, but he’s getting a little older and things are happening, all those things that go on. And then you start thinking about deeper into the character and he’s pretty dark pathology, this dude. This guy’s got kind of can speak for himself, but kind of a weird childhood. All those things start falling in place, but they fell in place because of a lot of the help and a lot of the work we all did together and that freedom of just doing what we’re doing and enjoying what we’re doing.
Aaron Pierre: Yeah, I would—hey, everybody. I would say that the first thing that we wanted to establish was, as Kyle articulated beautifully, safety. We wanted to establish a safety within our partnership and dynamic and that extended way beyond us as well. We wanted to establish that with the entire team, the entire family who were pouring themselves into this to make it the best version of itself. I think that is so important and it is so critical, because once safety is established, then you feel an ease, and you feel at liberty to explore, try things, and eventually you’re going to get to the greatest place it can be because you feel free enough to get it wrong and fall forward. Kyle and I did a lot of falling forwards. Chris hates compliments, but I’m going to give him one. To have Chris, there every day and just allow us to, as Kyle says, the magic was already on the page. It was already there, but they knew we were always going to get from point A to point B, but how we got there, nobody knew. Nobody knew. Even when we’re five months into a six-month shoot, it’s just the nature of Kyle and me. We like to improvise. We like to try things. We like to never derail the story, but we like to surprise each other. And they permitted us freedom and liberty to do that. And that’s where some of the most beautiful moments are derived from that feeling of safety and freedom.
Kyle Chandler: Not always, though.
Q) What’s fascinating is we kind of have a preconceived notion about superheroes, that they’re youthful, you know, that they’re teenagers or 20s or 30s, and all of a sudden now, and especially with Spider Man, the Spider Noir thing, that we’re starting to see them age up a little bit. And so I’m wondering maybe Kyle and the creators could talk about that, that presenting somebody in their 50s who’s a superhero and what that represents and how that kind of changes the dynamic.
Kyle Chandler: First of all, I take umbrage to your question.
Damon Lindelof: Yeah. We take umbrage on your behalf.
Kyle Chandler:It’s a great opportunity. I mean, as far as I’m concerned, when got this, I was like, oh wow, really? I’m going to be a superhero? Me? But it was a great advantage, because there are things with your older years that come to you that you get to, in a project like this, you get to use them. You know, it’s like being married for 20 years and you’re playing a husband who’s got two kids and it’s 20 years and there’s things you know that no one else is going to know. And so that’s a lot of fun and, there’s a lot of humor in getting older and there’s a lot of humor in this show. It’s just, you get to play out so many things. It’s important, I guess in a way too, it’s really important to show older people’s lives and this young culture that we’ve got going on. I mean, there’s a little bit of goodness and some wisdom and some of that.
Q) Kelly, I want to ask you about Sheriff Kerry. We see in the premiere how many people are just in thrall to Hal’s charm, right? And who can blame them? But Sheriff Kerry is not one of them. She just thinks that the only thing that he is more full of than himself is shit. And it’s very amusing, but I think it also, like, points toward a deeper reserve, about not just Hal, but the world, that there is something very watchful in her shrewdness when she says something like, he’s not afraid, he’s lonely. So what can you tell us about Sheriff Kerry’s skeptical eye and skeptical mind and what is informing that?
Kelly MacDonald: As far as her view of Hal Jordan, I think she can see through him right away. And in a way, I think he does her as well. So, there’s this sort of magic from the get-go almost, even if they’re not- like he’s looking at her entirely and she’s sort of looking at the football field and not, before you even see her, you hear her on the walkie-talkie. And she’s aware of their presence, I don’t know, I just kind loved that about her when I was sent the script that she’s very bolshie and no-nonsense and swears a bit, I think, from what I remember. And, yeah, it’s all fun. That’s really fun stuff. Plus, I also want to say, I’ve got this real thing for Americana and anything vaguely cowboy. And I’ve got far too many pairs of cowboy boots in my wardrobe in Glasgow. It makes no sense. And so playing her was, like, completely thrilling. I’m so okay about not being a superhero myself because I was the one that had the costume. I had a badge. I had a massive hat, Yosemite Sam style, and bespoke cowboy boots. I mean, it couldn’t have been better for me, so thank you.
Q) Science fiction has always helped us imagine a better future. And for many Black fans, John Stewart has been part of that future for decades. What do you hope his story says to longtime fans, but also to those meeting him for the first time?
Aaron Pierre: That’s a beautiful question. Thank you very much for submitting that. I don’t think we have enough time for me to get into that answer to the depth that I would ideally like to. But I think, just to sort of, you know, try and consolidate it as it were, I think that one of my favorite things about John Stewart and how he’s detailed and how he is written and shared with audiences is the truth and the honesty, that is present within him and how he is just so immensely complex. But just like we all are, I think John has just an abundant number of access points to audience members. I think he is somebody who is somebody who allows us to feel seen. He is somebody who allows us to feel heard, understood, comprehended, respected, and it’s an immense privilege and joy to have been given the opportunity to portray him in the first live-action version. The enormity of that gift is not lost on me. It’s not missed on me. I’m filled with gratitude. And from the very moment that I knew I had the opportunity, I poured myself into it and continued to through pre-production, production itself, and even post-production beyond the point of filming it. I’m still, you know, ruminating on should we be gifted the opportunity to continue this journey, how I can excavate further, how I can go even deeper. I did an immense amount of personal research, before portraying John Stewart, but there is a point with every character that you portray, as is the case with every character I have portrayed, that you have to then bring a level of yourself and your truth to the portrayal, because otherwise it’s not authentic, and otherwise there is no opportunity for audiences to resonate with you because you are simply copying and pasting. So, it was a joy to also allow myself to be vulnerable enough with the support of everybody here to bring my heart and my soul and my experiences to this. I feel very seen when I read John. John to me is somebody who is a raging sea internally. You know, externally he’s a gentleman, he’s precise, he’s accurate, he’s intentional, he’s clean. But internally, he’s a raging sea, he’s a tornado, he’s a volcano, and I give the analogy of, you know, going to someone’s house and it’s spotless, but you find that one room that they shoved everything in and it’s hell in there. I’ve had – this is not therapy, so I won’t get into myself, but I’ve had my fair share of learning to master my sober mind and learning to navigate my experiences as somebody who does feel things very heavily and deeply. So, I feel very seen by John and I’m ready to do this till the wheels fall off, to be honest with you.
Q) Poorna and Garret, it is quite a premiere for your characters and one of the things that I love is that right away it’s established that they both go for what they want. Sex in a truck with John or, blackmailing via bail money, the Lanterns to come over for a barbecue—you know, to each their own. But also, they’re shrouded in mystery, so there’s this interesting dichotomy, this dissonance of what is stated very clearly—the boldness, the frankness, and then what is not available for us yet to understand and see. There’s a literal NDA that is invoked in the plot of the premiere. There are questions right away from Hal and from John about what’s going on in this marriage. What felt key in terms of when you’re deciding what to hold close to the vest and what you are allowing your character to show as a real declaration of intent, both individually for Zoe and for Macon but also inside of this family unit?
Poorna Jagannathan: Yeah, it’s a great question. I think that, you know, this is—correct me if I’m wrong—but it’s a- it’s a whodunit, right? It’s a bit of a- a murder mystery, but actually it’s a very profound dissertation on power. And that is also the case with Zoe and William Macon. It becomes very clear pretty early on that both of us with Sheriff Kane and we want to maintain the town’s power and we become a foil for the Green Lanterns in a certain way, you know? So, the exploration of this character is, first of all, she sees John and there’s an instant affinity. We’re probably the two people of color in a very, very white town, right? So, there’s an instant connection, instant curiosity that- that happens. But, you know, as it unfolds, it’s really exploring different power dynamics of different people and it’s very mysterious indeed. Garret?
Garret Dillahunt: I don’t know what to add to that. That was beautiful, Poorna. Well done. I think that’s a good point. You know, there’s nothing better than great writing. You know, it just does so much of our work for us, and baked into it, like Poorna said, is this weird power dynamic even between us. I think there’s a lot of stereotypes that could have been applied, certainly to my character, and he seems open to all kinds of things that you wouldn’t suspect he would be, a guy who lives in this area and does what he does and seems to be pretty, you know, powerful in this small pond. And I love that their relationship, that it seems kind of free and easy. I guess I can’t talk about much past one, but it is a pleasure to play and I’m sure grateful to be here. And I just want to take this opportunity to say, walking onto this set, that you all put together, the script was something. But I’d never met Kyle before. I feel like I’ve known him for about 30 years now, we just got along great. And this young man here, Aaron, I don’t know, I hope you’ve seen some of his other work, but I know we’re just scratching the surface. You should know I was on with Alexa Fogel the other day, who put this thing together, and she also went and saw Aaron on stage in London playing in Cuckoo’s Nest, and she was so floored. She was like, “I’ve never seen him like that. I didn’t know he could do that.” He was completely different than what you see here. And I think you’re going to see this face for John Stewart for years to come. It’s just I think they were waiting, I think Green Lantern was waiting for him. But it’s just a great group and I’m so thankful to you all for welcoming us so completely and giving us these great characters to play.
Q) Watching Lanterns, I have that feeling that you put as much as you could in each episode that almost each of them feels a small movie, which is great. Do you have that in mind as well that you want to make sure, even if you all love the work, that’s not going to go on for ten years, but you know exactly where you want to land without stretching the stories?
Damon Lindelof: Yeah, I can speak from personal experience, in terms of what it was like on something like Lost where we didn’t, you know, we had to aggressively fight for an end date as early as when the show premiered. For a show that had a mystery engine, the audience was saying when are you going to tell us what the fuck is going on here? And we’re like, we really want to, but once we start answering mysteries, the show was coming down the hill, it’s closer to the end. And so I think that then ultimately migrating towards something like Watchmen, which was a limited series and we knew it was just going to be those nine episodes, and although you’re inside of a legacy story that goes all the way back to the 1980s and you’re trying to continue it, you want a message to the audience that this is complete. I think that Chris’s vision for Lanterns was the perfect hybrid of both those things where essentially, he said, I want to tell a complete story. We’re going to a mystery, and then, more importantly, we’re going to have a relationship story between these two guys that feels resolved at the end of the story that we’re telling, but we want the audience to be really hungry for more when it ends. And that felt like such a cool way to sort of thread the needle, and I think to Chris, to Chris’s credit and the credit of everyone here and the incredible crew around the show, we’ve accomplished that. I think that it feels like it was a really good meal but a couple of hours after you’ve consumed it, you’re going to say, I think I want to spend some more time in that world.