{"id":10185,"date":"2020-05-06T14:09:17","date_gmt":"2020-05-06T12:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/?p=10185"},"modified":"2020-05-06T14:09:20","modified_gmt":"2020-05-06T12:09:20","slug":"run-creator-vicky-jones-talks-about-the-best-new-show-of-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/blog\/2020\/05\/06\/run-creator-vicky-jones-talks-about-the-best-new-show-of-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Run’ Creator Vicky Jones Talks About ‘The Best New Show Of 2020’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The first four episodes of Run, NPR\u2019s \u201cbest new show of 2020\u201d, have just arrived first on Showmax, with the remaining four episodes coming every Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Seventeen years ago, college sweethearts Ruby and Billy made a pact: if either of them ever texted the word \u201cRUN\u201d and the other replied with the same, they would drop everything, board the first train after 5pm out of Grand Central Station, and travel across America together. But they\u2019re about to discover that the reality of taking that leap may not be quite how they pictured it\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emmy winner and Golden Globe nominee Merritt Wever (Unbelievable, Godless, Nurse Jackie) stars as Ruby, opposite Berlin Shooting Star winner Domhnall Gleeson (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Ex Machina) as Billy. The cast also includes Emmy and Golden Globe winner Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag), who\u2019s also executive producer; Golden Globe nominee Archie Panjabi (HBO\u2019s upcoming I Know This Much Is True, The Good Wife); Screen Actors Guild nominee Rich Sommer (Mad Men, Glow); and Sundance jury prize winner Tamara Podemski (Coroner).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HBO\u2019s genre-defying rom-com thriller has an 83% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics\u2019 consensus praises its \u201csharp subversions of romcom clich\u00e9s\u201d and \u201cMerritt Wever and Domhnall Gleeson\u2019s electrifying performances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Run is the brainchild of Vicky Jones, who was a writer on Killing Eve, directed the original stage production of Fleabag and went on to script edit that series, which won Best Comedy at both the 2019 Emmys and 2020 Golden Globes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We asked Vicky about the romance of train trips and the appeal of running away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where did the idea for Run come from<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Me and Phoebe [Waller-Bridge] had this old joke where we\u2019d whisper \u201cRun!\u201d to each other in any situation we wanted to escape from. I also wanted to write a romance about the little routines that develop between couples, the beautiful details and minutiae of relationships behind closed doors. So we had this idea of this couple coming back together after years apart, that led to this premise of a pact [where] they would walk out on their lives, meet on a train platform and go on this journey together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is the idea of breaking free and reinventing your life so alluring?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowadays we have so many choices but as life happens, those paths close down. Worrying that you took the wrong option and wondering about what might have been is only human. We might pin those feelings from a certain person and fantasise about the idea of dropping everything for them. In some ways, it\u2019s a really exciting idea. Time goes so fast. You leave school or college and suddenly you\u2019re in your late 30s, still feeling like the same person inside but with all these grown-up commitments. Maybe we\u2019re secretly all feeling like it happened too quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you set out to write a story that would cross genres?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mainly we just wanted it to be exciting. We wanted to investigate what makes people fall passionately in love, what makes you feel so safe and accepted that you can say anything, do anything, and be your true authentic self with that person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, of course, you can\u2019t have a drama without conflict. Other things come crashing into their world. There\u2019s an element of \u201cbe careful what you wish for\u201d, exploring what happens when you step outside your obligations. Wonderful, magical things happen, but terrible things too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from the Before Sunrise films, what else did you look to for inspiration?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hitchcock\u2019s Strangers On A Train, of course. We watched lots of road trip movies like Badlands. And I always reference Nora Ephron. When Harry Met Sally\u2019s influence can be detected in everything I do. I aspire to the gorgeousness of that back-and-forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is it about trains and romance?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love a train journey. I love that feeling of being out of life, of stepping into another world. Time seems to operate differently on trains. It\u2019s like a microcosm of the real world. Ruby and Billy feel like they\u2019re secretly trying something, just to see. They\u2019re in denial about what they\u2019re doing and because they\u2019re shut away from everyone with no phone signal, it\u2019s almost like nobody will notice they\u2019ve gone\u2026 But of course, they do notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tell us a bit about the characters\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruby is a lot braver than she thinks she is. She\u2019s fallen into a way of behaving with her husband that isn\u2019t who she used to be with Billy. She rediscovers her authentic self through the journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though he\u2019s very flawed, Billy\u2019s love for Ruby is deep and true and he\u2019s made vulnerable by that. It\u2019s nice to write a man who\u2019s driven by his need for a woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What were Domhnall and Merritt like to work with?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I still can\u2019t believe that I get to work with actors that extraordinary. They constantly surprise you. Sometimes you have no idea whether a line is going to work until they come out with it and then they do something that breaks your heart. They make you look good!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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