Out of the 16 Emmy nominations Prime Video’s “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” earned for its first season, five were for high-profile guest stars Michaela Coel, Sarah Paulson, Parker Posey, Paul Dano and John Turturro.
The quintet, who make up half of this year’s drama guest acting nominees, were “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” co-creator and showrunner Francesca Sloane’s first choices for their respective characters.
“That’s why it’s unbelievable that all these people said ‘Yes,’” she said. “One of the things we were excited about doing was taking these [actors] who played roles in a way that you would expect them to and then turn it on its head a little bit or even just to the left versus to the right.”
The five nominated actors are currently getting the Emmy spotlight for their memorable (and sometimes outlandish) “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” performances, but they weren’t the only notable cameos from the series’ freshman season, which included crucial appearances by Wagner Moura, Ron Perlman, Sharon Horgan, Alexander Skarsgard, Eiza Gonzalez and Donald Glover’s real-life mother, Beverly.
In her own words, Sloane broke down how she and the “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” team got Coel, Paulson, Posey, Dano and Turturro to say yes and why they exceeded their expectations for what was possible.
Michaela Coel as Bev
Episode: “Infidelity”
Nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
“We wrote that part for Michaela, to be honest. We knew that we wanted John to have this emotional affair, but we wanted it to be with somebody who would be the most intimidating person in the entire world for Jane to look to and see that that’s who he’s having an emotional affair with. There is no one more intimidating, cool, bright, talented, electric than Michaela Coel. She brought it. She’s lovely and she’s probably one of the smartest people on the Earth. The fact that she wanted to do it was really incredible. There is no other Bev.
“Amy Seimetz directed that episode. There was one moment where [Amy] was saying, ‘Play it almost sexually’ — a snake trying to eat a mouse. ‘No, now play it a little bit more empathetic in the way that it’s two best friends talking but when you start seeing Jane becoming more vulnerable, add a little smile.’ The way Michaela was able to evoke that, it was so powerful and tangible. The scene between those two women of Maya [Erskine] as Jane and Michaela as Bev on the couch, it was palpable. I remember all of us leaning into video village watching these two bring this very strange, complicated dynamic to the surface. There was a moment where I texted [co-writers] Yvonne [Hana Yi] and Schyuler [Pappas], ‘Michaela might get an Emmy for this or at least a nomination.’”
Sarah Paulson as Therapist
Episode: “Couples Therapy (Naked & Afraid)”
Nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
“Sarah was the person we wanted. The role is complicated in the sense that you feel like this is a person who cares about you and then in two seconds, they say a side comment where you’re like, ‘Did they just say something shady to me?’ You’re not quite sure because she’s so brilliant and she breezes right past it, even though she got a dig in.”
“We wanted this dynamic where John and Jane felt like she was choosing sides, especially Jane feeling like she was choosing John’s side a lot and we wanted to bring a level of humanity but comedy so that you can get through these hard conversations about a marriage deteriorating and still have moments of being able to laugh at it without it feeling like comedy with a capital ‘C.’ She was so good at bringing an anchor to this role where she played it in a way where you believed this therapist is that therapist. She’s good at being funny in a very understated way.”
Parker Posey as Other Jane Smith
Episode: “Double Date”
Nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
“Teenage me can die happy because the fact that Parker was in our show is something I could not have even allowed myself to even dream of. She is my hero, has been since I was 13 years old. So the fact that we got Parker Posey, it was one of the best moments of my life.
“I really wanted [that] whoever played other Jane was somebody that Maya, as Jane, could aspire to look up to performance-wise and in the way that they have their own version of funny moments and their own version of dark moments. Parker has such a specific way of bringing that to life in the same way that Maya has her own specific way of bringing those sort of moments to life. In that way, I felt like the casting was really perfect. The small shot of when John and Jane are taking off in the helicopter, and Parker is whipping around and dancing with her arms in the air, she’s an icon.”
Paul Dano as Harris Materbach
Episode: “A Breakup”
Nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
“What we were excited about with Paul is he plays a lot of roles where there’s this eeriness about him. With Paul, it feels like maybe he is “Hihi,” maybe he is this alternate spy. He plays it so well because he’s so intelligent and eerie and you feel like he’s up to something. He is all of those things, but it turns out the only reason he’s all of those things is not because he’s an alternate spy but because he’s a real estate broker and he wants their brownstone. It felt very satisfying.”
“Initially, the character’s name was ‘Hot Neighbor’ and people were thinking we should get a Marvel movie star or somebody who has an eight-pack and oily skin and an accent. But it’s supposed to be hot to Jane and this person has to be specific, it’s not supposed to be somebody who’s typically hot to the world but shouldn’t be a joke that nobody could find this person attractive. It should reveal a lot more about what Jane finds hot and make John ask, ‘Really? That’s your type?’ Paul did so well with that that not only did we write him in the first episode, but we brought him back for multiple episodes and gave him an entire arc because he was so magnetic that day on set.”
John Turturro as Eric Shane
Episode: “Second Date”
Nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
“That character was a hard nut to crack only because we knew that we wanted this person who, straight away when John and Jane looked at this guy, they thought, ‘This is an odd duck.’ But you wanted that odd duck to go even further in terms of the truth serum where all of the skeletons in his closet were being revealed. It had to be somebody who was brave and okay with becoming this outrageous character, but you also wanted to have sympathy for him. You wanted him to be somebody that when ultimately his life is over, they actually feel remorse.”
“John [Turturro] was able to bring all of that. He was able to bring comedy and a sensitivity where you actually feel for this weirdo. You also have to be afraid of him. In the dog-sniffing scene, you want to laugh at it but also be afraid of him, but also feel weirded out by him and also take him seriously. I can’t imagine anyone else doing that dog scene and John bringing that to life the way that he did.”
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