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McDonald & Swenson, Soo & Pasquale and More Talk THE BITE
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Oct 26, 2022
BroadwayWorld sat down with the creators and stars of the new Spectrum Originals series, The Bite to discuss what viewers can expect and more! Check out interviews with Audra McDonald and Will Swenson, Phillipa Soo and Steven Pasquale, Leslie Uggams, and The Bite's creators, executive producers and Writers Robert and Michelle King.
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0:00
The Impossible Happens
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The Impossible Happens The Impossible Happens You know, the bite is so timely and creative
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Can you tell me how the idea for this show actually came about? Michelle and I were doing a lot of walking during the pandemic, during the height of it
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And, you know, no one had any idea, A, when TV would come back or movies
0:24
but more importantly, Broadway, because, you know, we knew cast members who got sick
0:28
especially cast members and musicals so I think part of it was acknowledging the first thing back
0:35
would be a show that could keep everybody safe in some way and one of the ways to do that is what was
0:43
turning into zoom shows kind of the way we're talking now but also for us Michelle and myself
0:49
we know a lot of actors who are in relationships either married or significant others with other
0:55
actors. And that, so I think what started with us was this idea of how could you do a show that
1:01
kept everybody safe, but had excitement in it. That wasn't, you know, people just talking
1:06
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, because we're going to be so sick of talk. And that took us to the
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genre, which was, is there any way to satirize what was going on with the current events now
1:17
of the pandemic and use a genre that is unexpected because it's the opposite of stagnant
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you know, our Zoom world is very stagnant. And so it lends itself to stagnant issues
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like romantic comedy or whatever. So we want it to go in a completely different direction
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And that's why we chose this book, Michelle. And zombies. Right. Yeah, I mean, the bite is very much based
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in our current circumstances, but it expands upon them in a way that
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you know, before the past year would have felt much more far-fetched. But now I feel like we've reached the point
1:55
where nothing seems impossible. I mean, how did you strike the balance in the writing
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with keeping the show grounded in our current circumstances while playing upon the zombie elements
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and adding the moments of humor and the lightness? Well, I do know we had one medical writer
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who'd worked on a lot of medical shows and knew a lot about the science of it
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who would bring that. What, Michelle? Very capital. Yeah. And I think the key was we didn't want people to go blather, blather, blather protein, blather
2:30
You know, we want the science to at least suggest what was going on in the current day to solve the pandemic we're in
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So how would it be used for this future strain? Just like the song that is about the main title will mean again this idea that even if we get out of this crisis we're in now, we're in a new world
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We're not hurt by the nuclear bombs. We're hit and hurt and killed by the smallest little elements and proteins that slip into our body
3:01
So I think that's kind of where we started was this idea that the issues are very serious
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But just we've learned with Good Fight and with evil and even brain dead that you have to have a lot of comedy for people not to just shut off
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because they shut off like a light switch if there's not something that entertains them in some way
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brings out something that surprises them. He said there's probably a very serious show
3:31
to do about the pandemic, but we're also probably not the people who do it
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I mean the moments of lightness it what we need I mean we already living through something so traumatic So the writing is so brilliant and the acting and it just sort of that what we need We need to if we can find
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any moment of lightness, you know, I think that's human nature to want to do that. So it's amazing
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to watch it play out in that way on screen. It really is. Thank you. And, you know, you mentioned
4:04
wanting specifically to work with theater people during this time. What was it like working with
4:09
this amazing ensemble? Well, many of these actors we'd worked with previously
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And so we knew how talented they were. And we really could not have made this show, probably
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except that it was in the middle of the pandemic and Broadway was shuttered
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Because suddenly these extraordinary actors were available. You know, Broadway being completely shut down
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and film and TV taking a massive hit, it was nice to like, oh, there's something that we can do. And then the fact that we were able to do
4:42
it together was kind of an added bonus. And then the fact that it was such a crazy project was
4:48
was icing on the cake. And also that they, the Kings and Brooke Kennedy, our exec producer
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really, really made sure that they tried to employ as many theater actors as possible
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knowing full well that our industry had been so decimated by this pandemic
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And, you know, we were needing weeks so that we can get our insurance
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So it was kind of, it was wonderful that they took that into consideration. And then also just to get, you know, camera crews
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I mean, literally when Brooke Kennedy reached out and said, Robert and Michelle have this idea, she was like
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because we got it, we got to take care of our family. We got to, she's, and they're meaning, you know
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our film and television and our theater family. We need to take care of them. We need to
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we got to find some way to do this in a safe way so that people can work again. So
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they really took great care as far as that was concerned to try and spread the wealth
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You know, the circumstances of the bite are, you know, exaggerated, but familiar to us. We are
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living through a pandemic. But what was it like for both of you being able to tell the story from
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the perspective of characters on the medical side working for the CDC? Well, we had a good time
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because I was telling someone previously that the character that I play is a really fun Robert and
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Michelle creation that is kind of half Dr. Fauci and really legitimate and science forward, etc.
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and half Dr. Bricks, who's the other doctor who was sort of propagating all of Trump's
6:21
disinformation and threw her reputation down the toilet. He just sort of
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rides the line right in the middle there, which was great fun for me. For me, it was just amazing to have the challenge of navigating, you know, as someone who has
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information to share and decides whether or not to share some information or withhold other
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information for the sake of the overall panic that might happen if you do release certain
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information. So, you know, it really, I really felt for people who are in those positions. And
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at the same time, the Kings have written an incredible dynamic between these two characters
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where they're both relying on each other to navigate what is right in this situation. What
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is the right thing to do here? And it's a really fun thing to work through. Absolutely. I mean
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what was it like being able to work with one another as well? It was really fun
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I mean we have only really seen each other for this whole pandemic So to get to work together on something that got us you know out of the house and feeling a little bit like we were doing something that felt
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normal for those of us who do this crazy job, I think it was really, it was like good medicine
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for us. And also Philip was a world-class actor, so it was great to be, you know, to have her as my
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scene partner yeah it was just made so easy the greatest scene partner ever who i know so well
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your characters you two your characters are very much it's very much at the heart of the show what
8:03
was it like for both of you not only being able to tell a story that's so timely but being able
8:08
to do that with one another it was tricky because we don't get along very well in general and then
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And Audra's pretty selfish on camera, I discovered. So it was a challenge for me
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But she, I felt like if I just stayed centered, she came up to my level
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So that was, that was helpful. Oh, my husband, my husband. It was fun
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I mean, we, I think for us, it was, you know, we'd just been in the house with, you know, with our children
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So for us, you know, it was a nice sort of... Diversion
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Yeah. And to play these characters who were very much in love with each other was not a stretch
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very easy for us to do. But to play it in this way where they weren't husband and wife, that they were just, you
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know, star-crossed lovers, so to speak. And my actual husband is Steve Pasquale
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I don't know. I had a ball doing it. What about you, babe
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I mean, the stuff that I didn't have with you was, I stopped the joke. No, it was a blast. It was great
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Audra and I hadn't done anything on camera before. So it was great. It was great
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I learned a lot from working with her and it was just such an interesting, unique project, the way that it was shot
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and then the subject matter in the story was great and the characters were great
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So all told, it was just great. And we had fun bringing home zombie music
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music, zombie makeup to Sally. She enjoyed the zombie makeup that we would bring home for her
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A majority of the characters, most of them, if not all in the bite, communicate with each other
9:58
But the way, which we've all had to get used to this year, what was it like for you to play that out on screen
10:03
Well, it was fascinating because I'm sitting in my living room doing a television series and I thought, this is crazy. How is this going to work? And of course it worked beautifully, but it was fascinating
10:18
I mean, the equipment that came into the apartment and then, you know, hooking everything up and set directing
10:26
My daughter did it all. My daughter, Danielle, did it all. She gets all the credit
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She was set decorator. She was part of the camera. She was the audio
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She was the lighting. And I was just fascinated watching her, you know
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It was it proves that there are other ways of doing things and they work
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I mean overall it was just a ball to work with my wife that was super cool but as far as a project
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it's just so unique like the way that we had to shoot it forced us to shoot it um you know
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technically from a very a way that you would never do otherwise so the limitations kind of being the
11:03
mother of invention was kind of one of the beautiful things about this project you know they
11:08
we had to lock off all these you know there be like eight cameras set up on the floor of the townhouse and because we didn have a crew next to us you know it was just Audrey and me on the floor when we were shooting And the director was the only one that would come and speak to us in person
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so that we could be COVID, you know, compliant. And so there's all these locked off, you know
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cameras and we had this very unique choreography and it gives the piece
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this tone of sort of being observed in a way that you normally wouldn't
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So it's just super unique. It was just, it was a cool thing to be a part of and just see what people can do when their minds have to get
11:44
creative to work around a problem. Yeah. Yeah. I think my favorite part was that I, to know that
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we were, we were putting a lot of people back to work for, even if it was just for a little bit
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um, that was important. What would you say was your favorite part about filming
12:02
um the camaraderie i found with uh not only my daughter but with the directors and the camera
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people because like i'm talking to you that's how we were doing shots and you know doing things
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giving notes to each other and and uh it was fascinating much more than when you do it all
12:25
together in the studio because you're not really asking those questions you know you you hit your
12:30
mark and then you do your lines and everything. But this was like, we were discussing all these
12:35
different things and the sound and everything. And then they'd say, Danielle, you know
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can you move this over here? And so I was fascinated with everything that was going on
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It was great. Well, I'm most excited for people to have a good laugh at this absurdist take on
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a different kind of pandemic. I think that big belly joy will be well needed
13:00
Yeah, it's such a it's such a satire. And I think that shift of perspective and tone can really illuminate things about our own experiences and give us a way to look at it through fresh eyes
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And ultimately, yes, like Steve said, a way to laugh and have a good have a good moment in the midst of the chaos
13:23
Everybody thinks the first sign of zombies and civilization collapses. But nobody barricaded their doors or packed their bags and headed for the hills
13:34
This isn't the walking dead. It's reality. The White House would like us to balance the needs of the economy with science
13:42
We're trying to prevent the panic. Please let me in. We believe that there is a new virulent strain of COVID
13:51
transferred through infected bikes. I have someone coming for you right now
13:59
Behind you. Petra, I think you're muted. Get out of there. He's right behind you
14:08
What the hell? The client that came over. I think he's high on bath salts
14:18
Just keep him hydrated. Keep him calm. Zombies are fictional. There's no reason to worry
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Hi, babe. Sorry, it's getting complicated around here lately. Yeah, looks like it
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The most important thing is to not panic. Oh! Shut your windows
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Now! I don't care if we're in the end times. Everybody has to pay their rent
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