Note: The following story contains spoilers from “Task” Season 1, Episode 7.
By the end of Brad Ingelsby’s “Task,” Emilia Jones’ Maeve has been put through the ringer, most recently after finding out her uncle Robbie (Tom Pelphrey) died from a fatal stab wound inflicted by the same man that killed her father.
The scales even out a bit when Maeve receives a bag stuffed to the brim with cash totaling to $1 million from Dark Hearts member Donna (Stephanie Kurtzuba), but getting away with the money doesn’t prove to be an easy task. Though Maeve gets a heads up from Grasso (Fabien Frankel) that the Dark Hearts were on there way, Maeve only has time to secure the kids in the car before she comes face-to-face with Jayson (Sam Keeley). What follows is an action-packed chase between Maeve and Jayson that Jones reveals was quite fun to film behind the scenes.
“We gave each other a look right before that sequence, and I was like, ‘Let’s go’ and we just kind of went for it,” Jones told TheWrap. “My adrenaline was so high … Jeremiah [Zagar], the director, was just like, ‘I’m holding my breath, check the gate. We’ve got it. I don’t want to see it again’ … it’s the end of the show, so you want people to feel that way. You want people to be kind of holding their breath.”
Jones recalls one take in which she “literally ran for [her] life” that prompted Keeley to ask her to slow down, which resulted in a messier, scrappier take which ended up making it into the final cut.
Luckily, Maeve is spared from Jayson’s threats when Mark Ruffalo’s Tom and Thuso Mbedu’s Aleah corners him and then Grasso delivers the final shot that kills Jayson. With backup on the way, Maeve sits on the ground, trembling and crying in silence as Tom comforts her.
“It’s just a release,” Jones said. “The whole time Maeve knows that she’s in danger and the kids are in danger, and no matter what she does, she feels like she’s still in danger, and I think that’s the first time in the whole show where she feels like she’s not in danger. Everything hits her all at once … it’s that thing when your adrenaline suddenly stops.”
After the dust settles, Maeve packs up the house and she and the kids hit the road, with the implication that Maeve did end up getting to keep the money, thanks to Tom, who lets that detail slide out of public record.
“Sometimes a look says 1,000 words, and Mark [Ruffalo] and I were definitely, trying to portray that in that moment, in that scene,” Jones said of the silent understanding between the pair. “Technically, he didn’t have to do that — Tom is such a kind character. I mean, he takes Sam in … he’s just constantly trying to help people.”
On the other side of that look was gratitude from Maeve for Tom’s kindness, with Jones explaining Maeve has “been given the chance to keep it and create a new life for her and the kids.” Jones revealed she’s often wondered what Maeve’s new life looks like, and hopes they settle in a lovely home, with some help around the house and the kitchen.
“Maeve does a lot of thinking for other people, so it would be nice for her to now have this money and be able to do a few things for herself,” Jones said.
Read our full interview below. For more on the “Task” finale read our postmortem interviews with creator Brad Ingelsby and Grasso actor Fabien Frankel.
TheWrap: What were your early conversations with Brad about the role like, and how did the character evolve once you got on set?
Jones: I met with Brad Ingelsby, and I had not read anything, but I had heard about the project. We were talking about the project and about Maeve as a character. She was such a layered character, and I felt like everything Brad said was just an actor’s dream and so much to sink my teeth into. He actually asked me at the end of the zoom, “Do you like children?” I was like, “Yeah, I love kids. Why?” And then he sent me Episodes 1 and 2, and I was like, “Okay, that’s why he asked me if I like children, because I have a lot to do with the kids in the show.” I auditioned with the porch scene in Episode 1, when I throw Pepsi in Robbie’s face, and then the scene in Episode 3, in the car with Robbie, the long four page scene where we’re opening up to each other. I got a call saying that I got the part, and I just felt so lucky to be a part of the show. They were sending the scripts, and I couldn’t put them down. I just wanted the next one the minute I finished reading it.
The accent really helped me [build out the character], because the Delco accent is so specific. I was doing these dialect sessions on Zoom and I was learning the accent, but it wasn’t until I got to Philly that I really realized that it’s an energy to the Delco accent. I would kind of go bar hopping, and I’d go to restaurants, and I’d make friends and talk to the locals — that was a big part of my character development.
Maeve’s look too — I talked with Brad a lot about her vibe, and because she grew up kind of in the bike gang. I noticed that … all the bikers wear rings on every finger, so I was like I think Maeve should wear rings on every finger, because that’s what she’s seen growing up and she’s tough. And then the mullet … I had all these cool little micro tattoos that actually, you don’t really see in the show, but they were all individually thought about by the amazing people behind the scenes. I changed my walk, and I would sit in a different way. I would swear a lot more after playing Maeve.
What conversations did you have with Tom about building out Robbie and Maeve’s relationship?
Maeve and Robbie’s relationship is so layered and complex, and it’s this push and pull. There’s a lot of resentment there from Maeve, and she feels stuck, and she feels like she’s slowly losing her sense of identity, and she feels like it’s kind of Robbie’s fault. But at the same time, there’s so much love there and Maeve knows that he’s always looking out for her.
I really love Tom, and we get on really well. The kind of spark of smiles in some of the scenes with Robbie and Maeve were kind of just me and Tom. I remember the scene when Maeve is smoking in her bedroom, and he comes in and asks if she can look after the kids again, I remember when I read that scene, I didn’t think it was going to be funny or sweet or warm and then when we were filming it, I found myself laughing at Tom and vice versa. It was nice to go into scenes with Tom thinking they were going to play one way, and then them playing a completely different way.
What was the most challenging part of the role, or most challenging scene to film?
A lot of Maeve scenes are really challenging, just emotionally. She has such a journey, so in preparing for that, I would make an emotional graph of certain scenes when Maeve would peak with anger or emotion, just to make sure that I wasn’t hitting that level of emotion too early on in the show — you have to kind of pace yourself.
One of the hardest scenes to film was the porch scene, because that’s Maeve’s burst of emotion, and it’s really telling Robbie and telling the audience how she’s been feeling. A lot of it’s been kind of built up inside her. But also the scene in the car with Tom also was so emotional, because we ended up shooting that for about seven hours. You wrap, and it’s like, “Oh, wow, I’ve just been crying for seven hours straight,” and there’s no escape. It was so intense in that car, just both of us.
And then the scene with with Mark Ruffalo when he’s questioning Maeve, that was hard too, because Maeve’s whole world suddenly starts crashing. I think she knew that potentially that would happen, but hearing it, it really hits her. That’s her uncle and her everything right now. That’s all the family she’s got left and the fact that Jayson killed him, as well as her dad. It’s a real, real tough one for Maeve to hear.
What was Maeve’s take on the Sam situation by the end?
Maeve sees a lot of herself in Sam, in her childhood. They’ve been brought up in a very similar way and I think she sees that Sam really has a heart of gold, and I think that she just wants to protect him and look after him. She’s just sad and angry that he’s been put in the situation that he’s been put in, and she’s just trying to do everything she can to do the right thing and to help him. In Maeve’s impossible situation, there’s no right way to handle that, especially as the show spirals.
Do you think Maeve made peace with Robbie taking Sam and his other missteps?
For all of Robbie’s flaws, everybody absolutely loves him, and I felt that way. No one wanted him to to die, and everyone was on his side. The thing with Robbie is he’s got such a pure heart, and everything he does is not for himself, it’s for his kids and his family. He’s just got such a sense of love and family. I really respect that myself, because I’m a family girl … and Maeve is also a family girl. She’s always thinking of Harper and Wyatt and not herself. That’s why she’s feeling so stuck.
She really sees herself in Robbie in that they would do anything for their family, and I think she makes peace with the fact that he was trying to do the right thing. When Maeve is given all that money, it’s this mixed feeling of like, “Someone’s going to want this money, so now I’m in danger,” but also it’s what Robbie wanted in his plan. Robbie always had a plan, and his plan was successful. It makes us sad that that it all worked out in what Robbie wanted, but he’s not there … with her.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
“Task” is now streaming on HBO Max.
