Hulu’s new series “The First” is more about the journey to Mars, creator Beau Willimon says. It’s also about “human journeys” inward.
The juxtaposition of artistic and scientific exploration is central to the series, and can be personified in Tom Hagerty (Sean Penn), an astronaut on the first manned mission to Mars, and his artist and recovering drug addict daughter Denise (Anna Jacoby-Heron).
“The inward journey that an artist takes, into their own black void, to their own abyss, and [Denise] certainly does with confronting the loss of her mother and her own demons, I think is just as vast and perilous as a journey to another planet,” Willimon told TheWrap in an interview before the series premiere. “And that, for me, is what the show is actually about. Which is not just the journey to Mars, but journeys. Human journeys. Some of those are inward. And for her, it’s an inward journey.”
Willimon said that while growing up, his own father, who worked as an engineer on nuclear submarines, would be gone for months at a time without communication home — just like the child of an astronaut would experience. Willimon said that while he’s “always been interested in space travel and exploration and science,” his childhood was also inspiration for the story.
“I started asking myself — but what’s at the root of that [interest]? Like take it farther back, Beau. Like, why? Why are you interested in that stuff? And I think what it really is, if I take it back to like four years old, is my dad served on nuclear submarines. He was the chief engineer on nuclear subs,” he said.
“And yeah, of course there’s a lot of myself in [Denise]. I’ll never go to Mars. I wish I could. But that’s not my destiny,” he continued. “But to explore, and with some degree of risk, you know, the emotional travails of really trying to explore the truth as a writer or as a painter, can often feel dangerous.”
Willimon said that the differences between art and science aren’t as pronounced as one might initially think.
“I’ve always seen science and art as really cut from the same cloth,” he said. “I see them both as creative endeavors. I mean great scientists are taking their minds places where people have not imagined things before. They’re hypothesizing oftentimes what their peers are calling crazy, in order to try and understand the universe. I think artists are trying to understand the universe in their own way as well.”
Willimon himself as dipped his toes in both worlds — at different times during his life, he thought he might be a physicist and a painter. He painted the portrait of Diane (Melissa George) that Denise works on in Episode 5.
“He was a really good painting teacher,” Jacoby-Heron told TheWrap in an interview before the series premiere.
Denise struggles with drug addiction, and in Episode 5, she relapses after working on a portrait of her mother, Diane. Jacoby-Heron said that while painting is her therapy, the journey of “going through all the trauma within the painting and then remembering these things” is so painful that it leads her off the wagon.
But using art as therapy is something Jacoby-Heron thinks Denise will revisit if Hulu greenlights a Season 2 — which Willimon is hoping for.
“I mean, I didn’t set out to do a limited series,” Willimon said. And while he wouldn’t say exactly how many seasons he envisions the series being, he did say he “certainly [has] a plan for the story,” which includes telling the story of the astronauts’ journey to Mars in parallel with the story of those left on Earth.
“The First” is now streaming on Hulu.
How Streaming Networks Invaded the Emmys: From 'House of Cards' to 'Handmaid's Tale' (Photos)
The streaming services are taking over the Emmys. Four years after "House of Cards" opened up the major categories to online content providers with three wins, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon have hit an all-time high with a combined total of 126 nominations. But how did we get here?
"House of Cards" The political thriller became the first streaming-only original series to get nominated in major Emmy categories in 2013. It won three that year, including Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series and Outstanding Casting. The show has been nominated for 53 Emmys in total, six of which turned into major category wins.
Netflix
"Orange is the New Black" Netflix seemed to be on a critical roll after "Orange is the New Black" debuted in 2014. It was nominated for 12 awards, including five in acting categories. Uzo Aduba, who plays Suzanne Warren, won for Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. She won a second time in 2015.
Netflix
"The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" The Tina Fey-produced comedy was called the "first great sitcom of the streaming era" and the Emmy voters seem to agree. Since premiering in 2015, the show has garnered 16 nominations.
Netflix
"Transparent" "Transparent" was -- and still is -- Amazon Prime's flagship show. In 2015, following its debut season, it won an unprecedented five Emmy awards, including Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series for Jill Soloway and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy for Jeffrey Tambor. The show has been a continuous staple at the Emmys since.
"Grace and Frankie" 2015 was a big year for streaming services at the Emmys. "Grace and Frankie" was yet another Netflix series that earned nominations in major categories. The show has continued to be a consistent presence at the awards ever since -- specifically in acting categories.
Netflix
"Jessica Jones" The Marvel Netflix show became the first of the Defenders universe to get an Emmy win, for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music.
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"Master of None" The big addition at the 2016 Emmys was the Aziz Ansari-led comedy "Master of None." The Netflix series earned Ansari nominations for acting, writing and directing -- and a win for writing with his colleague Alan Yang. He'll get another shot in 2017 with more nominations in the same categories, including Outstanding Comedy Series.
TheWrap
"Stranger Things" 2017 is a huge year for Netflix, with 91 nominations for the streaming giant overall. And sleeper hit "Stranger Things,"created by relative newcomers Matt and Ross Duffer, earned a staggering 18 of them, including Outstanding Drama Series. For a genre show released with little marketing, this is quite a feat.
Netflix
"The Crown" The hugely popular (and acclaimed) period drama about the life of Queen Elizabeth II earned Netflix five Emmy nominations this year.
Netflix
"Handmaid's Tale" In 2017, Hulu established itself as a serious original programming contender with this adaptation of Margaret Atwood's seminal novel. The highly acclaimed series not only became arguably the defining political commentary of the early Trump-Era, it also went on to make history for Hulu with 13 nominations.
Hulu
"The Beatles: Eight Days a Week" Hulu didn't stop with "The Handmaid's Tale." This documentary about the Beatles earned five nominations.
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"Black Mirror" The anthology series didn't qualify for the main Emmys until the third season arrived on Netflix. It got three nominations in 2017, including two for the episode "San Junipero" -- which was nominated for Outstanding Television Movie, despite being a part of an anthology.
Netflix
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Netflix, Hulu and Amazon have a combined 126 nominations this year
The streaming services are taking over the Emmys. Four years after "House of Cards" opened up the major categories to online content providers with three wins, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon have hit an all-time high with a combined total of 126 nominations. But how did we get here?