Though plenty of shows and films have lampooned the dominance of superhero movies before,The Franchiseaims to offer a unique and hilarious take on the process. It comes from top-tier blockbuster and comedy creators alike, asVeepcreator Gino Iannucci,Skyfalldirector Sam Mendes, andSuccessionandAvenue 5writer Jon Brown all helped bring the series to life. InThe Franchise, the completion of the fictional Marvel-style filmTecto: Eye of the Stormis not at all a sure thing as competing egos and production challenges come into play.
On the subject of egos, one of the major players inThe FranchiseisTecto: Eye of the Stormdirector Eric, played byCaptain America: Civil War’s Daniel Brühl. For the role, Brühl was able to draw from his own experience directing a movie, albeit one much smaller in scale. His character is also helped along by his script supervisor Steph, played by Jessica Hynes, known by many for her work inEdgar Wright’s breakout comedyShaun of the Dead.
Screen Rantinterviewed Jessica Hynes and Daniel Brühl about their work onThe Franchise. Brühl discussed what drew him to the project (surprisingly, not his time asBaron Zemo in Marvel projects) and how he hopes the series will resonate with viewers. Hynes discussed how she related to her character, and even reflected on the 20th anniversary ofShaun of the Dead.
Daniel Brühl Was Drawn To The Franchise, But Not Because Of His History With Marvel
“I’ve Done Another Film … That Was A Total S***show”
Screen Rant: Daniel, what attracted you to the role of Eric inThe Franchise? Were there any specific aspects of the character or story that you resonated with?
Daniel Brühl: It resonated with me deeply because of various reasons. Obviously, I’ve been there, although I didn’t think that much of Marvel, I have to say. It would be the obvious question that people ask me, but no, because they treated me so well. It was a well-oiled machine. I never encountered any total madness and craziness and absurdity and problems. There was a lot of sense of humor. The second time around that I revisited Zemo, I was even allowed to do something very different with the character, so I really couldn’t complain ever.
But I’ve done another film in particular that I don’t want to mention that was a total s***show. The second I arrived, everything went wrong, and the ship sank dramatically. That was a very painful and frustrating experience that I had to think about a lot. Also, I directed one very small film that only a few people have seen, but I could tell what it means to be the captain of a ship and to be responsible for the whole thing—having to answer all these questions and cope with all these problems that can come up.
So, when I read this, I thought, “Great.” On top of that, I’ve been waiting for good comedy material for my whole life. Coming from Germany, this is not our forte. When that came along, I thought, “Jesus, I can work with the best of America and England.” I had the pleasure to be working with guys like Jessica Hynes and Richard E. Grant and Himesh Patel, and Lolly, all these guys. And then there’s the triangle of greatness, as in the creators Sam Mendes, Armando Iannucci, and Jon Brown. It was a total gift.
Jessica Hynes Explains Her Character, Steph The Script Supervisor
“She Kind Of Is Her Job, In A Way”
Jessica, I used to work as a set PA, so I feel where Steph is coming from at times. Can you talk to me about who Steph is as a character and what role she plays as the assistant to the visionary director, Eric?
Jessica Hynes: Steph is somebody who’s really, really good at her job. She loves her job. She loves being on set. She’s actually a script supervisor, so even though she sometimes acts in a PA role to Eric, her real focus is making sure that whatever is in the script gets on camera and gets in the can. That means monitoring the lens size, the number of shots, the shots the director likes, and the shots that are needed to complete a scene. Her responsibility is to make sure what’s on the page gets in the can, and she loves the job. It’s her life, and she’s really good at it. I think that she kind of is her job, in a way.
As a character, she’s quite odd in some ways. She’s quite an odd ball, I would say. Like a lot of people who aren’t in front of the camera, but behind the camera, there’s a kind of invisibility to her. No one’s really looking at her. No one’s really paying her much attention. Her invisibility is the job she does, and she just bumbles around the set, really.
Obviously, [she’s] focusing on Eric and making sure that he’s happy, and he’s getting what he needs, but also, as you can see, her attention is wandering towards one of the supporting artists who’s a kind of CGI mollusk man. Then, you begin to wonder what else might be going on in Steph’s life. Maybe just a tiny bit of a midlife crisis? Just a little one, maybe, beginning to bloom. But she is one of those people who’s married to her job. She loves her job, and she loves her team, and she loves being good at what she does.
Brühl Reflects On How The Franchise Might Resonate With Audiences
He Hopes It Won’t Discourage People From Working In Movies
Daniel, I think this is such a fascinating view of the inside of filmmaking. In what ways do you thinkThe Franchisewill resonate with both movie industry insiders and the general audience?
Daniel Brühl: I think what I found very clever in the whole concept of the show is that you see the whole thing through the eyes of the guys who themselves are really committed comic fans and film buffs. That is the truth, and that is what I experienced. For example, these Marvel crews are these guys who, at the end of the day, don’t get the credit and don’t end up on the red carpet and are not being paid tons of money. But they do it out of their passion for it, and they’re incredibly dedicated. This is also a big part of the show and a deeply endearing element to it, so it’s not just a satire about the absurdity of these movies, but about all these hundreds and thousands of committed movie fans who actually work in that business. I hope that, as tragic as some of these moments are in this show, it won’t stop people from dreaming to work in the movie industry.
Hynes Dishes On A Big Mistake Made On Shaun Of The Dead
Jessica, it’s the 20th anniversary ofShaun of the Dead, which is one of my favorite films. Do you ever reflect back on that experience working on that film and the impact it had on your career overall?
Jessica Hynes: What I remember about that film is that I was on set outside the pub, and I remember thinking… I even said to Edgar [Wright], “I think you’re missing a shot. I think you’re missing a shot.” And he was like, “What? Whatever. No, no, no.” And then six months later, we were coming back, and we had to completely rebuild the pub because he had missed the shot. [Laughs] It was the shot of me with the golf club, and it was an iconic shot that was needed to sort of piece the whole last sequence together.
Maybe that’s kind of a bit of a precursor to me as a script supervisor because what preceded Shaun of the Dead was Spaced, which was the series that I wrote with Simon [Pegg]. In a way, I don’t think Shaun of the Dead would’ve happened without Spaced, and I created Spaced. [Laughs]
Hynes & Brühl On Working With Sam Jones & Jon Brown
“They’re Such Amazing Writers And Creatives”
Sam and Jon are absolutely incredible, and I’m so happy they created this show. Can you talk about working with them as collaborators on this project?
Jessica Hynes: They’re such amazing writers and creatives. They’re incredible. You really have an appreciation of what was happening immediately before we started filming, which was this long runup to filming and the amount of work and the amount of effort that they put into actually writing a series and creating a series and creating these characters.
We are jumping in really in the middle of that creative process, and once we all jumped in [during] the pilot week, you just hit the ground running. You know that you’re in the middle of this massive, incredibly energized, creative environment. Everyone was just on their absolute A-game wanting it to be the best it could be.
Daniel Brühl: Jon has the most beautiful curly hair I’ve seen in my life, and he always does this [he twirls a lock of hair]. When you saw him doing this, you knew that he was thinking of a better joke. Actually, from the first draft on, the jokes were fantastic, but he was never happy. He kept on thinking about improving every single joke, every single line, and would always [twirl his hair]. I was very happy when I saw him doing this, because I knew that five minutes later he would come up with an even better scene.
More About The Franchise Season 1
The Franchise is a Max original comedy television series that follows a film crew as they document their increasingly chaotic and hectic work on a Superhero film franchise. Acting as a satire on the industry, the show looks to lampoon the process and the sometimes unreasonable expectations of keeping a long-standing franchise alive and kicking.
Check out our otherThe Franchiseinterviews:
The first episode ofThe Franchiseis now streaming on Max, with new episodes releasing every Sunday at 10pm ET on HBO.
