Why Amy Sumer’s Life & Beth is a TV Show and Not a Movie

Amy Sumer’s latest project life and betty Described as “deeply personal”.

But the actor-comedian didn’t just use his own experience in the narrative details of Hulus Dramed, a woman who reconsiders her painful adolescence as she returns to her hometown after a sudden tragedy. He also used his own life to determine the format of the half-hour series.

“I just paid attention to how I looked at things and looked at content,” Sumer said. hollywood reporter At first life and betty Why he chose to tell this story on a TV show rather than a movie like his 2015 autobiographical comedy train collision. “One night my husband and I were like, ‘Oh, we don’t want to watch a movie; It’s too long. ‘ But we ended up watching the Ricky Jersey show after life, and we watched this or that for three hours. So I thought, you know, now I like big things. And I think one of the criticisms of this show is that it’s like a movie like a feature film, and that’s what it could have shot. I just wanted to tell this story the way I used the content.”

Former Sumer employee Kevin Kane, who participates and serves as an executive producer. life and bettyHe indicated that the project’s format evolved from the story they wanted to tell, including double-dating after Sumerian Betty as an adult and teenager, with a younger version of her character played by Violet Young.

“It was our first time working on a narrative television show and we wanted to make the most of the space,” Kane said. THR Recently at premiere.

Sumer’s mother read all the scripts and watched all of its episodes. life and bettyAnd the actor and comedian has a strong relationship with his real sister Kim Caramel. But the actors who play the Sumerian protagonist’s mother and sister, Laura Benant and Susanna Flood, respectively, say they are playing fictional characters.

“I’m not playing Amy Sumer’s mother,” Benanti added. “I’m playing Betty’s mother. We talked very specifically about this character, but in no way am I playing Amy as a real mother. ”

Flood shared, “The character I play is not Amy and of course Amy perfectly shared the dynamic that she goes through as a sister. I share the dynamic I go through in my sibling relationships. He totally appreciated any collaboration on the character and we threw things at each other. ”

While Bennett Jane is seen in flashbacks throughout the series, she also plays an important role in the tragedy that is the catalyst for Betty to discover herself.

As for why he chose this particular incident as a galvanic moment, Sumer mentioned a sharp visual metaphor at the end of the show’s first episode.

“What doesn’t bend, collapses,” Sumer said. “Your whole life and your relationship with your mother led to this breakup.”

life and betty It was recently updated for a second season, which offered some answers to some questions from season one, including the impact Betty Daze had as a child.

When asked if something could have caused the character’s apparent change in temperament from childhood to adulthood, Flud replied: I want him to be able to tell me what it is. ”

However, he offered, “I think he probably hit the fans in a smart way. I think from what we see, Ann has this eccentric spirit and she’s an inspiring child, she has a natural capacity for joy and then something happens that makes it that much harder to access them. ”

all 10 episodes life and bettyIts first season runs on Hulu.