Wilderness creators on lead star Jenna Coleman, strikes and their love letter to Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift might already be somewhat ubiquitous at the moment thanks to her Eras tour, upcoming movie and the nine MTV VMA prizes she took home this week, but she’s about to get even more attention thanks to her track being used in a new drama starring Jenna Coleman.
Her 2017 song Look What You Made Me Do is the title track for Wilderness – the story of a couple whose dream holiday quickly sours amid deception and revenge – and also sums up the mood of the main character Liv, who is portrayed by Coleman.
Swift is one of the biggest stars in the world right now which might make the process of using one of her tracks sound challenging but the show’s creator Marnie Dickens told Sky News’ Backstage podcast it was in fact “lovely”.
“I write all my commercial tracks into the script, so in this case, it’s Liv’s point of view, so it’s kind of like her playlist because I think music is a very good way to get behind whatever the character, whatever mask they put up, whatever you listen to in your AirPods, I think, is expressing your sort of emotional state,” she explained.
“So the track was in there in episode two anyway, and then Amazon were like, ‘you know, you can have somebody for the title track, who’s your dream?’ And obviously Taylor was the dream.”
Taylor Swift’s 2017 revenge anthem Look What You Made Me Do is the Wilderness title track Pic: AP
“So I wrote a love letter to her saying why this song is perfect, why she’s perfect, and it worked… She gave her blessing.”
Wilderness is based on a book and Dickens, whose previous work includes the series’ Gold Digger and Thirteen, says that while she appreciates being given a twisty thriller to write from, she also loved the setting of the drama.
“It’s a juicy relationship thriller which is very much in my wheelhouse but instantly it took it out of the domestic sphere,” she said.
“So you had a natural sort of expansive story stage, which is very exciting because sometimes in relationship dramas you think they’re going to get very boxed in, kitchen sinky, and then there’s this amazing female protagonist in Liv.
“And I guess the other thing was like, there’s this chance to play with this idea in the audience’s mind of like, What’s your darkest revenge fantasy? And we get to kind of have wish fulfilment watching it play out via our heroine.”
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The series director So Yong Kim says it was the revenge aspect that drew her to the project.
“Oh, I had fantasies of killing off my husband before,” she laughed. “So I thought, ‘hey, this is great, it’s just right up my alley.”
Both Dickens and Yong Kim are extremely complimentary about Coleman’s work on the show and on-screen presence.
With members of SAG-AFTRA on strike because the US union hasn’t reached a deal with studios, Coleman and fellow cast members Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Ashley Benson can’t do the interviews and promo that they usually would when a new project comes out.
“I think I feel for them it’s.. I feel like Jenna and Oliver worked so hard, and the rest of the cast, we’ve got such an incredible ensemble cast, I feel like they should be celebrated,” said Dickens.
“So that is a shame I think that they can’t be, but there’s a strike for a very good reason, and we’re very supportive of the strike.”
“Yeah, likewise, I support the strike, but I feel sad that we can’t celebrate with them,” said Yong Kim.
Dickens – who is British – says the impact of the walkouts in Hollywood is definitely being felt on this side of the Atlantic.
“Speaking to So and to Cat our amazing DOP, you realise we’re not being hit anywhere near as hard as our colleagues and friends in LA and New York,” she explained.
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Jenna Coleman is unable to promote the show amid the SAG-AFTRA strike Pic: Firebird Pictures / Prime Video
“But I think there is a slow down on the commissioning front and you are having to work harder to get green lights, so it’s tough.”
“[But] I think it’s tougher for the crews because there’s just fewer things filming, but hopefully it’s short-term pain, long term gain.”
When it came to making the show, the cast didn’t rehearse much, instead Yong Kim had them write letters to one another in character, and the cast and crew simply spent time together in order to build relationships.
“We had Zoom calls with Marnie and Liz [Kilgariff – the other executive producer on the show] to go over particular scenes that were more complex,” she said.
“But otherwise we just spent time having coffee and having meals, doing some journaling and doing a lot of just getting to know each other, building trust and friendship.”
But while positive relationships were formed off-screen, what we see on screen is a story of revenge, toxic relationships and how complex they can be.
Dickens hopes that’s something the audience takes away.
“I would want people to come away thinking revenge is a very fun thing to pursue, but it causes huge devastation across the series.
“So it’s not that I want the audience to think twice about their own revenge plans, but I guess for me, if they come away, feeling that they’ve experienced Liv’s journey and that they understand the things that she’s done, that would be a real satisfying achievement, I think.”
Wilderness is out on Prime Video now. Hear our review on the latest episode of Backstage, the film and TV podcast from Sky News.
Angelina Jolie says although she appreciates being an artist, she would prefer for her legacy to be “a good mother” and to be known for her “belief in equality and human rights”.
The Oscar-winning actress stars as Maria Callas in the new Pablo Larrain film about the opera singer’s life.
Pic: StudioCanal
She has called Maria “the hardest” and “most challenging” role she has had in her career and put months of preparation into immersing herself into the world of opera.
Jolie, who recently reached a divorce settlement with actor Brad Pitt, told Sky News: “To be very candid, it was the therapy I didn’t realise I needed. I had no idea how much I was holding in and not letting out.
“So, the challenge wasn’t the technical [side of opera], it was an emotional experience to find my voice, to be in my body, to express. You have to give every single part of yourself.”
The biopic combines the voice of the Maleficent actress with recordings of Maria Callas.
Jolie believes it “would be a crime to not have [Callas’] voice through this because, in many ways, she is very present in this film”.
Who was Maria Callas?
Born in New York in 1923, Maria Callas was the daughter of Greek immigrants who moved back to Athens at the age of 13 with her mother and sister.
After enrolling at the Athens Conservatory, she made her professional debut at 17 and went on to become one of the most famous faces of opera, travelling around the world and performing at Covent Garden in London, The Met in New York and La Scala in Milan.
Callas’s final operatic performance took place at Covent Garden in 1965 when she was 41 but she continued to work conducting master classes at Juilliard School, doing concert tours and starring in the 1969 film Medea.
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Maria focuses on the artist’s final years in the 1970s when she moved to Paris and disappeared from public view.
She died on 16 September 1977 at the age of 53.
Pic: StudioCanal
Jolie on changing motivations as an actor
Maria follows the life of an artist fully consumed by the art she creates and even remarks that “happiness never developed a beautiful melody”.
Reflecting on her own life in the spotlight, Jolie said she noticed her own career motivations change over the years.
“There’s this kind of study of being human that we do when we create, and we communicate with an audience because our work is not in isolation – it’s a connection.
“I think when I was younger, I had different questions about being human and different feelings and now as I’ve gotten older, I understand some things and now I have different questions.
“It’s a matter of life, right? And so maybe that’s interesting that this now is a character really contemplating death and really contemplating the toll of certain things in life that I, of course, couldn’t have understood in my 20s”.
Jolie at the New York Film Festival in September with three of her children (L-R) Pax, Zahara and Maddox. Pic: AP
A family affair
Two of Jolie’s children, Maddox and Pax, took on production assistant roles during the filming of Maria and witnessed their mother perform opera for the first time in public.
She says the film allowed them to create new experiences together and for her children to see her approach to playing a difficult role.
“Everyone in my home, we all give each other space to be who we are and we’re all different.
“I’m the mom, but I’m also an artist and a person and so my family has been very kind and gives me their understanding. They make fun of me, and they support me and just as you’d hope it would be.”
She adds: “When you play somebody who is dealing with so much pain, it’s very important to come home to some kindness.”
Maria is in cinemas now.
Tom Holland’s dad has confirmed his son’s engagement to Zendaya – revealing how the 28-year-old meticulously planned the proposal.
Zendaya, also 28, sparked engagement rumours when she attended last Sunday’s Golden Globes wearing a sparkling diamond on her ring finger.
Neither star has publicly addressed the rumours but Tom’s comedian father, Dominic Holland, has now confirmed the pair are set to wed.
He wrote in a post on his Patreon account: “Tom, as you know by now was very incredibly well prepared. He had purchased a ring.
“He had spoken with her father and gained permission to propose to his daughter.”
“Tom had everything planned out… When, where, how, what to say, what to wear,” he added.
Zendaya arrived at the Golden Globes with a noticeable piece of new jewellery. Pic: Invision/AP
Dominic also noted that while most men worry about being able to afford an engagement ring, he suspects his actor son was “more concerned with the stone, its size and clarity, its housing, which jeweller”.
Tom and Zendaya met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016, when they played the titular hero and his love interest MJ, respectively. Their romance was confirmed in 2021.
In his post, Tom’s father admitted fears over whether being in the spotlight could put a strain on the couple’s relationship.
He wrote: “I do fret that their combined stardom will amplify their spotlight and the commensurate demands on them and yet they continually confound me by handling everything with aplomb.”
“And even though show business is a messy place for relationships and particularly so for famous couples as they crash and burn in public and are too numerous to mention […] yet somehow right at the same time, I am completely confident they will make a successful union.”
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Zendaya rose to fame after landing a role in Disney sitcom Shake It Up, and became a household name after starring in Euphoria.
Holland – who has starred in three Spider-Man films opposite his now-fiancée – made his stage debut in Billy Elliot the Musical in 2008.
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