Partnered
FeatureTHE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 118 NOVEMBER 6, 2019
THR x Apple
In ConversationMORNING: COURTESY OF APPLE TV. ANISTON, WITHERSPOON: STEFANIE KEENAN/GETTY IMAGES.FRIENDS: EVERETT COLLECTION.The Morning Show
Arrives Right on
Time Jennıfer Aniston
and Reese Witherspoon
on their Apple show’s
‘uncanny’ relevance
and the ‘vampire lives’
of a.m. anchors
By Alison BrowerS
ince it was announced
in August 2017 — with
Jennifer Aniston and
Reese Witherspoon as co-stars
and co-executive producers —
Apple TV+’s The Morning Show,
centered on a fictitious morning
news program, has generated
plenty of its own headlines. From
Aniston’s and Witherspoon’s
$2 million-per-episode fees
to a creative dust-up that saw
first-time showrunner Jay
Carson replaced by Kerry Ehrin,
every move on the tech giant’s
first big original was scruti-
nized as keenly as the #MeToo
scandals that helped inspire it
(including Matt Lauer’s ou ster
from To d ay amid allegations of
sexual misconduct).
Based on CNN anchor BrianStelter’s 201 3 b o ok Top of the
Morning, the show premiered the
first three chapters Nov. 1 (with
seven more rolling out weekly
through the end of the year). The
trio of episodes dropped just
two weeks after Ronan Farrow’s
Catch and Kill reported additional
allegations against Lauer and
his NBC News bosses. During an
Oct. 24 conversation with THR
in front of a SAG-AFTRA audi-
ence, the two stars unpacked the
show’s “uncanny” timing and the
relationship between Aniston’s
Alex Levy, a veteran reeling
from the firing of her co-anchor
(Steve Carell), and Witherspoon’s
Bradley Jackson, an upstart from
a conservative news outlet who
(spoiler alert) will end up taking
his place.What’s it like to see the show
arrive when the news stories it was
inspired by are back in the head-
lines — in a more dramatic way?
JENNIFER ANISTON It’s uncanny,
isn’t it?
REESE WITHERSPOON It’s uncanny
how prescient the show is because
things are going to unfold toward
the end of the show [that are
similar to current headlines].
Unfortunately, gross negligence
happens across many platforms
and in many companies, so we
had a lot of information.
ANISTON The fact that [showrun-
ner] Kerry Ehrin was able to tap
into it — she’s not a part of that
[TV news] world in any way — yet
she was able to create characters
that were layered and complicated
and honest and messy.Did you do research with people
who work in morning TV?
ANISTON I went to New York, and
Good Morning America was kind
enough to allow me in at 5 in the
morning. To walk through that
world, which is an insane engine
that revs up and then explodes —
it’s done with such ease and grace.
You think, “There’s no way this is
going to happen.” And it just does.
The lives of these people! They livethese lives of vampires under-
ground, constantly figuring out
what they’re going to tell all of us
so hopefully we don’t feel crappy
throughout the day. They all say
— even Diane Sawyer — it’s never
easy. Waking up at 3:30 never gets
comfortable. They hate it.Reese, you’ve played a lot of
straight arrows — in Big Little Lies,
Election — who are controlled and
then they bust out. Here, your char-
acter is a firebrand from the start
— whom did you draw on?
I definitely looked at people who
have no impulse control — my
character just has this tendency
to say things and then think
about it later. It was really fun to
play. That first scene was hard
[Witherspoon’s character gets
into a screaming match with
protestors at a coal mine]. I had
to memorize all those words
[about the science and politics of
coal energy]. I think I said “gera-
nium” in one take. They were like,
“Geranium is a flower.”Jen, there’s a moment when Alex
says she’s running on impulse,
yet she shows a pretty controlled
woman to the world. How did you
find that balance?“They’re finding their way in this new normal,” says Aniston (left) of her character and
Witherspoon’s, who become co-anchors after a male host departs amid misconduct claims.