C2 EZ SU THE WASHINGTON POST.TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26 , 2021
but they are also authors, influ-
encers, podcasters and keyboard
warriors; impresarios of wellness
and wine; the subjects of docu-
mentaries and drink-throwers on
reality TV; and the most extro-
verted version of themselves on
Cameo and at conventions.
In the same period, the nature
of star power has changed. In the
’90s, A-listers such as Tom Cruise
and Julia Roberts exuded un-
knowability, unreachability. We
became familiar with their mega-
watt smiles and a few details
about their love lives, but prob-
ably not whom they voted for or
what their kitchen(s) looked like.
These days, there doesn’t seem to
be a single thing we don’t know
about Kim Kardashian West, and
even an octogenarian actress like
Jane Fonda can go viral with a
self-deprecating morning-after
photo that illustrates the magic of
makeup. Authenticity and relat-
ability — or a convincing per-
formance thereof — is what raises
NOTEBOOK FROM C1 a celebrity’s Q score.
Perhaps no other kind of star is
more sympathetic than an over-
the-hill one, their faded beauty no
longer so threatening, their sta-
tus diminished and thus human-
ized, their once-tight lips often
loosened by courage, maturity,
bitterness or carelessness.
We’re certainly much kinder to
them than we used to be. We
eagerly anticipate docs about Val
Kilmer and Selma Blair, make hit
podcasts out of the ones hosted
by former castmates of “The So-
pranos” and “Beverly Hills,
90210” and generally display
more decency than to muse aloud
about when a young actor
chewed up and spit out by the
system might die. Even the de-
cades-old stigma against conven-
tion appearances seems to have
disappeared. Everyone under-
stands needing to make a buck,
and if it makes fans happy in the
process, that’s a win-win.
Many a s uccessful TV series
has been built around empathy
for characters we might have
initially found utterly repellent:
serial killers, Soviet spies hell-
bent on destroying America,
techies. Fittingly, then, our new-
found sympathy for aging celebs
fuels some of the best and buzzi-
est shows of the year, including a
hidden gem currently on the air.
Earlier this year, “Hacks” and
“Girls5eva” became word-of-
mouth smashes by dangling the
promise of a second or third act in
front of its performer protago-
nists. With the HBO Max drame-
dy “Hacks,” we longed for Jean
Smart’s Deborah Vance, a Vegas-
based comedian modeled partly
on Joan Rivers, to break out of her
comfort zone and try out a more
honest routine that might speak
to the millions too young to have
seen her on her ’70s sitcom.
Peacock’s “Girls5eva” — named
after a one-hit-wonder girl group
that fizzled at the turn of the
millennium — channels this mo-
ment of endless celebrity come-
backs even more directly, its 40-
something quartet (played by
Sara Bareilles, Renée Elise Golds-berry, Busy Philipps and Paula
Pell) convinced that they still
have something to offer the
world, especially now that they’ve
got more to say than “quit flying
planes at my heart” on Sept. 10,
2001.
Thematic relevance is no guar-
antee of watchability; the ABC
hip-hop drama “Queens,” pre-
mised almost identically to
“Girls5eva,” is off to a clunky start
despite better music and assured
lead performances by Eve and
Brandy. Its failure to launch
makes Fox’s behind-the-scenes
dramedy “The Big Leap” — one of
fall TV’s strongest new offerings
— soar even higher.
Everyone’s seeking a second
chance in this Detroit-set script-
ed hybrid between “Unreal” and
“So You Think You Can Dance”:
Dancers from different back-
grounds and of varying ability get
cast on a reality show that’ll put
on a production of “Swan Lake”
by the end of the season. (“The
Big Leap” is nominally based on a
British docuseries called “Big Bal-let,” which features heavier or
“real”-sized women — and men —
getting to realize their tutu
dreams.)
It’s hard to imagine that an
American broadcast network
would go for the show-within-
the-show — there’s no way the
real Fox would air an amateur
ballet showcase. But its strengths
more than make up for its occa-
sional credulity strains. “The Big
Leap” retains some of the body
positivity of its source material,
and the making-of-reality-TV
concept also gives way to some
deliciously mean showbiz satire,
as well as some compellingly
bleak scenes of how the television
sausage gets made.
The series initially focuses on
the participants’ search for mean-
ing through dance: Single mom
Gabby (winsome newcomer Si-
mone Recasner) wishes for a “cre-
ative rebirth” via ballet after giv-
ing up college to raise her son;
laid-off factory worker Mike (Jon
Rudnitsky) doesn’t realize he’s
vibing with the cancer-survivor
executive (Piper Perabo) who un-
wittingly targeted him for termi-
nation; middle-aged influencer
Julia (Teri Polo) desperately tries
to revive her dead marriage.
But the heavy setup in the first
few episodes has yielded to more
naturalistic character develop-
ment, especially of the show-within-the-show’s coaches: for-
mer dancer Wayne (Kevin Dan-
iels), whose wholesome exterior
covers up struggles with sobriety,
and ex-prima ballerina Monica
(Mallory Jansen), who sneers that
she’s signed herself up for a “ca-
reer-ending diaper fire.” Scarily
self-disciplined and very, very
British, Monica lashes out at ev-
eryone, but she’s angriest at her-
self for not being invincible.
“The Big Leap” hits its stride as
it delves into their backstories, as
well as those of suspended foot-
ball player Reggie (Ser’Darius
Blain), who feels lost without the
structure of the game, and even
the show-within-the-show’s evi-
l-genius producer, Nick (Scott Fo-
ley, relishing every Machiavellian
turn), who’s hoping his last flirta-
tion with professional disgrace
will remain just that.
“The Big Leap” is clear-eyed
but also kindhearted, a conduit of
the greater grace we now extend
to those fighting obsolescence, as
well as, perhaps, a nation con-
vinced of its decline, yet clinging
to hope that better days are
ahead.
[email protected]The Big Leap airs Mondays at 9 p.m.
on Fox.Queens airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on
ABC.Fox’s ‘The Big Leap’ and ABC’s ‘Queens’ have viewers rooting for has-beens
JEAN WHITESIDE/FOX
Mallory Jansen, whose character says she signed up for “career-
ending diaper fire,” and Kevin Daniels in Fox’s “The Big Leap.”alarmed Halls had handled the
weapon.
“No crew member should be
handling a weapon of any kind
other than the armorer, designat-
ed prop person or actor. Full
stop,” Goldstein said. “The armor-
er must clear all firearms with the
[first assistant director] when
bringing them to set, and verify
that they are unloaded. Then the
armorer does the same with the
actor, but the firearm does not
leave the custody of the armorer
or designated prop person.”
In an emotional Facebook post
Sunday afternoon, chief electri-
cian Serge Svetnoy wrote that he
was standing right next to Souza
and Hutchins when Baldwin dis-
charged the weapon. He consid-
ered Hutchins a friend, having
worked with her before, and de-
scribed “holding her in my arms
while she was dying.” The trag-
edy, he said, was “the fault of
negligence and unprofessional-
ism.”
Svetnoy called attention to the
mismanagement of firearms on
set, claiming that the “person
who was supposed to check the
weapon on the site did not do
this.” He expressed concern over
Gutierrez’s lack of experience as a
24-year-old armorer and wrote
that budget-concerned producers
sometimes cut corners by riskily
hiring people “who are not fully
qualified for the complicated and
dangerous job.”
“Dear Producers, by hiring pro-
fessionals, you are buying peace
of mind for yourself and the peo-
ple around you,” Svetnoy wrote.
“It is true that the professionals
can cost a little more and some-
times can be a little bit more
demanding, but it is worth it. No
saved penny is worth the LIFE of
the person!”
[email protected]Travis M. Andrews contributed to this
report.someone saying “cold gun” before
Baldwin was handed the firearm,
a term used to confirm that the
weapon did not contain any live
rounds. (That person is identified
as assistant director Dave Halls
elsewhere in the affidavit.)
Baldwin was practicing that
move when Souza heard what he
described as “a whip and then
loud pop.” He said Hutchins held
her abdomen before stumbling
backward. She was then helped to
the floor. Souza saw blood on
Hutchins and noticed he was
bleeding from the shoulder.
In a s eparate interview with
the detective, Reid Russell, a cam-
era operator who stood near Sou-
za and Hutchins that day, said he
remembered the cinematogra-
pher saying she couldn’t feel her
legs.
Both Souza and Russell told
the detective everyone on set
seemed to be getting along that
day. Russell noted that Baldwin
had been “very careful” while
handling firearms on set, men-
tioning another scene in which
the actor made sure to stay away
from a child while discharging a
weapon.
The interviews explain why
Baldwin had been pointing the
prop gun in Souza and Hutchins’s
direction, but not why they were
injured and killed, respectively,
after it was discharged.
A producer of the film “Free-
dom’s Path,” who spoke on the
condition of anonymity, con-
firmed that Halls had been fired
from that set in 2019 after a crew
member was wounded when a
gun fired unexpectedly. Halls was
removed from the set immedi-
ately after the accident, the pro-
ducer said.
Hannah Gutierrez, the daugh-
ter of widely known Hollywood
armorer Thell Reed, acted as the
armorer on “Rust.” As such, she
was in charge of managing fire-
arms used on set and ensuring
they were safely handled. The
affidavit states that Gutierrez left
three prop guns on a cart outside
the building, from which Halls
grabbed one and handed it to
Baldwin for the rehearsal. Halls
was under the impression it did
not contain any live rounds when
he said “cold gun,” according to
the document.
Halls and Gutierrez did not
return The Washington Post’s re-
quests for comment.
Jeremy Goldstein, an Israeli
military veteran and a Hollywood
armorer himself, previously told
The Post via email that he wasBALDWIN FROM C1Handling of gun on set
remains in question
ANDRES LEIGHTON/ASSOCIATED PRESS
A vigil honors c inematographer
Halyna Hutchins in
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