“I guess they say, in layman’s terms, dreams come true,” exclaims Somebody Somewhere star and executive producer Bridget Everett of the HBO series and the reaction it has generated. “Every step along the way has felt very organic,” the Patty Cake$ alum adds.
“ I’m right where I need to be with I want to be with the people I want to be with, creating something I didn’t know existed and it’s been very fulfilling.”
As you can see in the video above, Everett joined us this week for a Deadline Virtual Screening Series showing of the “Tee-Tee, Pa-Pah” fifth episode of Somebody Somewhere’s first season. Tossing in some well-timed LL Cool J references, Everett was joined by fellow EPs and series co-creators Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen were on-board, along with director and EP Jay Duplass and co-star Jeff Hiller, who plays Joel on the series.
Having debuted on January 16 on HBO, the seven episode first season of the somewhat autobiographical Somebody Somewhere has proven a heartland hit with viewers and critics alike. Set in Everett’s home state of Kanas and filmed in Illinois and birthed out her development deal with HBO, Somebody Somewhere straddles the sometimes sad, shocking and often enlightening. Literally and figuratively, this is a show about finding your voice and your people.
“When I met with Bridget, Hannah, and Paul, I was like Oh my God, this is exactly the kind of stuff I love to do,” Jay Duplass revealed in the panel subsequent to the screening.
“We regard this as an indie film,” Duplass, who directed the pilot, went on to say. “We’re all game, we know this isn’t a perfect universe and I think the energy out that actually lends to just the reality of what we’re trying to accomplish. We’re trying to accomplish something that feels really real.”
Clearly, someone up there like that reality, because Somebody Somewhere was renewed for second season on February 3.
Along with Everett, Bos and Thureen, Game of Thrones vet Carolyn Strauss, Patricia Breen and Room 104‘s Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, Mel Eslyn and Tyler Romary are also executive producers. The Mighty Mint/Duplass Brothers Productions produces Somebody Somewhere.