Thanks to his projects like Y Tu Mama Tambien, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Children of Men, Alfonso Cuarón has long been a much sought-after, acclaimed filmmaker. However, it's safe to say his career his bigger than ever right now, thanks to Gravity, his hit movie which he just won the Oscar for Best Director for.
On the heels of that win, Cuarón is launching his first TV series, Believe, on NBC this Monday. Co-created by Cuarón and executive produced by J.J. Abrams, the series centers on a little girl, Bo (11-year old Johnny Sequoyah), with some very special and powerful abilities - and how those abilities make her valuable to many people, with many different intentions. Cuarón directed the pilot, showing how a mysterious priest, Winter (Delroy Lindo), tasks a convict, Tate (Jake McLaughlin) with protecting Bo.
I spoke to Cuarón, Sequoya and Lindo about the origins of Believe and Cuarón's experience working in TV for the first time.
IGN TV: Alfonso, where did this idea come from?
Alfonso Cuarón: It was one of those things, after talking with J.J. for so many years about doing something together. One day he said, “Hey, man. Let’s do a TV show.” And I was like, “Ooh-hoo, no. I don’t know how to do that.” He said, “Just do it!” And I said, “No, J.J., that’s not for me.” But then, after that conversation, pretty much that same evening, I was like, “Yeah, why not?” Then it was as if all the ideas that I had in the past started coming in and gluing together. And that’s how it happened.
IGN: Delroy, what was the experience like working with Alfonso? He’s got a little bit of respect in this industry, to say the least…
Delroy Lindo: He does have a little bit of respect, and my respect for him is enhanced after having worked with him. I love the fact that he does not come from TV, and I love the fact that because he does not come from TV, he is looking to bring new ideas and new ways of presenting the work, and that’s really exciting and stimulating for me.
IGN: Alfonso’s worked with a lot of kids before. Johnny, what was your experience like with him?
Johnny Sequoyah: [Nonchalantly] It was cool. [Laughs] No, it was really fun.
IGN: Can you talk about your character?
Sequoyah: Yeah, I play Bo, and she’s 10 years old. She has these superpowers, but she doesn’t really know how to control them. So she has this team that protects her called the True Believers, because these bad people are trying to chase her. They break a guy out of jail to protect her and be her foster dad… and then stuff happens. [Laughs]
Question: Delroy, what attracted you to the role?
Lindo: You know what? When my agent called me, I said, “What’s the role?” He said, “You’re playing a priest,” and that immediately got my interest because, even though it’s a priest with a twist, he said, “It’s a priest.” And I said, “Oh, fantastic. It’s not a cop. It’s not a drug dealer. It’s not any of that. It’s a priest.” That got my interest. Secondly, when I heard Alfonso Cuaron, I said, “Oh, yeah. I’m there.” Then when he and I spoke and he explained to me some of the ideas -- how he works, some of the things he was interested in exploring in the project -- I was sold.
IGN: TV is obviously produced on a very different schedule than movies and moves much more quickly. Was that exciting for you, Alfonso? Stressful?
Cuarón: I was so terrified at the beginning, and then the experience was pretty much seamless. I was surrounded by a great group of people, and that’s the key of any project, from a technical standpoint, and the cast. So we were working very fast, but I think that as we were going we found a way of communicating in shorthand. It’s also great to have a cast that’s covering your back. Then when you’re in the cutting room, you say, “Oh thank God, Delroy thought about that.” It’s all about your collaborators.
IGN: What can you say about what’s to come?
Lindo: Just that it’s going to go in some interesting directions.
Cuarón: She’s going to grow her nose, like this. [Cuaron holds his hand far out in front of Sequoya’s nose]
Sequoyah: Excuse me!
Lindo: So she’ll either be Pinocchio or Cyrano de Bergerac.
Cuarón: Exactly!
IGN: At one point, do you hope you’ll be able to come back and direct another episode?
Cuarón: We’re talking about that. I certainly hope so. It depends a little bit now on how I can juggle it with my next project. But yeah, we’re talking about that. It would be exciting. I would love to do that. I had a blast. I really had a blast doing this.
Believe debuts Monday, March 10th on NBC before moving to its regular night on Sunday, March 16th.
Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @EricIGN, IGN at ericgoldman-ign and Facebook at Facebook.com/TheEricGoldman.
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