The cast of Eastwick are clearly having a lot of fun with the series. When they gathered to talk about their show with the Television Critics Association, their enthusiasm was abundant.
Paul Gross was asked how he approached playing the devil. He responded, “There are many different kinds of devils, and I'm sort of the Eastwick devil. We'll kind of unfold that as it goes, and I think you'll come to see that my powers really are limitless.” He also told the journalists that his devil should not be compared to the iconic devil of Jack Nicholson in the movie.
Eastwick is Not Desperate Housewives with Magic
While viewers might want to draw a connection between Eastwick and ABC’s popular series Desperate Housewives, a sort of Desperate Housewives with magic, Executive Producer Maggie Friedman says it is not at all like the other ABC show about women.
“Obviously we wanted to appeal to a similar audience,” Friedman explained, “and it's a show about women. It's a show about empowerment. It's a show about friendship. But we feel like it's very different from Desperate Housewives. And we were actually very conscious, and ABC wanted us to be conscious, of not trying to copycat or do things that they had done. We are definitely our own world, our own universe. It's a very unique show that, hopefully, will appeal to the same people, because that's a good show.”
The Differences Between the Movie and the Series
Friedman also said that this series, while based on the book and movie, is not the same. “First of all, it's a very iconic movie. It takes place in the '80s. It's very much of that time. And we feel like this version is contemporary. It's about problems that people are dealing with today. And the characters are very different.
“In the movie, the magic is sort of ephemeral. You don't really understand where it's coming from or what it's about. And in this version, each of the women has a very specific power that she's dealing with that sort of reflects back on her life's journey and her problems. And it's a very different world but, hopefully, evocative of the same sense of fun and sex and all that good stuff.”
Supernatural Powers are Enticing
The actresses were asked whether they would like to have some of the powers that their characters possess. Rebecca Romijn answered, “I think it would be a little bit of a double-edged sword. And I certainly wouldn't be burdened with psychic sense. I think it would affect the way I lived my day-to-day life. [My character] can control the elements. That wouldn't be [a] bad [power] to have.”
“It's a little bit of a responsibility, though,” added Jaime Ray Newman. I don't know if I'd want that responsibility either. I guess once [my character] Kat figures out how to harness that, then that might be fun. But it's a little out of control right now.”
Lindsay Price enjoys her character. “I would have to say that, as actors, it's so much fun to get to play witches because you get to have this sense of make-believe and fantasy every day going into work. And that part is thrilling. And we get to play, so we're having a blast.”
Sara Rue does not play a witch in the show. She describes her character as a nay-sayer. “I'm the fact checker at the newspaper, and I'm very into facts and figures and things being real. And I'm not all about magic. I like things to remain the same. But I sort of kind of compare it to Veronica [Cartwright's] character in the movie. She was a major religious fanatic, and there's not that element, but there is sort of this anti-the-unknown with my character that's really interesting. And I'm really enjoying playing her. It's been fun. I think that maybe I, too, will have certain powers in the future. So I'm looking forward to that. I don't know [for sure though.]
Maggie Friedman confided that they have a five-year plan for the series, but at the moment they are only concentrating on season one. Cybill Shepherd will be making several appearances in some of the episodes.
An Empowering Story for Women
Friedman said that the show is about the women’s empowerment, and she doesn’t mean em –“power” - ment. “The empowerment that the women experience, yes, obviously it's supernatural. We don't feel that in our day-to-day lives. But, for example, with the Joanna character who can hypnotize people, that's really about her not having a voice or standing up for herself and learning that once she stands up for herself, she's able to get things that she didn't realize she could get. And it's really the same with all of them. It's about learning who they really are and embracing who they really are, and the magic is a metaphor.
“And with the Darryl character, he's not this powerful man who comes in and makes them over. We'll discover that he needs them more than they need him and that, in fact, he wants to harness their power. It's not really about him bestowing something upon them or about what he can get out of them because they are so powerful.”
“A lot of what we have fun playing with is finding ways to ground these sorts of magical stories into real life,” explained Lindsay Price.
There have been TV series about witches before. Charmed and Bewitched are two of the popular ones.
Eastwick airs Wednesdays at 10 PM ET/PT on ABC.
 |
