{"id":126940,"date":"2017-03-02T06:51:23","date_gmt":"2017-03-02T11:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=126940"},"modified":"2022-10-01T10:01:50","modified_gmt":"2022-10-01T14:01:50","slug":"bitter-homes-and-gardens-an-interview-with-fielding-edlow-and-larry-clarke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=126940","title":{"rendered":"New web series Bitter Homes and Gardens<\/i>: An interview with Fielding Edlow and Larry Clarke"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The new web series Bitter Homes and Gardens<\/a> – premiering on March 24th – written by Fielding Edlow (who also stars) – follows the sometimes-toxic and always-hilarious bickering of a Hollywood couple (Edlow and Larry Clarke) struggling to get their acting\/writing careers going. She is a “snack blogger”, who says she wants to “vlog”, too. She writes scripts on spec, but can’t seem to get anything going, despite her nonstop agitated hustle. He is an actor whose career thus far has featured roles like “morgue attendant” and “cop on the left” etc., but he has the inflated ego of an A-Lister serious actor. In any “show biz” circles, you meet people like this. But it takes a writer like Fielding Edlow to turn it into something hilarious<\/i> and compulsively watchable. <\/p>\n

Fielding Edlow, creator and star of Bitter Homes and Gardens<\/i>, has a busy career as a playwright, actress, and standup comedian. She hosts a monthly comedy show at Hollywood Improv called \u201cEat Pray F*ck\u201d<\/a> (the name makes me laugh every time it comes across my news feed). An award-winning writer, her wit is sharp to the point that it hurts – you can’t believe some of the things her characters say to one another – but she balances that sharpness with a humanist ability to laugh at – and have affection for – the absurdity of human behavior. Her dialogue is unstoppable. <\/p>\n

Larry Clarke is a busy actor, who has appeared on The Mentalist, Grey’s Anatomy, Law & Order, Shameless, The Bridge<\/em>, and more. He is also a member of the cast of the new Twin Peaks<\/i>, premiering in May. He’s worked quite a bit with Steven Soderbergh, appearing in The Informant<\/i>, as well as appearing as Kate Winslet’s Hazmat-suited partner in disease-control in Contagion<\/i>. I saw Larry in the Broadway revival of David Rabe’s Streamers<\/i> at the Roundabout and it was such a memorable evening. Larry played a character who had no idea how tragic he was, how lost, and it was heartbreaking. He’s a wonderful actor.<\/p>\n

Fielding and Larry are married in real-life, and have a daughter. Full disclosure: I have known the two of them for years, and have long admired both of their work! <\/p>\n

Executive-produced by Jim Leonard (who produced Dexter<\/i>, The Closer<\/i>, Major Crimes<\/i>), with Dave Rock directing, Bitter Homes and Gardens<\/i> started with one episode titled “DVR,” which premiered at the Palm Springs Festival and won “Best Comedy” at the New York Short Film Festival. Bitter Homes and Gardens<\/i> launches its first season (8 episodes, all directed by Rock) on March 24th and has already received raves, as well as a clamoring online audience wanting to know what happens next with this unpleasant – and yet totally relatable – couple. <\/p>\n

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\nLarry Clarke & Fielding Edlow<\/i><\/p>\n

\nI was so happy to speak with Larry and Fielding over the phone recently about Bitter Homes and Gardens<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Sheila O’Malley:<\/strong><\/big> I wanted to hear about the idea for the first episode \u201cDVR\u201d and how you developed it from there. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Fielding Edlow:<\/strong><\/big> I\u2019ll take that one. Because “Hashtag Lean in”. We had a friend who was helping Temple Israel put together an evening and the theme was Forgiveness. So Larry was like \u201cJust write one of our typical fights and how we get over it.\u201d So I wrote about our fights about the DVR. And we got to the Temple and we were doing a quote unquote run-through, and we heard other scenes where people were talking about the IRA and re-uniting with the family who housed them during the Holocaust, and stealing your grandmother\u2019s morphine\u2026 I said to Larry, \u201cWe gotta get out of here.\u201d But to our delight, it couldn\u2019t have gone better! Our scene went up in the middle of this gut-wrenching night, where people were like, \u201cMy grandmother\u2019s writhing in pain and I\u2019m high as a kite!\u201d The head rabbi came up to us afterwards and said, \u201cI relate to that! I read my sermons to my wife and she gives me notes and it\u2019s so annoying.\u201d So I thought, Wow, okay so this is relatable. <\/p>\n

I brought it to my writer\u2019s group and they were unanimous that we should keep going. My group is littered with show-runners and producers and a couple of them said, \u201cWe want to produce you, we want to give you money, and we want to make this a web series.\u201d <\/p>\n

Larry Clarke:<\/strong><\/big> Jim Leonard, our producer, is the guy who really set this whole thing up. Jim said, \u201cListen – we want to empower writers without having executive producers over their shoulders trying to take away the funny.\u201d Jim really believes in Fielding\u2019s voice. He said, \u201cWe want to keep your voice as pure as possible.\u201d They didn\u2019t spend that much money, so no one was having a heart attack. Those writers’ rooms and executive producers can destroy humor. When you have too many people in the room with comedy, it starts to go away. <\/p>\n

SOM:<\/strong><\/big> Fielding, how many drafts do you go through? Do you run through it and riff by yourselves and tape it? What\u2019s the process? <\/strong><\/p>\n

FE:<\/strong><\/big> A huge part of my process as a writer is hearing it out loud. So I\u2019ll write a rough draft and then I\u2019ll bring it into a group and hear it out loud or Larry and I will read it to each other and immediately I can hear which jokes don\u2019t work – I can hear where it\u2019s singing, where I\u2019m overwriting. <\/p>\n

LC:<\/strong><\/big> Developing it was something that was a process, even when we got into the physical space and we were about to start shooting. We had a lot of ideas and right before we shot stuff, we were like, \u201cWhat am I DOING in this scene?\u201d And that would be the last thing we would add, that\u2019s how we found a lot of that spark, where the magic is. Me arranging pillows on the couch, her re-arranging what I did. Whatever. It has to be smart and structured to begin with, and when we start filming we let it all go. We got into a rhythm where it was intense but funny. It was intense on set, don\u2019t you think, Fielding? It was a driven set. We didn\u2019t have a lot of time.<\/p>\n

SOM:<\/strong><\/big> How long does each episode take? <\/strong><\/p>\n

FE:<\/strong><\/big> It\u2019s about a couple of hours for each episode. The goal was two a day. And sometimes we wouldn\u2019t get to it. For me, the whole thing was having alacrity – speed – with the dialogue. There\u2019s a lot of words and it\u2019s got to be quick, you\u2019ve got to be a little bit ahead of the audience. <\/p>\n

SOM:<\/strong><\/big> Can you talk a little bit about developing the season-wide Arc?<\/strong><\/p>\n

FE:<\/strong><\/big> I started as a playwright but I know TV and webisodes, and I thought: What do we leave people with? What are we working towards? It seemed a little cliched to me to end with me being pregnant but I feel like if we kept our voices and do it in our acerbic vituperative way \u2026 For example, I, in my real life, was completely obsessed with my gynecologist when I was pregnant. I\u2019d wear my wedding shoes to appointments. I got on her Instagram. When I actually had the baby I didn\u2019t even care about the baby I just wanted her to think I was pushing well. So we\u2019re looking towards Season 2 thinking we might add the gynecologist, and I thought, I can make this exciting for myself. <\/p>\n

And certainly, I pitch ideas to the executive producer. It\u2019s never just me, it\u2019s about collaborating, it\u2019s our<\/em> project. Our director, Dave Rock, is also an amazing editor, and editing is so important for comedy. He cut this trailer and it\u2019s a mini-masterpiece. We feel so fortunate. We all have very different energies. He\u2019s not effusive, which makes you work really hard. He is a brilliant director who controls our energies perfectly. And probably needs a spot of therapy after every shoot with us.<\/p>\n

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\nLeft to right: Producer Jim Leonard, line producer Ryan Willis, director Dave Rock, Writer\/actress Fielding Edlow, actor Larry Clarke, DP Nico Navia<\/i><\/p>\n

SOM:<\/strong><\/big> This relationship is how married couples appear to me, as a total outsider to that whole scene. <\/strong><\/p>\n

FE:<\/strong><\/big> There are those couples who never fight. Or who won\u2019t fart in front of each other. <\/p>\n

SOM:<\/strong><\/big> That\u2019s just not sustainable.<\/strong><\/p>\n

FE:<\/strong><\/big> Married couples spend a lot of time on the couch. Larry and I got really into Breaking Bad<\/em>, for example. When the show ended, I felt like, \u201cWell, what\u2019s the point of staying together? All we had was Breaking Bad<\/em>. If I can\u2019t watch whatshername sell meth overseas, then what\u2019s the point anymore?\u201d <\/p>\n

SOM:<\/strong><\/big> I love the moments of sentiment you found between the characters. It felt genuine and yet you still feel like, \u201cWho else would be with these people?\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n

FE:<\/strong><\/big> That\u2019s a very perspicacious comment. <\/p>\n

SOM:<\/strong><\/big> Wow.<\/strong><\/p>\n

FE:<\/strong><\/big> It\u2019s a very good word, right? No, but literally Larry will look at me about once a week and say, \u201cJust so you know, nobody else would put up with you.\u201d And he means it. And he\u2019s right. That was a note we\u2019ve consistently gotten all the way through, though: Where\u2019s the love? We\u2019ve got to have the vulnerable moments. It\u2019s so important. <\/p>\n

SOM:<\/strong><\/big> I\u2019m still laughing about that random line: \u201cThe Bolsheviks \u2026 NAFTA\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

LC:<\/strong><\/big> We used to say to each other, \u201cWe don\u2019t talk about current events enough.\u201d At one point we challenged ourselves to read the whole NY Times<\/em> first section and then have a talk about it. Which we did. \u201cHey, on page 7, there\u2019s something happening in Libya with the ambassador.\u201d Trying to talk about things that aren\u2019t just gossip or our careers. And it\u2019s hard to do in this world. <\/p>\n

SOM:<\/strong><\/big> I can distinguish between you two in real life and the characters, by the way.<\/strong><\/p>\n

LC:<\/strong><\/big> I\u2019m not quite that selfish in real life. <\/p>\n

SOM:<\/strong><\/big> I know, but it\u2019s this exaggerated quality of something that feels very true. Like, when your character said you\u2019re doing Equus<\/em> with a \u201cMalibu collective,\u201d I want to cry. Saying it\u2019s a \u201ccollective\u201d doesn\u2019t make it better, Larry. It\u2019s interesting to see a couple who are both struggling with what kind of career they will have. If they will have ANY kind of career.<\/strong><\/p>\n

LC:<\/strong><\/big> The characters are too self-involved to do well. They are the ultimate Hollywood self-obsessives. They\u2019re a little lost. And of course that\u2019s how it can be in Los Angeles. There’s a tragic element to it. But it\u2019s so much fun to play. I remember when I first met Jeffrey Tambor – he became my great teacher and friend – and I asked him \u201cHow did you get<\/em> to Hank [in the Larry Sanders Show<\/em>] as an actor? How did you DO that?\u201d It\u2019s a flawless characterization and it\u2019s funny on so many levels. Jeffrey has taught me a lot about comedy and acting – and he said, \u201cBefore every take on the Larry Sanders Show<\/em>, I said to myself \u2018He is the loneliest man in the world.'” I think there\u2019s something to that. Those sad clown characters I\u2019ve always gravitated to. I think there\u2019s a lot of that in Larry in Bitter Homes<\/em> and also in Fielding\u2019s character. If something doesn\u2019t happen for them, it\u2019s the end of the world. There\u2019s nothing to hang onto – and YET. We can go to CVS and it will save our marriage. <\/p>\n

SOM:<\/strong><\/big> It\u2019s strangely sweet. <\/strong><\/p>\n

LC:<\/strong><\/big> Jim Leonard felt: Here\u2019s a cool young writer who has a unique voice we haven\u2019t heard before. He was intrigued by it. He was intrigued by Fielding’s style of comedy and her ability to write dialogue that is sarcastic and poetic at the same time. He really wanted to create something where her voice could be heard without censors. They gave us so much freedom. That freedom was so important. <\/p>\n

Season 1 trailer of Bitter Homes and Gardens<\/i><\/big><\/p>\n

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