00:00Hey, I'm Haley Steinfeld, and I am in studio with The Hollywood Reporter.
00:07All right, Haley, thanks so much for joining us.
00:09Now, first of all, congratulations on Dickinson.
00:12Thank you so much.
00:13Such an amazing show, and it's also your first time starring and producing in a project.
00:19What was that like?
00:20It was very fun, a little bit stressful at times, but really just an amazing experience.
00:27I have some amazing fellow producers on this show, and working with Apple has been a dream.
00:34So it's really just been a wonderful experience.
00:36Producing is something I've always been interested in doing, and I, of course, wanted whatever
00:40that first project I produced to be something that I felt the way I feel about Dickinson.
00:45Did you have any learning curves, being that this was your first time having a producer
00:49credit versus just starring in a project?
00:52Absolutely.
00:53I mean, there were times where I, you know, would have a few to either go up to my dressing
01:00room or to my trailer and, you know, I don't know, take a nap, take five.
01:04And in those moments, I would, I found myself in meetings or on calls or behind the monitor
01:09with the directors, which was just so exciting to almost have to be.
01:16You know, in other, in other scenarios, I guess I've just kind of, you know, stood back and
01:21behind the monitor and kind of observed, but being sort of more in the playing field directly
01:26as a producer was definitely something that like would occupy all of my, all of the downtime,
01:31any of the downtime.
01:32And what was it about this show that really pulled you in?
01:35I mean, was there a scene or a moment when you were reading the script and you thought,
01:39all right, I have to be a part of this.
01:42The, one of the first, if not the first scene of episode one, if I'm remembering correctly,
01:49I'll go with one of, to be safe.
01:50One of the first scenes in episode one, Emily, oh, I actually, I think it is the first scene
01:56that I was thinking about it.
01:57Emily is at her desk writing.
01:58It's four in the morning.
02:00Lavinia, her sister, comes to the door with two empty buckets that need to be filled with
02:04water and she has been, according to her, fetching the water for the last couple of
02:10times that they needed to be fetched and comes to Emily and says, it's your turn.
02:14And she basically says, why doesn't Austin do it?
02:16That Austin is her brother.
02:17And she says, because Austin is a boy, right?
02:20He shouldn't have to, he doesn't need to.
02:22And Emily's response to Lavinia in that moment, I remember reading it and thinking like,
02:27that's what this show is.
02:28And it has this very modern sense to it in the language and in the music and in,
02:34in a lot of the scenarios.
02:37And so that response that she had then, it all kind of clicked.
02:40And I was like, this is so different and special and exciting and just sort of walks such
02:46a fine line of being a little, you know, it feels a little dangerous and scandalous.
02:51And it's just, it's, it's so different really.
02:54And I remember talking to Elena Smith, our writer and creator, shortly after I read those
02:59two scripts.
02:59And she so perfectly articulated everything she wanted the season one to be.
03:05And from that point, I knew that it was something I wanted to be involved in.
03:08Yeah.
03:08And it's not every day that you see Emily Dickinson, like twerking to hip hop, right?
03:13It's not.
03:14No, it's not every day.
03:16This is definitely unlike any Emily Dickinson story you have seen or, or heard.
03:22Uh, so that is also another, just something I'm, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing
03:28and, and introducing people to, or reintroducing people to her work and her poetry.
03:33Because although this show is very wild in the sense that there is twerking.
03:38Some wild nights.
03:39There are some wild nights.
03:40It is very driven by her poetry and the themes of her poetry, which are incredibly real and
03:46vulnerable and authentic.
03:48And, um, yeah, I mean, yeah, that's what the show is.
03:51And she's also a little bit of a, a rebel, a wild child in this.
03:55Were you able to relate to that at all?
03:58Parts of it.
03:58I think a lot of her rebellion comes from, you know, fighting against constraints.
04:05And as a young woman in her time, she was forbidden to, I mean, have any creative fulfillment,
04:13uh, to write, to read, to go to the circus, which was just a world of color and creativity.
04:19She was forbidden, um, to experience any of that.
04:23And she wasn't about to let that stop her from, from doing the one thing that made her
04:28feel alive.
04:28And, and I truly feel like, you know, I mean, I, Emily is nothing without her writing.
04:37And I feel the same way about my art.
04:40And, and so I do feel like I connect with her on, on certain levels of that rebellion where
04:45she wouldn't take no for an answer.
04:46She wouldn't let, she wouldn't let anybody make her believe that that wasn't what she was
04:53meant to do.
04:53Right.
04:54Yeah.
04:54Uh, and I, I definitely am inspired by that.
04:56Yeah.
04:57And being that modern millennial woman, were you able to pull from that and relate to
05:01that because you very much are this modern woman.
05:04Yeah, I, I definitely, I, I think it's, what's so cool about the show is that it, so much of
05:10what they dealt with then is somehow similar, uh, very similar to a lot of situations we, as
05:18people in general are dealing with, but women specifically, uh, you know, this show is about
05:22one, not being put in a box, uh, and not having to label a certain behavior or, or feeling.
05:33Um, and it's about being seen and understood.
05:36And Emily spent the majority of her life fighting to be understood and, and, and heard at times.
05:42Um, and, you know, constantly went back and forth as to, you know, whether or not she wanted
05:46her poetry published.
05:47Of course, you know, of course she did, but then would go through waves of not wanting
05:50it, or maybe, you know, I don't know.
05:52There's so much that's sort of left unsaid or unknown for that matter.
05:56But yeah, I definitely, I definitely can relate to that part of her as well.
06:01And how much historical context went into the show?
06:04Because there were some scenes, I was thinking about that opium scene, right?
06:08And I'm like, whoa, they know how to party.
06:10Yeah, they do know how to party.
06:11But also I heard that it was popular to, for people to experiment with opium back in the
06:17day.
06:18So how much of that was embedded in her history?
06:21Uh, a lot of it.
06:23In fact, all of it.
06:24Um, Elena Smith, our, our writer, um, she, I mean, did so much research, uh, as did all
06:33of us, but everything stems from a truth.
06:36She just expanded on all of it, um, in order to make this show as fun as, and exciting
06:41as it is.
06:42Uh, but she, you know, from the get-go has been my Emily Dickinson encyclopedia.
06:50Uh, and of course there are little known facts, but a lot that we might know about her.
06:55And there have been other, you know, pieces in, in film and television on Emily Dickinson.
06:59And, um, what's great about this is it, it, you know, it's not a straightforward biopic.
07:04It's very much its own thing in our interpretation of her and her poetry and what might possibly
07:10have been going through her mind and, uh, and her, her soul at the times as she was, you
07:15know, writing these poems.
07:16And so that's us kind of playing out those moments.
07:19And that episode, particularly, uh, Wild Nights, is one of my favorite poems and one
07:23of my favorite episodes.
07:24Yeah, I loved it.
07:25And then there was also her relationship with Sue.
07:28And I, I didn't know about that.
07:30So how much of that was pulled from history?
07:32Well, it is, I do know that even today there are Dickinson scholars that are still, you
07:39know, chipping away at the details of that and uncovering more and more every day about
07:43her relationship with Sue.
07:44But, uh, it is said that she was in love with, with her, um, and wrote poems to her and about
07:51her, uh, and about their relationship.
07:53Um, and it's truly so complex.
07:56And I, I fell in love with the way that we kind of, uh, explored that relationship because
08:04it's so, um, it's so special and intimate.
08:10And there's such a true understanding between the two of them.
08:14Um, and like I said a second ago, Emily spent the majority of her life struggling to be
08:18understood.
08:19And there was one person or one of very few, um, that truly, that she felt truly loved her
08:27for who she was.
08:27And that happened to be a woman and, and later her sister-in-law.
08:31Um, so it's a, it's a, again, another wild ride that, that, you know, is just another
08:36part of her life, but, uh, something I really love and, uh, love how it's incorporated into
08:41the show.
08:42And again, like I said a second ago, this show is about not putting people in a box and,
08:47you know, they didn't necessarily have the language that we do now, the, the labels and
08:52the terminology.
08:53Um, and I think that, that our show sort of perfectly captures that love is love and understanding
09:00one another is, is something so, uh, rare and special.
09:07And I think that, you know, we really, we really find that in this show.
09:11You also got to work with Wiz Khalifa in this, who was amazing as death.
09:15What was it like working with him?
09:17It was so fun.
09:18Uh, it was kind of a roll end.
09:20It all happened so fast.
09:22He came in, he was on the middle of, uh, working on a record, I believe.
09:26Uh, but yeah, he was so wonderful.
09:29And I mean, best sense of humor, uh, always, so natural, like a great actor.
09:35And this was his first acting gig.
09:38I believe so.
09:39I believe so.
09:40Um, he was so prepared and, and truly loved the, the, you know, the work, the material,
09:47uh, and wanted to do a really great job.
09:49And he definitely did.
09:51So now that you guys work together, are there talks of a collaboration possibly?
09:55Musically?
09:56Musically?
09:57Mm-hmm.
09:58Well, there can be.
09:59Um, he and I did, we, we got to talking about a bunch of music chat in between takes and
10:04whatnot.
10:05Um, and those sort of conversations, I feel like there's kind of, sometimes they're like,
10:09you know, when people are like, we should go to lunch, we should grab coffee.
10:11And you're like, yeah, for sure.
10:12And then you realize you've been saying it for like two years and nothing's happened.
10:14Um, I don't know.
10:15I feel like, you know, those, those conversations kind of, you know, always sort of had, or the
10:20ideas always suggested, but, um, him and I have definitely kept in touch and I am a huge
10:24fan of him personally and, and musically.
10:27So, uh, we'll see.
10:28That would be, that would be awesome.
10:29Yeah.
10:30And speaking of singing and music, the soundtrack to this show is so awesome.
10:36I mean, you had Billie Eilish, ASAP Rocky.
10:39There were a couple of others, right?
10:40Um, and you also wrote a song for this show.
10:44What was that experience like?
10:46Anytime I get to combine my, my two passions, it's, uh, truly a dream.
10:53And I, I always want to only do it if it makes sense.
10:56And if, you know, the other filmmakers involved feel that, you know, whatever that song is accurately
11:02represents the, the piece that we're, you know, portraying.
11:05Uh, and when it came to afterlife, well, first the music was a huge part of why I also wanted
11:11to be involved in this.
11:12It, it, it almost plays its own character in the show.
11:15Uh, and the soundtrack is on repeat for me and has been for a while.
11:20Now, having done a show that's so heavily influenced by poetry, did that impact or affect your own songwriting in any way?
11:27Absolutely.
11:28I, I always love when I have those full circle moments of, you know, I get taken away from music every so often with, when I have a wonderful opportunity like Dickinson come up and I'm sort of out of, you know, I'm still writing, but I'm out of studio mode.
11:47Right.
11:48If you will, for three, four or five months at a time.
11:51Uh, and I always love when I get back into the studio and I'm like, wow.
11:56So that was that one part of whatever was driving me insane or stressing me out at that one point is good for something.
12:02And it's right now.
12:03And it's, and it's, it all, it all works out.
12:05Right.
12:06And with this, I got back into the studio after we wrapped season one.
12:08And I, and I just sort of like, I was so ready to just, maybe it's cause I'd been away from it for a couple months or I don't know, but I got to the studio and I was so overly eager to write about everything that was on my mind.
12:23And I really do think it's because of the fact that Emily was so unafraid and so unapologetic, um, when it came to herself and, and her writing.
12:33Um, she truly was fearless in, in her writing.
12:38And I, I, you know, halfway, well, not even halfway, but a couple of weeks into, into writing, I was like, wow, I really do think like that definitely played a part in it.
12:48So, um, I do feel like I've got this new sort of fearless approach to my writing.
12:53So you're writing new music.
12:54Are we going to hear some of that soon?
12:56Imagine.
12:57Nah.
12:58Yes, of course.
12:59All this writing.
13:00You're like, nah, maybe not.
13:01Keep it and put it in a drawer like Emily did.
13:03Maybe somebody will find it in 200 years.
13:05Uh, no, I will be putting new music out early next year and I'm very excited.
13:09Uh, it's been, it's been a long time coming.
13:11Uh, but it's all, it's all coming together and I'm, I'm getting there.
13:14So I'm very excited for people to hear it.
13:16So acting, singing, producing.
13:18I mean, what's the next challenge you want to tackle?
13:21Oh boy.
13:22Next challenge.
13:23Well, I discovered earlier today that I can't cook.
13:26So maybe I'll take that challenge on and just work on it in the meantime.
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