00:00You guys just would go toe-to-toe with each other, like the port scene and then that, like Robby's.
00:05Robby's tough.
00:06Like when he, when he get fired up in your eyes, and Nate, that's what you said, like, and Nate just did not back down at all.
00:14At all.
00:20Hi, we're the creators of TASK, and we are here with Deadline to discuss the backstory behind one of our favorite scenes.
00:30You won't even make it to prison. Jason's going to kill you first.
00:34You don't know it's me.
00:35He'll find out.
00:37Well, then let him come, then. Let him fucking come. Let that motherfucker come and shake my hand!
00:45I loved the opportunity to really understand what they'd been through together and just how deep the pain went in Robby specifically,
00:55where he finally opens the door to the audience to be like, it's not just about these crimes.
01:01It's about an unlived life.
01:04And I thought it was time to give the audience a window into his desires.
01:09This is the most important scene in the entire show for me because this is pretty much motivating everything he does.
01:18They've reached this horrible impasse.
01:21There's so much at stake.
01:22I've put her and the kids in such jeopardy.
01:25It's like, okay, now I'm going to tell you why, because I have to.
01:30And so this one was cooking deep in me for a long time before we started filming everything.
01:38They're laughing because of my behavior on set that day.
01:42I was a little withdrawn.
01:46For Maeve, it's a real turning point because I think she felt like she was the only one who was miserable
01:51and was judging Robby's decisions and actions in a very kind of black and white way.
01:59And this scene is the first time that she kind of sees that gray area.
02:04She's finally seeing him as someone that's so close to herself, you know,
02:09desperately unhappy and frustrated with life.
02:12And I think also being in the car.
02:14I mean, it was so interesting hearing you talk about why you said it in the car.
02:19It's like being in such a confined space really forces intimacy.
02:23And, you know, seeing Tom's performance and just like how, you know,
02:28the emotional intensity between Maeve and Robby was just so kind of in each other's faces being stuck in the car
02:34that, I don't know, it felt like this kind of metaphorical mirror.
02:38And I also remember when Sally would come in and give us notes.
02:41You would crouch down with us and you were so respectful.
02:45And also I felt like you could hear a pin drop on set.
02:48The crew were utterly silent.
02:50And it was just, it felt very, it was a very raw scene and it felt very raw to film it.
02:55As a director, you can have a tendency to try to overcomplicate a scene like this.
03:01And really my job is to tell a simple story.
03:05And sometimes that's harder than you think it is.
03:09You want to do all these cool shots, but it really is about these two people.
03:14And that's what makes it, you know, so special.
03:16The way the scenes were edited, they really understand performance in a way.
03:22Just sometimes as an actor, you see the way a scene cuts together and you go,
03:25that's what you did with that?
03:28Like I was, I was there when we filmed it.
03:32That's what you did with that.
03:33That's the shot you took.
03:35Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:35That's the shot you took.
03:37That's the coverage.
03:38That's when you were going there and going there.
03:39I watched this show and I was just like the emotional intelligence, the feel of the,
03:45of the cut to me was, it's such like, as an actor, you just go, oh, thank God.
03:50The original shot was this slow creep up on the car and it would, and you could hear them
03:58talking inside the car and then it would come around to the side and the tracking shot became
04:03shorter and shorter through the process.
04:07And so Brad is always just like, he wants to see people's faces and just get right to
04:13the heart of the emotion.
04:14You cut inside the car and you're just with these two people alone, which is kind of what
04:19the scene is about.
04:21You know, as Robbie says, Maeve, you're the only family I have left.
04:24We built these floodlights.
04:26So there was this idea that there was like light illumining just inside the car and you
04:30get that rain pattern and you get these two actors and you see their faces, but it falls
04:35to darkness.
04:36And we did these sort of heavy overs where it's Maeve and Robbie sort of stacked on top of
04:41each other with darkness around them.
04:43And he's telling, you know, he's coming clean and, you know, explaining that they're now
04:50in this and they have this danger and he's asking for time and she never really says whether
04:56she'll give it to him or not.
04:57And that's sort of the one moment where we flipped the line.
05:00I think that's the only part of the scene we shot on that side of the line.
05:03Amy might remember better than me, but it was to sort of shift the perspective.
05:08It's like now Robbie is alone alone and you sort of see him from a different perspective.
05:13A phrase used on in other departments, but in music, we constantly said, we don't want
05:18to put a hat on a hat.
05:19Like the scene is great.
05:21That's Brad saying.
05:22It's yeah, it's I use it constantly now.
05:24And to the point where I have two task hats and I wear them constantly.
05:29But it was there.
05:31The scene was there.
05:32And we were like, the music for this just needs to be a spice.
05:34Like we don't want to put in too much.
05:36We don't want to put in too little.
05:38It looks beautiful.
05:39The timing is perfect.
05:41The performances are amazing.
05:42How do we come in from the HBO sound and then cleanse the palette, give us just enough
05:49score so we remember where the house is, who these kids are, what we're doing.
05:53OK, we're in the car.
05:55Let's get out of here.
05:56Let's come back only when needed.
05:59And that choreography was really, really fun to work on.
06:03I distinctly remember this from the edit is we actually cut away from you smashing
06:08on the on the dashboard a little bit early so we could see her reacting to it.
06:13Right.
06:14But also there's a great sound that Amelia makes when Tom reaches over to touch her face
06:18and she makes this little noise.
06:21And I remember that sound coming out in the edit.
06:28We had the sound editors like turn it up a little bit.
06:31And to me, it was this little moment that it said so much about me that she's always ready
06:37to break but always holds it in.
06:38I don't know if I've ever been more impressed with an actor than I am with Amelia.
06:45Her talent and her work ethic and how she shows up every day is, puts most to shame.
06:51And then you realize when we film that she's 22 years old.
06:54I don't even know what to do with that.
06:57So she didn't back up an inch.
07:02She took me in but still honored where she was, where Maeve was.
07:09I was clocking it as we were filming.
07:12I was like, man, she's good.
07:14I mean, I had the same experience.
07:15I learned so much working with Tom.
07:16It's like every take he just gives 100.
07:21We had filmed the porch scene in episode one when I throw Pepsi in Robbie's face the day before the car scene.
07:29And he literally let me throw Pepsi in his face every single take, even when the camera wasn't on him.
07:35And I was just, I think when I read the script, you know, I loved Robbie.
07:40But I think Tom made Robbie even more likable than I ever thought he could or would be.
07:46And I think that's just honestly because Tom created such a complex layered Robbie that I just fell in love with,
07:54which I think everybody in the world that's seen the show has completely fallen in love with his Robbie.
07:59And I felt honestly working with Tom was electric.
08:03I left every single take and my adrenaline was like through the roof.
08:07And like ever since, I've been like, God, I just want to work with Tom again.
08:10Like I just, it just literally like fired me up inside and I, and I, um, I loved doing that scene.
08:17What I want you to know is how hard it is to be this brave and have no fear.
08:23I really admire that because it's hard to do.
08:27Some actors just want to be safe and do good enough, but you can't be brilliant that way.
08:33And I think that's why we have such wonderful performances and I love the trust that you guys show, both me and Jeremiah.
08:41Thank you so much for watching and thank you for checking out TASK.
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