Einstein leads off series
The word “genius” gets thrown around a lot. Figure out how to get a thousand Twitter followers? Calculate sales tax whilst jostling a few screaming toddlers? Genius! (And, my condolences.)
But Albert Einstein? That guy developed the theory of relativity whilst rocking the ultimate undone hairdo. And as such, he’s the subject of a 10-part series premiering Tuesday on National Geographic.
Genius is the network’s first scripted series, and it boasts suitably sparkly star power: Geoffrey Rush plays Einstein, while Brian Grazer and Ron Howard are among the executive producers.
So confident is the network in Genius that it renewed the series for a second season before the first even debuted — the next goround will focus on another yet-unannounced brainiac.
But first, Season 1. Based on Walter Isaacson’s book Einstein: His Life and Universe, it tracks the theoretical physicist from his humble beginnings in Germany to his struggle for recognition, to his status as an international grey-matter god.
Johnny Flynn embodies a pre-celebrity Einstein, while Emily Watson plays his second wife and first cousin, Elsa. Samantha Colley, T.R. Knight, Seth Gabel and Vincent Kartheiser also star.
Speaking with Variety, the cast reflected on Einstein’s fight to elude Nazi Germany and the strict U.S. immigration policies that threatened to bar him.
“I hope the series sheds light on the complexity of the decision to leave,” said Howard. “You know, it’s not so easy to become a refugee. It’s nothing anyone wants.”
Added Rush: “The world at the moment feels a bit anxiety-ridden, a lot of the people in charge don’t seem to be terribly good human beings. And Einstein really believed in passion and curiosity and knowledge … and not being part of an orthodox group.”
Genius was filmed in Prague, where Einstein lived and taught early in his career.
The series also features other notable scientists including Marie and Pierre Curie, Wilhelm Rontgen, Carl Jung and Werner Heisenberg.
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