New York Daily News

DRAMEDY’S DARK DIET OF DISMAY:

- BY KATE FELDMAN

“DIETLAND,” DEBUTING Monday on AMC, packs in as many hot-button issues as it can into each hour-long episode: sexual assault, eating disorders, self harm.

The dark comedy drama, based on Sarai Walker’s 2015 novel of the same name, follows Plum Kettle (Joy Nash), a 300-pound woman who’s tried every fad diet around. Plum ghostwrite­s letters to the editor for Kitty Montgomery (Julianna Margulies), the evil editor-in-chief of Daisy Chain, a Cosmopolit­an lookalike.

The show opens with a series of men being taken down for their sex crimes. There’s a shadowy group called Jennifer that’s murdering rapists and tossing them off bridges and out of planes.

Showrunner Marti Noxon had an idea that the story would be relevant today — she knew a reporter was working on a Harvey Weinstein exposé before shooting began — but she didn’t realize just how significan­t it would be.

“I didn’t think it would have the impact that it did,” she tells the Daily News. “I didn’t think that it would start this cavalcade of people coming forward.”

Margulies knows there’s a cultural shift looming, both in reality and on “Dietland.” But the 51-year-old actress, who accused both Harvey Weinstein and Steven Seagal of trying to lure her into their hotel rooms, knows it’s more than just taking down a few pervs.

“The #MeToo movement should be handin-hand with the fed up movement. I’m fed up of reading about one more school shooting. I’m fed up. I think we’re all fed up,” Margulies tells The News.

“All of this is not women against men,” she adds. “It’s people against those that abuse power ... I know a lot of horrible women, too. If I ever met Betsy DeVos, I might vomit.”

Then there’s Plum’s storyline, her battle with fad diets and weight loss and acceptance. In the casting notice, the character was described as “30s, 250 pounds, smart, funny, ghostwrite­r, beautiful.”

“If you took out her weight, she’s a fascinatin­g character,” Nash tells The News. “Isn’t it crazy that that’s revolution­ary?”

 ??  ??
 ??  ?? Joy Nash (left) plays desperatel­y dieting writer for mag run by Julianna Margulies’ character (inset, right, with, Tamara Tunie).
Joy Nash (left) plays desperatel­y dieting writer for mag run by Julianna Margulies’ character (inset, right, with, Tamara Tunie).

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States