ENTERTAINMENT

their home to a man eager to hold cue cards for his wife on the kitchen set of The French Chef.

Opposite him is Sarah Lancashire as the title character, nailing Julia’s vocal and physical tics, the clucking and cooing, lurching movements and sudden gales of laughter. They make a fascinating couple — she impulsive and charmingly awkward and he more introspective and careful.

Viewers will instantly recognise Julia, but may know nothing of her husband, whose influence is more subtle. Take her kitchen: Paul was the one who drew outlines of every single pot and pan on a pegboard so that they would always go back to the right place.

“That combination of Julia’s spontaneity and his meticulousness really was part of what made them such a great pair,” said Pierce.

Created by Daniel Goldfarb, the series examines workplace politics, feminism and the downside of celebrity. The role of Paul is also an interesting model of what it means to be an ally. “It can’t be easy having a woman steal your shine,” he is told.

“It was just as Julia’s star is ascending when his was starting to dim,” said Pierce. “It is a credit to him and a really important part of the relationship to examine that, especially at that time given men’s roles and women’s roles.”

Goldfarb said the marriage was unusual in that it evolved, starting in the oldfashioned 1950s and growing into a modern partnership that was playful and lusty.

“It’s one of the great love stories of all time,” he said. “It sort of grew and changed, and they play different roles at different times of their life.”

The project was filmed during the pandemic, making research challenging. Paul Child died in 1994 and Pierce was unable to access the couple’s cache of letters and writings at Harvard University because of the shutdown. But librarians read excerpts to him over the phone, and Pierce consulted Paul’s twin brother’s memoir.

Pierce found in Paul Child a complex man, a one-time merchant marine, who had a black belt in judo, played the violin and had a fear of heights. He once got a job in Paris repairing stained glass in cathedrals. He recognised talent and cheered it — especially when it came from his wife.

“He realises suddenly that she’s a star. The things that he sees in her — the thing that makes her just glow in his eyes — is something that is bigger than both of them,” said Pierce.

Later episodes deal with the costs of that pivot, the toll it takes when someone willingly steps behind their partner and lets their own dreams slip aside.

“There are moments when you sit by yourself and look at your life and think, ‘Wow, am I done? I mean, I love doing this, but are all those achievements that I started to make behind me now’?” Pierce said. _ AP