Outside the box:
The courtroom drama series All Rise had to come up with novel ideas to cope with the disruptions caused by Covid-19 and some of the innovations may even spark longer-term changes, as Melenie Parkes reports.
Novel ideas were needed for All Rise in dealing with Covid-19.
As we have become accustomed to hearing, we are living in unprecedented times. And in unprecedented times, sometimes you have to think outside the box.
Many television productions had to abandon their filming schedules as the pandemic took hold but the cast and crew of courtroom drama series All Rise figured out a way to film their season finale.
Creating a ‘virtual courtroom’, the cast members were filmed in their own homes, incorporating the pandemic into the storyline.
The finale was praised for its innovation and also made history by being the first episode of a TV drama to be filmed remotely. Might this be the future of television in the pandemic age?
“Well the future of television would be a lot cheaper if we did,” laughs Wilson Bethel, who plays deputy district attorney Mark Callan.
“I think that we’ve certainly found a pathway for All Rise to move forward,” says Simone Missick, who stars as judge Lola Carmichael.
Missick has been personally affected by coronavirus, with her mother-in-law falling ill with Covid-19.
“As we are gearing up for the second season we have been talking about shooting partially at home and partially on the stages for safety’s sake, to minimise how often we are in one another’s presence just because this virus is so unpredictable.”
When we spoke, the pair had little idea as to what shape season two would take with Los Angeles still under self-isolation orders and the country grappling with protests
in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of police. Based on a non-fiction book Courtroom 302 about the American criminal justice system, All Rise is a series that borrows from real life and Missick says season two will almost certainly mine current events. “Unfortunately, we have a rich opportunity with the stories that we see every single day happening in the news. “I realised that being on this show, I am very fortunate because our show tries to approach the way the criminal justice system is without romanticising it. “As much as we often see it done on television, the default is not that the cops are always on the right side of the crime. It’s not that they’re always on the wrong side, either. It is showing the humanity, the human frailty, the mistakes that all of these people make every single day because they are human beings. “And the mistakes are not just made with the people standing in front of the judges’ bench as defendants, but they are sometimes made by the lawyers and the judges and police officers who are trying to help the justice system work as well. And I would love to see more of that because I think that opens up the national conversation, the international conversation, that some of the ways that we’ve been doing this thing called justice, a lot of the ways that we’ve been handling it have not been equitable, they haven’t been fair.” Wilson agrees with Missick, saying that he hopes their show can “address some of those very real grievances and very real problems in a way that speaks not only to people in the country, but all over the place”. The pair play best friends on TV and it’s clear they are close off screen too. They knew each other before being cast in All Rise and both actors are also part of the Marvel Universe, with Missick starring in Luke Cage and Iron Fist and Bethel in Daredevil.
“We bonded over talking about some of the stunts when we were doing the Marvel shows,” says Missick.
“I think that’s certainly a cool kind of shared experience to have,” says Bethel.
They also agree that the rare opportunity to depict a platonic relationship between friends of the opposite sex was a big drawcard and they’re hoping it stays that way too. They both reject any suggestion of their characters coupling up.
“That’s what the fan fiction’s for,” laughs Bethel.
But they acknowledge that there are some fans who hope that Lola and Mark’s friendship will turn romantic.
“If it keeps them turning in week after week, look keep...” says Bethel.
As Missick chimes in: “Keep dangling the carrot.”