FEATURE STORY
MEGA flies to London to sit down with Ben Platt, Lucy Boynton, Zoey Deutch and Laura Dreysfuss, the stars of the newest comedy satire The Politician to discuss the lion, the witch and of course, the wardrobe
MEGA sits down with the stars of The Politician for an exclusive interview
When Ryan Murphy was conceiving his first Netflix original series, he wanted a political show done in comedic and satirical fashion. The Emmy, Golden Globe and Peabody Award-winning writer, director and producer enlisted long time friends and collaborators Ian Brennan and Brad Falchuk to create The Politician.
As the opening billboard suggests, the eight-episode series centers on the making of a politician, while simultaneously touching on the themes of wealth, privilege and sex. Set in the affluent Santa Barbara, California, the show focuses on the lives of eight high school student of Saint Sebastian High
School. Full of ambition and determination, these eight will do whatever it takes to become the next president, or worse, be the biggest hurdle of the opposition. While the series is set in high school, The Politician, was not designed to be a teenage show like Murphy’s hit Glee. “I thought of it as a show for families to watch together, [to] start off conversations about ambition and sex and morality, choices that influence the rest of your life,” he shares.
Ryan Murphy has done it again, The Politician is brilliant. It is a balanced show with enough family values, hubris and deception done with excellent wardrobe, sets, cinematography and music. The pacing is also good with the right amount of unexpected twists and turns. More importantly, the show touches on relevant issues such as mental health and non-binary gender preferences. The most beautiful part of the story telling is Murphy’s deliberate intent not to hype, glorify or water down these themes; instead, he tells the stories and preferences of the characters as if they were normal, a matter-of-fact so to speak. The result is a series that is absolutely entertaining and is a sure hit.
MEGA sat down with four of the show’s actors in the British capital and had a special viewing of the entire season. Here are the characters the world has fallen in love with in Netflix’s original series, The Politician.
PAYTON HOBART (BEN PLATT)
At seven years old, Payton Hobart knew he wanted to become the president of the United States. The adopted son of Georgina Hobart (Gwyneth Paltrow) had it all figured out: he dressed in second-skin tailored suits, had no hair out of place, spoke impeccably, commanded a room and had the tenacity that politicians are imagined to be. Like eight American presidents, Payton also wanted to attend Harvard University. His true colors would show in the pilot episode when he discovers he is waitlisted for admission to the Ivy League.
When asked how he prepared for the role, Ben said, “I watched some speeches and some debates of galvanizing politicians. But I didn’t limit myself to being inspired only by liberal politicians. I think a lot of TV personalities and actors and particularly late night hosts helped. I was also very inspired by a young gentleman named Cameron Kasky, who is one of the Parkland survivors of the shooting in Florida. He became a really important leader of the gun control movement and a voice in that conversation [under his Never Again MSD]. He was the youngest person I’d ever seen in a political conversation that was intelligent, eloquent and 18 years old. I knew that I was going to be playing an 18-yearold and so to see someone that young and be that mature and that well spoken really created a really helpful image,” he shares.
Payton knew that to make his dream of becoming president a reality, he would have to start in high school. Together with his three campaign advisors, they set up a strategy that can be perceived as either brilliant or unforgiving, depending on your set of values and morals. These included using the limitations of the less abled, money and even fabricating broken relationships to win the presidency. He switches from being the perfect gentleman with a giant heart to sociopath-like behavior that displays no remorse for people and things especially when it hurdled his path. “I think it’s for the audience to decide and ultimately will be a greater question through the whole course of the show. I don’t think it’s cut and dry. [Payton] certainly is not a boldfaced capitalist sociopath, he has the ability to feel in the right circumstance. I think it’s more about his difficulty getting in touch with his emotions, if it’s outside of his feeling for himself,” Ben Platt shares.
Apart from being the lion in The Politician, Platt also became show producer together with Murphy. “My role took involvement in the casting process and I sort of put my hat in the ring as far as the actors that I was interested in getting. I was giving my two cents, as well as, as sort of a leader of the cast. I really tried to take it upon myself to create a community and create a family and make us all feel like we’re part of one project,” he shares.
“I REALLY TRIED TO TAKE IT UPON MYSELF TO CREATE A COMMUNITY AND CREATE A FAMILY AND MAKE US ALL FEEL LIKE WE’RE PART OF ONE PROJECT
RIVER BARKLEY (DAVID CORENSWET)
River Barkley, played by David Corenswet, is putting on his boxers during his introductory scene in the pilot episode. It is a post coital tristesse scene with onscreen girlfriend, Astrid Sloan. It is difficult to ignore River’s physicality. His features are the kind people fall in love with immediately and is the prototype TV, movie and streaming star— tall, dreamy, good skin and has the most perfect wavy, soft hair.
River is not your typical high school student who grew up in middle America. He is battling with an unseen future after high school and finding his place in this world while suffering from depression. In The Politician, while River takes his own life almost immediately, his character is a mainstay and makes appearances throughout the entire season as a ghost. River is present and is always guiding Payton in the most crucial moments and shifts to become his voice of reason. In a poignant scene, he wipes Payton’s tears and tells him “You are going to change the world”.
ASTRID SLOAN (LUCY BOYNTON)
Astrid, played by Lucy Boynton, becomes the arch nemesis of Payton Hobart who will do everything in her capacity to stop him from becoming the president of their high school. “I think it’s an interesting dynamic with Payton, River and Astrid. They’ve been enemies apparently their whole life since they were kids. She is a Queen B, a mean girl, but also very much a protective friend. That’s how she sees herself. I think she is someone who’s not willing to concede because that disrupts the way she views herself,” Lucy shares.
One of the more poignant moments in the series is when Astrid “disappears” and secretly moves to New York City, an escape of sorts from her realities, the death of her boyfriend and the suffocating feeling of her home, which many young people face. “Do you think Astrid felt trapped,” MEGA asked Lucy. “Yeah, absolutely. And I think she didn’t realize how trapped she felt. It all stems from River’s death and it is a catalyst for her questioning everything around her because he was part of the big plan. Once that is taken away, and in such an abrupt way, she doesn’t know how to deal with emotions. She has nowhere to turn and so she turns inwards, and starts to realize that she can take ownership of herself. It feels so good to be so liberated, right?” Lucy adds.
INFINITY JACKSON (ZOEY DEUTCH)
Probably the most moving character in The Politician is Infinity, the cancer-patient of Saint Sebastian High School. Dressed in knits and hats all season, she is gentle and childlike. Zoey Deutch took it upon herself to really study the character of Infinity. “One of the things that was really important to me is the physicality of her. Infinity has been taking very, very, very intense medication her whole life and had been subjected to a very particular lifestyle. There was not a lot of movement in her life. She was very contained. Her hands are really the only outlet that she has, she’s very isolated and alone,” she shares. Zoey worked with a brilliant teacher and mentor, John Rodrigo, prior to filming The Politician. He is an Alexander Technique teacher who’s voice was very important to Zoey. “If you’ve been infantilized your whole life and told that you are at a certain place in your whole life, that would affect the way that you engage with the world and other human beings,” she adds.
THE TEAM
What is a good politician without his team? Payton’s team quickly steal scenes. There’s McAfee, the campaign advisor who is always spot on with her political strategies. “Do you think she would have made a good vice president,” we ask Laura Dreyfuss. “Oh, yeah. I think she could take over the world. I trust her with it,” Dreyfuss responds. A standout character, she is a busy woman who’s role is to collect all of the information she can gather and then decide what to tell Payton, when to tell him and how. “Behind every great president, there’s
“BEHIND
EVERY GREAT PRESIDENT, THERE’S SOMEONE VERY, VERY SMART, WHO IS SEEING EVERY POSSIBLE OUTCOME
SITUATION” TO EVERY
someone very, very smart, who is seeing every possible outcome to every situation. And that’s what she does,” Dreyfuss adds.
Alice Charles doubles as Payton Hobart’s campaign advisor and girlfriend. Always so well-mannered and dressed so impeccably in her signature pearls and Chanel-inspired tweeds, she dreams of oneday becoming a first lady and she is living for it as early as high school. During meals and strategic meetings, she and Payton would sit opposite each other in her exaggerated long dining table and strategize.
The third and final campaign advisor to Payton Hobart is James, played by the Chicago-based trans nonbinary actor Theo Germaine. James is the hybrid of McAfee and Alice, bringing to the table whatever the two others lack. They’re also the one with a conscience. Because of their values, James is constantly questioned with their loyalty. One day they are part of the team, the next day they are fired by Hobart.