Bon appetit, Julia!
Tuck into a delicious drama series about TV’s pioneering TV chef Julia Child.
Julia
Season 1 Tuesdays (from 11 October) M-Net (*101) 22:00
When you think celebrity chef, the first names to pop up are Siba Mtongana, or Gordon Ramsay. From cooking shows and books, to products and guest appearances on other shows, we eat out of the palm of their hands and try to learn their recipes to impress friends and family. The woman who pioneered this industry is none other than Julia Child and the lighthearted drama series Julia will take viewers on a journey. As the trailer says, “Food itself is like a passport.”
“Julia Child is unlike anyone I have ever played before; her personality is as iconic as her achievements. It is uncharted territory,” says Sarah Lancashire (Polly Bevan in British drama series The Accident), who takes on the title role.
BECOMING JULIA
“Julia is known for her voice, and recreating her vocal tone was very complex,” adds Sarah. “Her accent doesn’t really exist any longer; it was almost like a trans-Atlantic accent and indicated her social background at the time.” Julia came from a rich family: Her mother was a paper company heiress and her father was a land manager.
Sarah worked with a vocal coach to get the legend’s boisterous, high and complex sound accurate. “At home I’d often slip into her accent or her physicality, and it’s amazing how they’re conjoined,” she says.
Her transformation further included a makeover to give her Julia’s iconic swirly, short auburn hair, and platform shoes for height, as Julia was 1.88m tall and Sarah stands at 1.73m – a full 15cm shorter.
The series also showcases Julia’s relationship with her husband Paul Child, played by David Hyde
Pierce (Niles Crane in the
’90s comedy series Frasier). David found his wife’s talents impressive. “Sarah actually grew up as a souschef for her mom, so she does all the cooking techniques effortlessly as Julia. The one-handed cracking of eggs or making an omelette without any utensils – the hallmarks of Julia Child’s style; Sarah came with that,” reveals David.
NOT CAMERA READY
The eight-part series focuses on one year of Julia’s life, showing intimate moments of when she pitched and landed her first cooking show The French Chef. We see who she was up against, like TV producer Russell Morash (played by Fran Kranz, Topher Brink in sci-fi series Dollhouse), who asks, “Shouldn’t we go with a person with a more camera-friendly look and a less distinctive sound?”
The series shows how Julia persevered through rejection and redefined what a television host should look like (in 1961), especially with her age and original look, and how she pioneered an entire genre.