The Studio honors Hollywood ambition and tropes while poking fun at the people behind them. With episode titles like “The Promotion”, “The Oner”, and “The Note”, the new series spends each roughly 30-minute entry exploring a different cog in the Hollywood machine.

The Rotten Tomatoes darling also boasts an ensemble cast that would make any director envious. Seth Rogen’s Matt Remick is at the heart of every episode, but the series’ colorful world is inhabited by characters played by comedic legends like Catherine O’Hara, established crowd-pleasers like Ike Barinholtz, and up-and-comers like Chase Sui Wonders. Each actor has a very specific part to play that can speak to the experience of certain production roles as a whole.

ScreenRant’s Joe Deckelmeier spoke with Seth Rogen, Catherine O’Hara, Ike Barinholtz, and Chase Sui Wonders about their work on The Studio. They discuss their roles in making what ScreenRant’s The Studio review called “catnip” to those following the film industry (and very accessible to those who aren’t). The actors also shared how the show compared to their own experiences.

Seth Rogen Channeled Real Life Experiences For The Studio

He And Evan Goldberg Turned Industry Frustration Into Inspiration

“Oh, a lot,” Seth Rogen said when asked how many of his own life experiences and frustrations made it into the scripts for The Studio, “The industry is changing. We came up making primarily mid-budget comedic films, which essentially don’t exist anymore. So, we are feeling a lot of frustration.” It’s not just them, Rogen revealed: “We knew a lot of people who worked in studios who actually kind of love movies, and they themselves weren’t happy with the direction things were going, even though they could change it.”

Rogen itted that many elements from the show were directly lifted from his career, saying, “We were at the Golden Globes and our movie won, and one of the executives was crying afterwards because they weren’t thanked.” For context, it’s been revealed that a fictionalized Golden Globes will take place in the series.

Of course, the show is meant to be accessible to everyone. Rogen made it clear that that was the idea: “We would just be like, ‘Oh, these types of stories are so funny to us. If we could find a way to translate them to people who have nothing to do with the industry, it could be a good way for us to just use our life experiences.’”

Hollywood Is Fickle–Just Ask Patty

Catherine O’Hara Explains The Lesson Her Character Learns

Catherine O’Hara plays executive Patty Leigh in The Studio, a woman who learns a very important, and very specific lesson about power: “That it’s easily taken away.” O’Hara continued, saying, “It disappears. You’re not on steady ground. It’s an ungrounded way to live, I think. Ridiculous pressure. In that world [where jobs can be taken away], you’ve got to know–which is not a fun way to live–that’s a possibility, day to day.”

Ike Barinholtz Reveals How His Character Sal Gets Through The Day

“Narcotics”

The Afterparty star Ike Barinholtz plays Sal, Matt Remick’s friend and underling. On both fronts, he constantly finds himself in over his head. When asked how Sal copes with that lifestyle, Barinholtz responded, “I think he manages to do that with a little narcotics. He might have some substance issues.” Beyond that, Barinholtz continued, “He’s seen the winds of change come through his industry, but I think he’s a survivor.” He agreed with O’Hara, too: Like Catherine said, you’re on shaky ground, and he’s determined to keep his job at all costs. He’ll do whatever it takes.”

Chase Sui Wonders Talks Getting Jaded As Quinn

“You Have This False Sense Of Confidence”

One of The Studio’s most interesting characters is Quinn, a new producer at the series’ Continental Studios, whose ambitions and moral com haven’t yet been reshaped in the same way as her superiors’ have. “Seth and Evan and I would have a lot of these conversations,” Wonders said about getting into Quinn’s headspace, “You have this false sense of confidence you can take over the world and the industry, but obviously there’s a ceiling to what decisions can get done and what can get made.”

That’s where the disillusionment sets in, said Quinn: “There’s a lot of ego checks, and I think it can turn a lot of people really bitter. And lots of people have come up through that process, so I think it’s a big learning lesson that Quinn has to reckon with–constantly getting humbled [and] constantly getting slapped back down to Earth.”

The Studio premieres March 26 on Apple TV+.

Source: Screen Rant Plus