Monday, Mar 14, 2022 • 10min
The Thing About “The Thing About Pam”
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Keith Morrison talks with Renée Zellweger about how and why she made the scripted series based on Dateline’s hit podcast The Thing About Pam airing Tuesdays on NBC.
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Keith Morrison
Renée Zellweger
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Transcript
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Speaker 1
00:00
America
is buzzing about NBC's
new true crime drama. The Thing About
Pam
.Share
Speaker 2
00:04
Starring two time
Academy Award
winner Renée Zellweger.
Share
Speaker 1
00:08
She's so good.
Share
Speaker 3
00:08
Critics love this new show.
Share
Speaker 2
00:10
Yeah, they do. They're calling it compulsively watchable, deliciously satisfying.
Share
Speaker 3
00:14
Irresistibly entertaining, as twisty as they come.
Share
Speaker 2
00:16
Must See TV.
Share
Speaker 3
00:18
And they say
Zellweger
may earn an Emmy to put alongside her Oscars.Share
Speaker 2
00:21
Gonna happen. Right?
Share
Speaker 3
00:22
So tell everyone, you know, don't miss
The Thing About
Pam
.Share
Speaker 2
00:24
Starring
Renée Zellweger,
Tuesdays on NBC.
Share
Speaker 1
00:27
And streaming next day on
Peacock.
Share
Speaker 2
00:28
Because you'll want to watch it twice
Share
Keith Morrison
00:32
Since we launched
The Thing About
Pam
podcast in 2019. It's been downloaded a lot, a whole lot more than 20 million times so far.Share
00:44
And one of those listeners was a woman by the name of
Renée Zellweger
.Share
00:49
She of course is the
Academy Award
winner, famous for blockbuster hits like Bridget Jones' Diary
, Jerry Maguire
, Judy
and more…Share
00:59
And now she's starring as
Pam
Hop in NBC's
six episode scripted series. The Thing About
Pam
also streaming on Peacock
, she sat down to tell us about the series and proceeded to blame me for it.Share
Renée Zellweger
01:14
I'm quite sure that it's your fault.
Share
Keith Morrison
01:15
I hope so.
Share
Renée Zellweger
01:16
Because you're telling of the story and the podcast was so compelling that I listened to the entire thing from the first episode till the final in one sitting on a road trip.
Share
Keith Morrison
01:25
No, come on. Really?
Share
Renée Zellweger
01:27
100% 1 trip, yeah, and I found it.
Share
01:30
I'm sure, like most people who are fans of the podcast and the episode of
Dateline
, that it's impossible in the imagination, because the absurdity of it is so obvious, in hindsight, probably. So in the telling of the story as the events unfold, you keep saying to yourself that's impossible. And it begs the question, how? Over and over again for hours. I just kept asking that question, how?Share
01:53
And it says so much about personal and social bias and how it comes into play in the criminal justice system and how we interact with one another socially today, especially in
America,
that I figured wow this is probably worth exploring.Share
Keith Morrison
02:07
And so she did. The story revolves around the 2011 murder, the
Missouri
mother wife DJ cancer patient named Betsy Faria.Share
02:19
It's also about Betsy's friend
Pam Hupp.
The woman who drove her home the night she was killed.Share
02:26
The name
Pam
is in the title for a reason.Share
02:31
Let's just say she can be very convincing.
Share
Renée Zellweger
02:34
Her charm, that she's so funny and available as a friend, triggers a certain memory of this kind of person that we all have. We know her from the grocery store, from church, from the school drop-off line, from you know the cub scouts, the soccer mom, all of these things.
Share
02:49
The nice P. T. A lady who will give you a ride home, she's a safe place to go, and obviously it just speaks to the certitude that we all carry about what we know is true and just how wrong we can be if we don't pay attention to the evidence that's in front of us. That doesn't support what we already believe to be true.
Share
Keith Morrison
03:09
You're known for playing these famous people here. You were playing a less famous one, but one who's interesting in our own way.
Share
03:15
How do you become
Pam Hupp
of people? How did you go about that?Share
Renée Zellweger
03:19
You know, I just thought about it as sort of a dynamic examination of human behavior. So I was looking at everything that was available in the materials basically with everything standing on the foundation of the podcast that you did so beautifully and the
Dateline
episode.Share
03:35
And from there I went into the public record and looked at the interviews and the many court appearances and all the other peripheral information that was available to peruse and sort of started to connect the dots
Share
Keith Morrison
03:48
And thus veering a little into dark comedy.
Share
03:51
She interpreted the character and disturbing behaviors of a most unusual woman
Share
03:56
In reenacting the interpretation of events from
Pam's
account, it sort of illuminates the absurdity and impossibility a bit more strongly.Share
04:07
It's also
Renée Zellweger
as you've never seen her before.Share
Renée Zellweger
04:12
The transformation was a great team of highly skilled artisans who put these pieces together so that we could create this approximation of
Pam Hupp
as closely and responsibly as we could.Share
Keith Morrison
04:26
To become
Pam
she'd done full body and face prosthetics.Share
Renée Zellweger
04:31
It was interesting to learn about that. It was interesting to learn how to communicate thought when your face is covered. You know, that you have to find another way to physically demonstrate what it is that's going on internally that you intend.
Share
Keith Morrison
04:43
Certainly communicating thought, how the heck do you do that?
Share
Renée Zellweger
04:47
Well, you know, you have to exaggerate certain things, and you have to learn how to be expressive in a way that looks natural without looking like you're completely prohibited. That was new. And I didn't realize that, you know, you have to move your face as though you're on a stage hundreds of feet away, or you won't see expression.
Share
Keith Morrison
05:08
Renée
not only stars in the series, she is also an executive producer.Share
Renée Zellweger
05:13
We were like boots on the ground.
Share
Keith Morrison
05:15
Sure.
Share
Renée Zellweger
05:16
And make decisions about, script development, creative decisions and then tactical decisions.
Share
05:21
There are a lot of moving pieces that are happening, you know, going on all the time because you'll throw one thing into the mix and then inevitably things don't go as planned because there are so many variables that have to come together in order for that you're shooting day to work.
Share
Keith Morrison
05:36
And you like doing that?
Share
Renée Zellweger
05:38
Sometimes, yeah, it's a wonderful collaboration when you put your heads together to make it work.
Share
Keith Morrison
05:44
Of course, it isn't only about
Pam Hupp.
The series tells the story of Betsy and Russ and their families and the attorneys who battled in court. And a man named Louis Gumpenberger who would become tragically involved in the case.Share
06:00
Playing a person who is still alive.
Share
Renée Zellweger
06:03
Yes.
Share
Keith Morrison
06:03
And playing alongside other actors who were portraying other people who are still alive and some of whom are actually watching it happen How does that affect the way you do it?
Share
Renée Zellweger
06:13
There's a different responsibility that comes along with that, especially when you're talking about a case that involves someone who was so highly regarded and beloved, deeply beloved, such a good kind person, Betsy Faria, you know, and the descriptions of her, she made everyone feel seen and comfortable, and she was so generous in her spirit and loving and there was just this warmth that emanated from her.
Share
06:35
So you want to be careful and not lose sight of what was lost in all of this.
Share
Keith Morrison
06:40
Sure
Share
Renée Zellweger
06:40
So you just, there's certain choices that you want to be careful in making as you proceed, like casting for example in Katie Nixon, we never wanted to lose sight of the importance of her life and the love her family had for her.
Share
06:54
So Katie is this, she's just magic. You know, she exudes this kindness and she's always laughing and funny and she makes people feel great and it's just so nice to be around her and it seems like a common thread between Betsy Faria and Katie.
Share
07:11
So that felt important to us, that she would be properly represented in this as you know, the special person that she was.
Share
Keith Morrison
07:18
And so the producers talked at length to those closest to the story, like Betsy's husband -Russ. I spoke with him about the experience.
Share
07:27
When you heard that they were going to make a series based on your story, what do you think?
Share
Russ Faria
07:35
Well this has been a long, long journey that we've been on and I was a little flattered. I never thought that my life would be interesting enough to make a movie & let alone a miniseries about.
Share
Keith Morrison
07:48
Have you met the people who were involved, the guy who plays you for example?
Share
Russ Faria
07:54
I haven't met them in person, but I have worked extensively with the writers on the project and have answered many questions and given them much information and once they did cast my part, a gentleman by the name of
Glenn Fleshler
very fine actor is going to be playing me, and they put me in contact with him and he and I had a few phone calls, very lengthy phone calls.Share
Keith Morrison
08:19
Are you going to be a little nervous about what they do?
Share
Russ Faria
08:22
A little bit I'm sure. And some of it's quite emotional obviously, but I'm anxious to see how it turned out.
Share
Keith Morrison
08:30
Josh Duhamel
was cast in the scripted series to play Joel Schwartz, Russ Faria's attorney.Share
Speaker 3
08:35
It's somewhat surreal. I have a feeling that it will really hit home, once it actually occurs in the series airs and I get to watch
Josh Duhamel
playing me, but so far it's certainly been a lot of fun.Share
Keith Morrison
08:49
Did he get you? Has he figured out how to portray you?
Share
Speaker 3
08:53
I can't answer that yet,
Keith
, I haven't seen it, but from everything I hear he's doing a tremendous job, He's quite a talented actor and he's such a wonderful guy. It's been a pleasure just getting to know him, so I'm sure he'll do a great jobShare
Keith Morrison
09:07
By the way, a sharp eyed viewer of Dateline may spot a familiar face, Joel has a cameo in the series.
Share
09:15
What role did you play?
Share
Speaker 3
09:17
I played a bartender in a scene with prosecutor Leah Askey in this case,
Judy Greer
who I have to tell, you couldn't have possibly been anymore nicer or genuine and what a talented actress she is.Share
09:30
It was just a pleasure to watch her.
Share
Keith Morrison
09:32
Did you carry off the part with verisimilitude as they say?
Share
Speaker 3
09:36
It was frighteningly similar. The interesting part of being the bartender in a bar where she was speaking freely about the defense attorney, namely a guy named
Joel Schwartz.
And she was cutting them down and a couple of the extras would come up to the individual, and they say, so do you work with these people a lot? It seems like you're pretty friendly with them, what's the story? And I would say, you know, you hear how she's talking about this guy Schwartz and cutting them down, and they go, yeah, that's me.Share
10:03
So I had I had fun doing that probably three or four times with the extras, it was good, it was a really enjoyable time.
Share
Keith Morrison
10:09
I bet it was.
Share
10:10
As for
Pam Hupp
, the woman at the center of the story.Share
10:14
So what is the thing about this woman? What's the thing about
Pam,
Renée
?Share
Renée Zellweger
10:21
It's funny because we had this conversation a lot with Jenny, the showrunner and the writer, all the producers, the directors when we're in the scenes trying to capture what that might be. That elusive thing.
Share
Keith Morrison
10:34
Sure.
Share
Renée Zellweger
10:34
I think it's the asterix, it's the bright red asterix that's next to the presentation of who
Pam
is on paper.Share
10:46
She's winning, she's sharp and witty, she looks warm and friendly, the things she does and the choices she makes in society would make you easily draw certain conclusions about the kind of person she is and her character, and that asterix is the Cblow
Share
Keith Morrison
11:02
The great big below.
Share
Renée Zellweger
11:08
Maybe so.
Share
Keith Morrison
11:09
The Thing About
Pam
scripted series is produced by Blumhouse Television and NBC News Studios
. It premieres March 8th at 10 PM nine central and NBC
and streams next day on Peacock
.Share
11:23
And we'll have a new Dateline report on the case with new details airing April 15.
Share
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Speaker 1
Speaker 2
Keith Morrison
Renée Zellweger
Russ Faria
Speaker 3