As an actor, Betty Gilpin says the gigs that “are painful to do are the ones where you feel like you’re only being asked to do five percent of what you can do” as a performer. Enter Mrs. Davis.
Peacock’s new series casts the GLOW alum as a nun named Simone who is intent on destroying the world’s most powerful artificial intelligence, aka Mrs. Davis. It’s not a spoiler to say that the series — created by Lost guru Damon Lindelof with The Big Bang Theory vet Tara Hernandez — was the opposite of painful because it activates all of Gilpin’s talents. It’s a genre-blending mashup (think drama and wacky comedy mixed with sci-fi and action) with a host of themes (best explained here) and Gilpin says she was more than ready.
“This job asks 100 percent of me and I immediately was like, ‘I’ve been waiting my whole life for this,’” she told The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday night while standing on the blue carpet inside L.A.’s DGA Theatre for the premiere. “It feels like a thousand genres in one and so it was like a cat toy for my brain, really.”
A big reason for that is while Simone may be a nun on a mission, she has a layered backstory that unfolds as the season goes to reveal a depth that Gilpin found thrilling. It would be spoiling the plot to go into detail, so best leave it to Gilpin to explain it in broad strokes. “I feel like I either play these hardened, sarcastic, sardonic or wry characters or characters who have their arms wide open and are vulnerable and hopeful. This character really is both,” Gilpin said. “She may have started as the first kind but her faith really changed her as a person. We see a lot of flashbacks to what she was like before she was a person of faith. For myself, not being a person of faith, it was an experiment to figure out what it would be like if I really believe in something this deeply and I found that really joyful.”
Jake McDorman, Damon Lindelof, Betty Gilpin, Tara Hernandez andn Andy McQueen at the premiere.
Randy Shropshire/Peacock
Speaking of deep beliefs, Lindelof told THR that the series “doesn’t work without Betty.” He had a relationship with the actress after she starred in The Hunt, the 2020 feature film that was written by Lindelof with Nick Cuse.
“When we first started talking about Simone, Betty was on the very early list but she was unavailable, I think, because she’d just had her daughter,” he recalled while standing next to Hernandez, whose initial script inspired the series. “That was a bummer but we moved on, and then when we wrote the pilot and set it up at Peacock, everyone started asking, ‘Who is Simone going to be?’ We kept saying that it was a Betty Gilpin-type if we could get her. The question became, ‘Well, has anyone asked her?’ So I emailed her and said, ‘Look, we won’t get our feelings hurt but this thing is perfect for you. Would you be willing to read the script?’”
Lindelof said Gilpin responded a day or two later and they set up a Zoom meeting: “The three of us ended up talking for like two hours and we started writing the show for her. We had a habit that needed to be altered quite intensely in order to accommodate Betty’s tremendous talent.”
Mrs. Davis premieres on April 20.
Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof introduce the series ahead of the screening. “When I had my deal at Warner Bros., they presented a list of potential collaborators and asked me who I would love to work with,” Hernandez recalled of the project’s origin to THR. “I did my homework and there were a lot of amazing names on that list. I wrote back and added Damon Lindelof, wink wink. Thinking that as the sky is blue, that would never happen. When I got the call, it was surreal as if I were being punk’d. Do people still use that word?”
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Betty Gilpin’s GLOW costar Marc Maron turned up to the premiere for a surprise reunion.
Randy Shropshire/Peacock
Peacock cast a group of nuns to pose on the blue carpet with influencers and premiere guests.
Randy Shropshire/Peacock
Chris Diamantopoulos said he didn’t hesitate to jump in when the project came his way. “I had a meeting with Tara and Damon to talk about the world and the character,” recalled Diamantopoulos, who plays JQ. “I already wanted in because I’ve been such a fan of Damon’s for so long. When I heard that Betty was involved, I really wanted to throw my hat in the ring. They mentioned her name and I said, ‘I want to read right now.’ They said they could give me more time but I just knew I was right for this and really wanted to do it. So, I did. In that session on Zoom, I tried accents and different things I said it wouldn’t be polished because I hadn’t prepared, but I know viscerally what this guy needed to be.”
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David Arquette told THR that he did magic tricks during his audition to help land the part of a Simone’s father. “I sent in the video just like a thousand others that I never hear back from. But this one, they called to say, ‘Hey, you got it.’ I was like, ‘What? Are you kidding me? This is a dream come true.’”
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“I have a very psychedelic brain, so what was written on the page, I could definitely go with, but it it’s a kooky page,” Elizabeth Marvel said of first reading Mrs. Davis. “It definitely appealed to me, and what I read was sort of a cross between Monty Python and Ordinary People. I’ve never seen anyone try to make something like that before.”
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Channing Dungey, chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group; Lisa Katz, president of scripted content at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming; Susan Rovner, chairman of entertainment content at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming; actor Jake McDorman, Damon Lindelof, Betty Gilpin, Tara Hernandez; actor Andy McQueen; Alex Sepiol, executive vp of scripted development; and Brett Paul, president of Warner Bros. Television and Warner Horizon Scripted Television.
Randy Shropshire/Peacock
