It was the year 2023, which at the time was 10 years in the future. Were there any major changes that shifted things in a big way?įLYNN: The biggest one I can think of is that when it had been an HBO, it was set in the near future. David Fincher is no longer a part of it, it moved over to Amazon, and the episode count went from ten to nine to eight episodes. Obviously, it’s evolved since initially deciding to do this. I tend to write a psychological thriller that really focuses on just a few characters, so I liked this would give me the opportunity to play multiple characters and points of view and challenge me, in that way. Aside from Widows, I had never done an ensemble before. I liked that this was literally a giant, huge world that was talking about humanity. I’ll go under a roof and examine gender and marriage through the point of view of two people, or mothers and daughters, or close relationships, and doing it that way. I’ve tackled themes, certainly, but I tend to do it by going close in and going under a microscope. There was so much there that it was literally a big world to play in. It just felt like we were at such a good time to tackle that again and to have this great story that’s about where we are as humans, globally and politically. This was back in 2013, and it’s only become more true, the idea of what is true and what is a lie, who’s spinning, who’s telling a falsehood, who’s on the edge of truth, etc. I really liked the conspiracy angle, in particular. I liked that there were parts of it that I could really play with and make my own. The great thing about Dennis Kelly’s show was that there’s so much to it that I knew there would be tons of different entry points.

That sounds amazing.” And then, it was seeing what this show was. And so, part of it was just that he had approached me when we were still filming Gone Girl, at the time, and it was like, “Let’s keep the band together. I don’t think anyone has had a better first experience as a novelist to screenwriter than I had on Gone Girl, to the point where I was like, “What’s this fake mythology about writers having a hard time in Hollywood? It’s the best! What a bunch of babies.” I had no idea.

What was it that led you to say yes, at that time? Was it simply working with him again, or was it this specific story and the characters?įLYNN: It was both. She’d be saying this and this and this.” So, that idea of someone coming to life is very appealing.įrom what it sounds, this project came about when David Fincher was directing Gone Girl, invited you to the set, and proposed collaborating on this remake of Utopia. I’ll start seeing the world through their eyes, not as if I’m acting as them, but I’ll be standing in line and someone’s checking out at the grocery store with 20 items in the 10 item lane, and I’ll be like, “Oh, Amy Dunne would not put up with this. That’s also when I know I’m figuring out a character, as a writer. It was a little bit of a wish fulfillment thing, for sure. A lot of my childhood was just wishing desperately that the characters I read were true, or pretending that they were my friends, and literally launching myself from my bed into the door mirror five feet away, thinking that I could go through the looking glass. It was through me figuring out what her backstory was, where she came from, and why she was like that, that I was able to create the idea of Home and the whole mythology that comes into play in Episode 8 and that hopefully we’ll be playing out a lot with Season 2.Īs someone who’s admitted to being a pop culture nerd who’s spent a lot of time at comic book stores, how do you think you would have felt, if you’d heard about this type of situation with this super mysterious sequel to an already mysterious graphic novel?įLYNN: Oh, my gosh. I liked that Jessica was someone who truly had arrested development at probably around age 12. She’s been through a lot more and is on the offense. She really will haul off and punch someone if she needs to. Libby in Dark Places is probably the closest. Amy Dunne (in Gone Girl) is mentally diabolical. Certainly, I love writing those kinds of characters, but Jessica is probably the most feral and unchained of any of my characters.

GILLIAN FLYNN: I like that she’s a female character with a dark side. What do you love about Jessica Hyde, as a character? What did you most enjoy about telling her story? Collider: You write some of the messiest female characters, and Jessica Hyde is certainly no exception to that.

Utopia book gillian flynn