u/jonathanisregionfree

I added book & show spoilers just in case, as Graham talks a bit about the books' structure and why they made the changes for the show. (Basically, if you have Rebecca Ferguson, you use her!)

But the best part was getting to speak to Rebecca about her work as Juliette, and even in such a short span it was fascinating to see how she speaks of Juliette as an internalized person with hyperfocuses that do not align with the expected social niceties.

>I think I did so much preparation for Juliette for Season 1 that I called it 'kicking her into action'. I had certain movements and things I would do with her that there was nothing to prepare; all I needed was to be true to the embodiment of Juliette. Put a dress and heels on, and she's already uncomfortable!"

>"The idea is that she doesn't remember... but the DNA of her will to keep questioning is there: 'What is happening? Why am I not feeling correct? I hear what you're telling me, but something is off.' And just leaning into the offness is what she had to do all the time. Like, 'Wait, wait... I had a memory. I had a dream. No, no, no, don't interrupt me, there's something here.' So it was fun. It was a great start to Season 3 for me."

And then, later, specifically about Juliette as a neurodiverse character:

>When I talked about creating the character, I talked to someone who also has autism, and we talked a lot about how it's not an 'outsideness' for [Juliette]; we would describe it as introvertedness; there was a free zone there.

>That's why I love the fact that [Juliette] is mechanical, because she could focus so much on fixing something by hand, but as soon as she had to interact with people, she was a fish out of water. And that was so good in the show, because she was forced into interacting with people, and she felt lost and she didn't know what it was, but she had to push through it. It was a good setup for the character.

These parts were really what stood out to me, as even with the memory loss angle, it's fascinating to watch Juliette try to navigate this entire world of constant socializing and attention that doesn't align with what she wants to pursue. I think Rebecca does a fantastic job portraying the grinding gears that neurodiverse folks can get, as we try and make nice while still wanting to escape as fast as we can.

The mods were super kind to let me post the link here. I've seen (and reviewed) the entire season, and while I can't spoil anything, I'm really excited to see how the reaction will be as we head towards the final stretch. I've also got to chat with Common, Alexandria Riley, Ashley Zuckerman, and Jessica Henwick, and all I can say is interviewing folks with heavy spoiler embargoes is tough!