From show creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch (GLOW), the Apple TV+ eight-episode anthology series Roar tells standalone stories that feature ordinary women in unexpected, unique and different circumstances, spanning a variety of genres. In “The Woman Who Solved Her Own Murder,” we learn from the murder victim herself (Alison Brie), what led to the end of her life.
During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, Brie talked about how strongly she responds to the unique voice in the work of Flahive and Mensch, why she got so excited about this project, the experience of playing a character who couldn’t directly interact with anyone, getting closure in a 30-minute story, getting a bit of a mini-GLOW reunion, and the heartbreak of not being able to finish telling that story the way that they’d planned and hoped. She also talked about her love for the movie Clue, and getting to work with some of the film’s cast on Community.
Collider: I really enjoyed the series. I particularly loved your episode. I thought it was such a fun episode to watch. I could have watched a whole season of what they all had going on.
ALISON BRIE: Thank you.
To start off with a silly and fun unrelated question, your husband said recently that one of your favorite movies is Clue, and I am also firmly in the die-hard Clue club. If you were ever in a remake of clue, which character would you want to play?
BRIE: Oh, God. I think that my whole life, I have fantasized about playing Miss Scarlet. Mrs. White is an amazing character, but like who could do it better than Madeline Kahn? It feels impossible. I actually worked with the actress who played Miss Scarlet (Lesley Ann Warren), in the original. She played Gillian Jacobs’s mom in Season 6 of Community. And Colonel Mustard (Martin Mull) was in the episode too. Isn’t it horrible that I’m only referring to them as their Clue characters, these iconic actors? But that day, on the Community set in Season 6, I was like, “Colonel Mustard and Miss Scarlet are here? And they’re Gillian’s parents?” It was a surreal moment, for sure.
That’s amazing. Well, I’m guessing that when you do something like this, and you’re reteaming with folks that you’ve worked with so closely before, like Carly Mensch and Liz Flahive, you don’t have to audition. So, when this came your way, what got you most excited about it? Do you get nervous, when they come to you with something like this, that you’ll hate it?
BRIE: No, I definitely don’t get nervous about that. I love Liz and Carly so much, and I just had the most incredible time working with them on GLOW and they never disappoint. I felt like, every episode of GLOW, I was so blown away by the unique voice that they share when they write together and the different themes that they wanted to examine, even on GLOW, in terms of the female experience. And this takes all of that to the next level. So, I’m nothing but excited when I get a call from Liz and Carly like, “Hey, we’ve got something for you.” It’s those excited flutters. But this one was especially cool because there were so many other components that make great.
First of all, there’s the cast. When they called me, Nicole Kidman, of course, was already attached to produce and to star in an episode, and Cynthia Erivo and Issa Rae. It was just like, “Yeah, what great company to be in. Are you kidding? You had me at Nicole Kidman.” And then, to hear the concept, it’s a kooky one. It was great. When they called me about the project, they had already written the episode, so they sent it and the book. My episode is actually not in the book. It’s their own concept, inspired by the stories from the book. So, it was fun to read it.
Another thing that I love about working with them is how collaborative they are. So right away, even when they were calling to discuss the project, they were like, “We’re gonna send it to you, read it, call us, and let us know your thoughts.” That was really fun because I was able to give some notes and just talk through some ideas. I was like, “ Hey, what if we did this with the character? Could this be a cool thing to explore?” And they were fully on board and like, “Yeah, let’s discuss that more.” That was really exciting. And the tone is so interesting and unique. It’s really unlike anything I’ve seen before, let alone acted in before.
Between their involvement and you and Chris Lowell in this episode, it just made me want more seasons of GLOW.
BRIE: Me too.
It was heartbreaking for fans, the way that show ended, so I can’t imagine what it must have been like for the cast and creative team. How hard was that to, on the one hand, have three seasons of this great show that you can be really proud of, but on the other hand, not get the opportunity to finish telling the story the way that it had been planned?
BRIE: It was really hard. It was especially hard because it all happened during COVID, when everybody was quarantining away from one another. The show was so physical. It was really about all of us connecting on a physical level and really feeling like a sports team. We were so in it together. So, to go through the show’s cancellation apart, and extremely apart, just felt really strange. It’s part of what made working on this so great because I got that closure that I couldn’t really get when we first learned of GLOW’s cancellation. I got to be back on set with Liz and Carly and Chris, and also a ton of people from our crew – the wardrobe department, hair and makeup, and sound. Anya Adams, who directed the episode, directed an episode in Season 3 of GLOW. So, there was a lot of joy and excitement, just to be reunited with my buds and my family from GLOW. It did give me some catharsis there.
And you also got a crazy costume to wear.
BRIE: I was on set in my dead body outfit, and I turned to Liz and Carly and was like, “It doesn’t get weirder than this. I think this is the weirdest costume I’ve ever been in.” And Liz goes, “Really? What about Zoya as Scrooge?” And I was like, “You’re right. GLOW was way weirder.”
What was it like to play a character that couldn’t fully interact with anyone around her. Does that ever lead to funny moments in scenes, when you’re trying to get someone’s attention and they have to act like you’re not there? What’s it like to find that balance between being present, but not being seen?
BRIE: It’s a real test in self-confidence. To choose to really commit to a performance, even though you’re not getting anything back from anybody, is a tricky balancing act. If anything, it really connected me more to the character because I was experiencing it. In trying to perform this character, I was going through what she is going through as a character, which is obviously not being seen or heard, and having to take things into her own hands. It was very surreal to be on set, every day, acting in these scenes to people that were looking right through me. After we shot it, a friend of mine was asked me how my chemistry was with Hugh Dancy, and I was like, “Well, we weren’t really able to have chemistry because I’m a ghost and his character can’t see me, but he seemed very nice. He was a great guy.” It’s a testament to how great all the performers are in this episode because everybody really had to do their job, in terms of acting like I was not there, and I was yelling in their faces.
I would totally be on board for the ghost crime-fighting show for an entire season.
BRIE: Me too.
Were you ever disappointed that you didn’t get to spend more time with this character because she is so interesting? If they ever came to you and we like, “We have this really cool idea and we want to just keep going with this character solving crimes for people,” would you be game for that?
BRIE: I haven’t thought about it, but if it were Liz and Carly, yeah, I would do it. If it were anyone else, I just don’t know that I would trust them with that because it’s a pretty out-there idea. I loved embodying this character, especially coming off of GLOW. She’s a polar opposite to Ruth, in a lot of ways, even in her physicality, which was really fun. What’s cool about this show and that the stories are all standalone episodes is that you really do get to experience the character’s full arc in a 30-minute window. I didn’t leave the episode feeling like, “Oh, I wanna play this woman forever.” I really felt like we told her story and we brought it around to its natural conclusion. Unlike GLOW, there was closure when we wrapped the episode.
Roar is available to stream at Apple TV+ on April 15th.