What would have happened if inclusion and representation were taken more seriously in the Golden Age of Hollywood? While we will never actually know, Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan attempt to answer the question in their Netflix limited series, Hollywood, which is like a What If…? comic book about Hollywood in the 1940s. The series takes real people like Rock Hudson, Anna May Wong, and Vivien Leigh and combines them with fictionalized aspiring actors and filmmakers who are willing to do whatever it takes to make Hollywood look at every person as equal, no matter their race or sexual orientation. Also, unlike some of Murphy’s previous projects like American Horror Story or American Crime Story, Hollywood has an upbeat and optimistic tone which works really well with the time period and material.

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Image via Netflix

With the series now streaming on Netflix, I recently did a Zoom call with Jim Parsons, Jake Picking, and Jeremy Pope to talk about making the series. During the interview, they talked about Ryan Murphy’s commitment to diversity and inclusion both in front of and behind the camera, why Pope enjoyed working with Janet Mock and what she brought to the series, being able to film in Hollywood when the series is about Hollywood, what it was like for Picking to play Rock Hudson, and a lot more.

Check out what they had to say in the player below and further down the page is exactly what we talked about and the official synopsis.

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Image via Netflix

Jim Parsons, Jake Picking, & Jeremy Pope:

  • They talk about Ryan Murphy’s commitment to diversity and inclusion both in front of and behind the camera.
  • Jeremy Pope talks about working with Janet Mock and what she brought to the series.
  • How the series is like the comic book What If… except instead of superheroes it’s 1940s Hollywood.
  • Jake Picking talks about playing Rock Hudson and his role in the series.
  • Being able to film in Hollywood when the series is about Hollywood.
  • Jeremy Pope shares what it was like making his “Hollywood” debut.

Here's the official Hollywod synopsis:

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Image via Netflix

A new limited series from Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, Hollywood follows a group of aspiring actors and filmmakers in post-World War II Hollywood as they try to make it in Tinseltown — no matter the cost. Each character offers a unique glimpse behind the gilded curtain of Hollywood's Golden Age, spotlighting the unfair systems and biases across race, gender and sexuality that continue to this day.  Provocative and incisive, Hollywood exposes and examines decades-old power dynamics, and what the entertainment landscape might look like if they had been dismantled.

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Hollywood stars David Corenswet as Jack, Darren Criss as Raymond, Jeremy Pope as Archie, Laura Harrier as Camille, Samara Weaving as Claire, Dylan McDermott as Ernie, Holland Taylor as Ellen Kincaid, Patti LuPone as Avis, Jim Parsons as Henry Willson, Jake Picking as Rock Hudson, Joe Mantello as Dick, and Maude Apatow as Henrietta. The series is Executive Produced by Co-Creators Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, along with Alexis Martin Woodall and Janet Mock, who also serves as a writer and a director.

For more from with Ryan Murphy, here’s why he wanted to make Hollywood and championing minority voices, an update on American Crime Story: Impeachment, and an update on the Ewan McGregor-led Halston series.