No less than Barry Levinson (“Diner,” “Good Morning Vietnam,” “Wag the Dog”) directs the first two episodes of a story so diabolical it might have sounded too far fetched for fiction.
Keaton for his part says he was shocked at the story’s sinister content. “The ease with which it became epidemic kind of knocked me out,” he told reporters on a TV Critics Association press panel last month.
“I really wanted to do something that felt like it was telling the totality of the story, because I felt as if one story wasn’t the full story,” Strong said of his multifaced approach. “One story of a doctor or just one story of Purdue Pharma — it didn’t feel like it was as comprehensive or as profound as what happened, which was this unbelievable event. So [it became] this whole sort of intertwining storylines of covering these different bases, the U.S. attorney’s case, the DEA investigation, Purdue Pharma, this coal town…”
Strong says he had time to flesh out the story for Hulu. “A limited series genre is a great space to work in because it’s still contained. There is an ending, but you get to spend all this much more time getting to this ending and you can really dig deep.”
Dever, who plays a miner whose world falls apart when she is prescribed Oxy, said, “it’s a very devastating and heartbreaking role, but I’m so honored that I got to play her — and be a part of this insane cast.”
Also part of it: Rosario Dawson, Will Chase and Phillipa Soo. The first three episodes are available today; the remains five will be issued on subsequent Wednesdays.