Leila Farzad talks Kaos with Jeff Goldblum and what hateful characters all crave

I think it perhaps is M I would argue hello and welcome to go to bat the series shining a light on the hidden gems you should be watching today my guest is Lea farazad hello hello how are you I'm good how are you yeah I'm good thank you thank you for joining us today thank you for having me um you aren't in one new project in a minute you're in two I know it's a very um greedy exciting month for me is it weird when you're like you're working on something obviously over a period of time and suddenly you realize oh these are good coming at the same time yes because one was shot two years ago and one was shot last year and they've both shown up at the same time well yeah no it's it's nice to be able to to have them both there yeah I mean they both they kind of have similar messages which is quite nice they do for things like interviews so you can kind of go there you can kind of link them in so one is the de Cameron and one is chaos yes like you say two they' got similarities but also very distinct in their own manner the the Cameron is out now it's on Netflix um talk to me about about kind of how that Pro came to you your character um it came to me yeah just a tape a zoom audition um to play this kind of stalwart backbone of the piece which um obviously is brilliant but you don't get to do that the silly comedy because you're there as a foil for the silliness so I did used to get little pangs of like I kind of wish I could be a bit silly and a bit Ott cuz she's there to eye roll kind of basically having a cigarette on the side going these guys are so Dreadful these are such disgusting people um so she's kind of the viewer in a way um so yes and then it was it was um kind of a no-brainer when it was an offer um it's got a great cast as well it's got an amazing cast I mean it's you a fan of girls of course yeah so know I was Star Struck and sex education and vep and dairy girls and all the brilliant shows that they've all been in um the the like the level of comedy and wit on that set was extraordinary jokes fly rying around but not too much like bants which can be really tedious I mean I felt very lucky joining that gang let me tell you I really was like oh my God these are proper comedy Legends so yes but I think everyone brings a different flavor and a different color so then you get this lovely I don't know what you want to call it tajine tapestry something that's really delicious excuse me for saying so but you are deliciously round on my knee I am plumper than my dress convey it's had a really lovely response I think it perhaps is Mite I would argue I think it's that whole thing of like um when you've got modern day music and something that looks like it's set in the past some people might be like some purist well like wait what yes but then other people FP proper hardcore Paco fans there aren't that many but they they might they might take offense um or yeah people that wanted more truth to the to the actual original text but generally it's a fun rise whatever happened to modesty and then you got chaos which is uh a chaotic show now chaos is exactly that's kind of my willhouse of TV just kind of um uh sprawling Ensemble where you kind of watch one episode and a character Bobs in and four episodes later that character is thrust into the spotlight and it takes new on new meaning um so chaos is ticking my boxes great when you read the plot some people might read the plot and go I don't know I don't FY that it's like it's too high concept I implore everyone to give it a go because you're hooked aren't you I think I I'd like to think that it's actually very accessible despite appearing sort of high futing and being about based in the Greek myths I'd say the language and the themes and the energy are accessible yeah for sure and the some of the performances are fantastic obviously we've got Jeff gold Blum in there kind of like at the center of it I made you and this is how you repay me everyone brings something and everything has such a its own distinct style I don't want to say anything about giving anything away I know there's also there's like a A4 list of spoilers you can't that I've had to study um but I I'm glad you say that because I feel like they the casting was so clever in that no one sounds the same looks the same brings the same performance and energy and it and and Greek myths are full of these crazy idiosyncratic creatures characters so I hope that that's been translated and it definitely has it feels like like five shows in one and then seeing that all blend is like part of the thrill yes so your your your situation in the show I don't know how deep we could go into it because um obviously for spoilers but you play arri I play Arie Arie and um Arie is is she's a very interesting character because she's kind of again I don't want to spoil it but she's traumatized by an event in her life and that's unfairly kind of tainting her future perhaps um so for you again it's like it's how much fun could you have in the role when it's you're dealing with something quite traumat there's a traumatic there I again um I I'm not one of the um kind of very Ott characters I'm quite an earthed Greek character um who like you said is informed by this really tragic past that's sort of infused into her bones and cell system and she carries the weight of this thing that happened to her when she was very little um and so you see her she's almost a royal figure um she's very she's from a very high status family and she's very subservient and she is minos's daughter that's kind of how she's always she's not a protagonist unto herself in the beginning and then the spoilers which we will not say means that she breaks free from that eventually and can you know go on to be a warrior and fight for things that are more important um so being able to go on that Journey as an actor is a real treat I bet I bet yeah um and you work with Georgie before yes I hate suie of course and Billy Piper is in the as well candra she's incredible of course I mean the whole card is it is like a who's who really isn't it like even like smaller Ro like wait a minute yes there's there's a whole smers Board of of actors that you've loved and gone it's him yeah yeah and new faces as well yeah big star did you get um did you get to hang with Billy on no we we we were never on S time we she got out of a car I got into a car and we gave each other and that was it this series whil also talking about your two brilliant new shows we like to talk about the stuff you've been in that might not have got the love it deserve time release so what have you picked I've picked I well I have picked Avenue 5 Series 2 Avenue 5 I'm sure everyone knows what that what that is but just for those who don't it's Amando yucci suon Blackwell kind of written show that was on HBO quite big budget I think it's fair to say Yes um St H Lori and a whole bunch of other brilliant actors phenomenal actors um and it ran for two series and then it got cancelled it did they said no more thank you outrageous it it is I think it didn't quite get the traction it should have in series one and I think actually to my taste not just because I'm in it but I do think Series 2 is even funnier and finds its feet more but I wonder if maybe if you don't make enough of a footprint in series one people sort of don't pay enough attention yeah and it is Niche because it is on a spaceship and it is a very particular brand of humor I mean I love Armando's humor but um having rewatched bits of it it's to me so witty and so silly and again like a commentary on humanity and how we all behave in a crisis and how um inherently selfish people can be um and the the cast is you know Zach woods Josh Gad Susie Nakamura um Rebecca front I mean and Hugh who's you know frankly if few leads the show sorry I'm just internalizing a lot of panic Fe right now but now I've done that and I'm back in the room raises that question like why doesn't something land you know and could it have landed if it was released a year before or year later like what kind of goes into making a show a hit and I guess you as an actor you have no idea when you receive a script no like you have no sense right I guess unless it's like well oh do you yeah talk to me you're the one who gets the script no I mean I was thinking I've done I've been on a show where I've known like this is a pretty sort of it's a fine script but I certainly wouldn't carry on after episode two interes it's like it's quite boring and say me and I don't like how the female characters are written and so I think you do you know the good scripts is but then it can go through so many processes and so many cooks can be in that broth that then the eventual products can be a bit disappointing and like oh that wasn't what the script was so pure and then I think on the other in the other way you can have quite an average Bland script but with excellent editing and excellent acting and Brilliant Direction and some snazzy film work you get something that people get really obsessed with and also it's that weird thing isn't it that her mentality when one when people decide to make something go viral and you watch it and you go uh okay yeah I don't I I'm not digging this I'm not diing it but everyone's saying watch it I'll give it a go give it a go yeah like it's really strange cuz you had all the ingredients yes for it to be a hit and then it doesn't land and it's something I kind of well when I report or think about it or talk about TV just like if it went on Netflix maybe it would have found an audience but HBO is like one of the last bastions in America of like something on HBO that could become like a water cooler series yes which we don't really have a lot of them anymore no you're right White Lotus was the last White Lotus and then succession just before that I suppose baby reindeer well that's that's the true I guess the difference is right where it's like baby reindeer everyone's watching it you know that but you're not sure what episode they're on yes and you're a bit like wait have you watched the episode and and you end up watching it because you can't bear everyone talking about it you're like okay I'm going to have to watch this cuz I can't and I'm going to have to binge it I'm going to have to binge it and and it's and it's not pleasant to binge absolutely it will make you hurt a bit um on many yeah yeah it's not it's not White Lotus is pure enjoyment yeah um yeah that's that transports you doesn't it and succession is just Heavenly um if the would that be like a dream job something like the White Lotus when an emble of of course I think when they were when they were casting the latest one I mean the buzz people were like has any has anyone Rippling around the yeah exactly it's filming somewhere really exotic um but I'm sure it's going to be extraordin when when Jennifer kulage died though I was like no no well then then there can't be another because she's she's the heartbeat of the show so I'm interested to see what happens that was the real bait and switch wasn't it you're like wait a minute she's going to survive the drowning right like who actually died there yeah it actually left me of a sleepless night because of she died in such a cruel way and I was like yeah but she's so stupid I'm like no you want to give her a cuddle like T it's going to be all right yeah although I was very upset when she didn't pick up the do you remember the lady that had done the full um plan of how she was going to run her Spa oh yeah yeah yeah and then she doesn't follow through follow through she's like right bye bye I'm gonna go you're like okay she's she's been up all night one of those yeah but she needs she just needs to be loved exactly most characters that are hateful just need to be loved I would that would be my hot take yeah I like that so your characters would you say a lot of them have love need love what what would you say what you prer playing yeah yeah actually that is a theme with a lot of my because I play slightly Jagged jaded women um and I'd say a lot of them yeah need re insurance and love and needed it perhaps when they were very young and so because they didn't get it have grown extremely thick almost metallic skin to keep out any pain um because they will never be hurt again yeah so statilia has been you know treated very badly and desperately heartbroken and has a little boy to look after so she's tough as old boots but inside is obviously would love to be loved and looked after and love Yeah Naomi the same star very a lot of heartbreak in her childhood and yeah AR's born like born comes into the world heart with heartbreak yeah and um the prophecy that she's hangs over her head something very interesting about Ari and just like how because of the um how she came to the world just how her life has been kind of dictated by in some small you know in some way like men I know like she got her dad and then you've obviously you've got prus kind of like using on as as like little porn pieces and then and Ze just yeah just just yeah being Zeus with everyone and you just see this like in her early episodes I won't say go into specifics but she is manipulated she she has to like you know really request and plead for something that she wants that's that's a good thing yeah yeah and it's just like she's this powerful woman she living in control yeah under this kind of it's like a well it's like the gods are a kind of totalitarian regime yeah that everyone is and they and he is male the main god and then her father is the next person down and they are yeah controlling her every action what comes out of her mouth um and she has enough at some point look it's been wonderful chatting to you um it's been wonderful chatting to you I really want I'm assuming everyone's already watched at the camera if they haven't should go and watch that I think chaos is going to be a show on everyone's lips especially um I hope so I hope so as well and I mean I don't know if it's too premature to ask but is there any word about a followup or is that think I think uh perhaps there is perhaps the word of a follow-up so we need people to watch it yeah I think I think we need people to watch it and go on that Odyssey with us um because it's extraordinary and like you said I think it will stay with you and bring up questions and themes that are Universal not just Greek mythy [Music]