SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for “The Stanford Student,” the sixth episode of the third season of “The Morning Show.”
Oh, Alex.
After constantly being embroiled in scandals throughout the first two seasons, Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) spent the third season of “The Morning Show” on a moral high ground, blowing up a glitzy show from outer space to talk about abortion rights report in Texas to help Chris (Nicole Beharie) fight back against the racism of the network’s CEO, Cybil (Holland Taylor). But then Paul Marks happens.
In episode 6, “The Stanford Student,” Alex on her show interviews Paul (Jon Hamm), the tech billionaire who is trying to buy the network to uncover his past and see if she and her colleagues can keep their past alive journalistic independence under his leadership. Alex confronts Paul on air with information that she has received: An anonymous former mentee of his – the current UBA news president Stella Bak (Greta Lee) – has the feeling that she has been taken advantage of after she gave him billions in money. Dollar Idea for $50,000 She was too naive to know better. Additionally, Paul used code that Stella developed to support grassroots activists for predictive policing technology. All in all, the unnamed “Stanford student” fell into depression and attempted suicide.
Despite his surprise, Paul delivers a surprisingly elegant near-apology. He says his obsession with his work and disregard for other people at the time ruined his marriage, that he has since reevaluated his company’s culture and policies, and that he owes the Stanford student a conversation. That’s all Alex needs to hear to bury her suspicions about him, and the sexual tension that’s been building all season finally erupts. After filming the interview at Paul’s house, the two make out, leading to a long and artfully shot sex scene. In the morning, Alex and Paul are in a committed romantic relationship.
And of course, in true “Morning Show” style, all of the other characters are on the rise at the same time. Bradley (Reese Witherspoon) is visited by her brother Hal (Joe Tippett) and learns that Hal wants to turn himself in to the FBI, despite what Bradley and Cory (Billy Crudup) did to confirm his involvement in the January 6th insurrection cover up . Laura (Julianna Margulies) confronts Hal about needing his support to get back together with Bradley. Chip (Mark Duplass) proposes to Isabella (Hannah Leder), but it goes wrong. Stella prepares to leave UBA after the interview with Alex and Paul, but Paul surprises her by offering her the job with Cory.
“The Morning Show” director and executive producer Mimi Leder spoke to Variety about the value of truth. And the Jon Hamm of it all.
Bradley was always the most morally upright of the main players at UBA – until January 6, 2021. She seems angrier at Hal than herself in this episode. Can you tell me about her feelings here?
She has great moral ambiguity here. As a small child, she was sitting in the car when her father killed a child with his car because he was drunk. She turned him in – she did the right thing – and it ruined her family’s life and established her life as a truth teller. Why doesn’t she tell the truth when faced with a very similar situation, namely that her brother is part of the uprising? This is because of her past and the consequences of telling the truth. Charlotte Stoudt, our showrunner, saw this article in the newspaper about a young man who saw his father in the riot and turned him in to the FBI, and the cost of that. One of our main themes this season is: How much does the truth cost?
She compartmentalizes the acts and makes it certainly Hal’s crime and not her own. But Hal recently got sober and had a baby. Will she ruin his family like she ruined her family? It’s a big dilemma whether she will do the right thing or live in this lie.
Unlike Bradley, Cory appears to be more blatant about covering up Hal and Bradley’s crimes for selfish reasons. Do you think he has any moral qualms? Or is he just comfortable lying to protect Bradley?
I think Cory is protecting Cory. But he has a deep, deep affection for Bradley. I don’t think he likes that he’s lying for her, but I think he’ll do anything for her because he loves her. There’s something deep in Cory’s brain where he wants to do the right thing, but often he doesn’t. But I don’t think Cory regrets the cover-up. Cory will protect her until the bitter end.
He outed her in Season 2 too, you know. He’s very – is he the devil? Or is he an angel? A combination of both? He’s a real combo. He wants to save UBA and will do anything to achieve that, which means bringing in Paul Marks. But I feel like, deep, deep, deep, deep down, Cory has this moral center. However, it is very questionable.
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Season 3 gives us the gift of Paul Marks, who runs his business with Elon Musk-esque absurdity. How did you approach directing Jon Hamm in this role? Were you at all worried about him remaining convincing, especially as a business mogul and lover of Alex when there’s so much debate about whether he’s evil or not?
We talked about, “Who do we cast as this billionaire?” Who can play this elegant, rich, handsome billionaire who comes in and puts his foot down and pushes everyone to their truth? Who is this guy?” And Jon Hamm was the answer. He was the only one we wanted. Jon Hamm is a brilliant, smart, kind, smart actor. He’s very well prepared. He really understood this character. I did so fear? No. Jon Hamm has so many levels of ability. He’s so simple, humorous. He’s a very strong actor. He has many different faces.
At what point do you think Alex will actually realize she’s attracted to him?
From the first moment she sees him in Episode 1, she says, “He’s big.” There’s this inner attraction that she just buries because she’s focused on her work, and is sidelined by the deal . And in Episode 4, when I pushed him back to UBA, I think there are some seeds that lay the foundation for the attraction.
Basically, it’s a date. This is the second time Alex has been intimate with someone publicly considered dangerous – first Mitch, now Paul. What’s happening there?
Alex doesn’t have it easy. Nothing she does is easy. She is a very powerful woman and that attracts very powerful men. She needs her peers, and she finds that in Paul Marks as well as in Mitch Kessler.
I was shocked that they got together so quickly after the interview.
When he speaks out in the interview, I think she sees a different side of Paul Marks. She sees him as a fortune teller. She sees that this is a man who is ready to admit his mistakes. And it’s very interesting that you can be that person who can say “I’m sorry” and then continue to manipulate and control the situation. And it’s all real. It’s all real. Paul Marks doesn’t think he’s the bad guy. And there is this physical attraction that takes over. That’s what love does. It drives you crazy.
So you get the feeling that Paul also feels real affection for Alex? Because there’s an obvious benefit to sleeping with your biggest critic, so I wasn’t sure. But their connection becomes romantic so quickly when it seemed like it was only sexual.
This is a mutual, genuine affection. And that’s why we decided not to do the sex scene where you take your clothes off. It was looking into each other’s eyes and finding the tender center of the scene. That first, deep emotional connection. Two people caught up in each other, swept away by the moment.
Tell me more about the sex scene. It’s the first time we’ve seen something like this on “The Morning Show” — or in Jennifer Aniston’s career.
It was a cohesive set with two very mature actors who really understood the style of storytelling and were a big part of it. We wanted it to be sensitive. We wanted it to be sexy. We wanted it to be mature. We wanted it to be emotional. They really let go. They are great actors. And there you have it.
Did you like it?
I did.
I am so happy. It’s a really interesting episode: it’s a kind of romantic comedy, but it’s also a very important, political episode and a turning point in the series.
I love that you said that this episode feels like a romantic comedy, because there’s devastating drama in this show, but also comedy. That’s one of the charms of the series – reviews of the second season praised the campy feel of Mitch driving off a cliff, Alex having COVID and ranting at his funeral – and there’s more of that this season, starting with a rocket into space in Episode 1. How do you feel about this idea? Do you accept it?
I approach the show in a very real and down-to-earth way because it’s so big. We take big swings. People have big feelings. I never think of it as camp like some people – some people – do. But I look at it like feelings are big; The effects are enormous.
And that’s how I take it. I embrace everything.
This interview has been edited and condensed.