OTTplay Now You Know - Mare of Easttown

Welcome to OTTplay Now You Know, the podcast that gives you all the trivia and lesser-known facts about your popular films and shows. I'm your host Nikhil

Today, Now You Know is all about trivia from the award-winning American crime drama limited series Mare of Easttown. This series stars Kate Winslet playing the titular character, portraying the role of a detective who investigates a murder in a town near Philadelphia. This series got 16 nominations at the 73rd Emmy awards and won 4.

Let's dive into some trivia from the series now.

1. HBO was initially skeptical when they learned that the lead character of the show, Kate Winslet’s Mare won’t wear any makeup and would flaunt unwashed hair. But Winslet, who’s also among the executive producers of the show, was adamant. In an interview, she said, "We could have still done the film or TV version of that character, made her hair barrel curl-perfect each day, and she could have had her put on some simple makeup before going to work. But I didn't believe for one second that she would, first of all, have time, and secondly, care about looking in the mirror." Now, that’s some commitment in furnishing a character. 

2. When the show’s production resumed in September 2020 after being suspended for Covid, Guy Pearce and Kate Winslet had to quarantine together. Winslet, who had a childhood crush on Pearce, found Pearce's obsession with recycling hilarious. "I was like, 'Darling, why am I going through the bins with you? This was not in my fantasy when I was 11 years old and fell in love with you after watching Neighbours (1985).

3. Jean Smart, who plays Mare’s mother Helen Fahey, decided early on that her character would be drinking or eating in a majority of scenes. While they may not have added a layer to her character’s personality, it surely let on a disarming charm.

4. For a show that seems to take accents seriously, the producers of Mare of Easttown initially wanted to stick to a general New York twang. But Kate Winslet felt that her accent had to be authentic to the Philadelphia area since the story is set in the fictionalized version of Easttown in Chester County, Pennsylvania. 

5. On the evening of the show’s finale, on May 30, 2021, the HBO Max streaming server crashed for several hours for the first time in its history, just minutes before the episode was slated to drop. The popularity of the show is evident from the fact that the finale episode became the most-watched episode in HBO Max history.

6. During the filming of the scene where Detective Colin Zabel is seen getting drunk at a bar, Evan Peters, who played the character, was sober but drank small cups of apple cider vinegar every half hour to trigger sense memory. The night before the shoot, he improvised the line "let me put my bagel down", which director Craig Zobel loved and retained. Peters' performance received much critical acclaim, with many calling it “the most realistic drunk scene in history”. Peters also won an Emmy for his performance in this episode.

You can stream Mare of Easttown on Disney + Hotstar. 

Well, that's the OTTplay Now you Know for today’s episode, I shall be back again tomorrow and until then it's your host Nikhil signing out.

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