Today’s Guest: Ben Watkins, creator/showrunner, “Hand of God,” producer/writer, “Burn Notice”
Watch this exclusive Mr. Media interview with Ben Watkins by clicking on the video player above!
Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of true believers whose lives are also filled with sex, lies, brutal violence, hypocrisy and old books with the centers carved out to hide thumb drives… in the NEW new media capital of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!
The name of the show threw me, no denying it.
“Hand of God”?
I’m not a particularly religious guy and the new Amazon Studios series – starring Ron Perlman, Dana Delaney, Andre Royo, Emayatzy Corinealdi, and Garrett Dillahunt – now in its second season, didn’t sound like my kind of show.
But then I was asked if I would you like to speak with the showrunner, Ben Watkins—who previously wrote and produced USA’s “Burn Notice? So I said, “Let me check it out.”
BEN WATKINS podcast excerpt: “Ron Perlman plays this judge who goes off the rails when his son attempts suicide. He’s in a coma. I wanted to explore somebody who becomes a zealot, who becomes focused on one thing.”
I started watching the first episode. Then the second.
Before I knew it, I was halfway through the first season of 10.
“Goddammit!” I said to no one in particular. “How many times will I make the mistake of judging a book by its cover, or a movie or TV series by its title?”
“Hand of God” is really, really good.
In this age of peak TV and 400 new series vying for our time and attention, it’s hard to know what to watch. My wife and I gave up on Amazon’s “Man in the High Tower” but gave USA’s “Mr. Robot” a second chance and were pleased with the decision. You won’t be disappointed if you sample “Hand of God.”
BEN WATKINS podcast excerpt: “Emayatzy Corinealdi is a breakout actress. My wife saw her in an independent film called ‘Middle of Nowhere.’ We told her, ‘The character is going to be the moral center for this show; don’t judge it just by the (first episode) when you see her having sex with a client.’ Emayatzy brings a certain humanity and subtlety to everything she does.”
Key interview moments:
• 3:30 “Hand of God” creator and showrunner Ben Watkins explains how star Ron Perlman fits the title of the series;
• 15:50 Watkins advises actress Emayatzy Corinealdi not to prejudge her prostitute character by the pilot episode;
• 27:36 Who would Watkins choose in the DeathMatch of TV trios? “Burn Notice” co-stars Jeffrey Donovan, Bruce Campbell and Gabrielle Anwar or “Hand of God” co-stars Ron Perlman, Dana Delany and Andre Royo?
Hand of God Facebook • Twitter • Wikipedia • IMDB
Ben Watkins Twitter
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