“My life changed when Rachel Brosnahan walked into it. I will never be the same again.”
That’s it Amy Sherman-Palladino closes a farewell letter early distribution of her Emmy-winning Fifth and final season of Prime Video series coming in April. Later that day, Sherman-Palladino was joined by Maisel’s collaborator and husband, Daniel Palladino, and the cast of a special PaleyFest event at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. While speaking with the Hollywood Reporter on the red carpet, Sherman-Palladino took a minute to recall the moment.
“We read a lot of people and then Jeanie Bacharach, who helped cast the pilot, said there was a girl who didn’t have anything on her resume Can make you believe she can do it — she hasn’t done any comedy,” Sherman-Palladino explained. “But Jenny said, ‘I just thought Rachel Brosnahan could do this.’ We looked at her resume—we got it from House of Cards knew her when they tied her up and threw her in a ditch – and asked, ‘Is that the girl? Like, she’d be funny? They said, ‘Yeah, just trust us. So, we did, and Rachel came in. She was the first girl to pick up the mic and lean in. Immediately I said, ‘That’s the one Girl. Wow. That’s the girl. She’s in and out, that’s it.”
From this, Brosnahan landed the role of Miriam “Midge” Maisel, a woman who’s been left behind by her husband. A woman who discovered a talent for stand-up comedy and a passion after having children. Brosnahan’s life has changed, too, and after the chance to play Midge for five seasons, she’ll never be the same again, a role that has brought her critical acclaim, nearly every piece of hardware in Hollywood, from Emmys to He has won multiple Screen Actors Guild Awards and Golden Globe Awards.
Brosnahan attended on Tuesday night, she joined Palladinos and actor Alex Borstein, Tony Shalhoub , Caroline Aaron and Michael Zegen join a panel discussion moderated by THR Contributing Editor Stacey Wilson Hunt. The actress was pretty much at the end of the press, but it wasn’t until she shared a few minutes with THR that she tearfully tried to explain Maisel means something to her.
“It changed my life,” she confirms, with tears in her eyes. “It changed me, and I may find it for a long time. This experience gave me a second, third, fourth family. I was cared for, inspired and encouraged throughout the process. Love, this is something I never thought I could experience at work. I learned to believe in myself in a way I didn’t on this show. I learned to be braver in the pursuit of scary things. I was on this show grew up.”
She also became a producer. Brosnahan launched Scrap Paper Pictures, a company that has a deal with Amazon and has so far delivered the feature I’m Your Woman and is in development Lois & Varga, streamer limited series based on a short story by Lisa Taddeo featuring Brosnahan Producer and starring. She credits the Palladinos with giving her “a front row seat to some of the biggest producers in the business” for five seasons.
“They are the ones who elevate the cast and crew and care about them as people and performers,” she continued. “They are producers who raise the bar year after year for themselves and everyone. I have a whole new appreciation for the sausage making process because of being close to them, and also because they invite me to have a front row seat to the process. “
While Maisel’s eight-year, five-season run has come to an end, the Palladinos say they hope to Back in the car with Brosnahan and company. “We’d love to work with any of these guys, whether it’s at Maisel or not Maisel because they’re awesome,” concludes Palladino, leaving the door open for future projects. “Their talents are so diverse, my feeling is we’ll be working with them a lot over the next eight years — and then we’ll be due again in another eight years.”
Sherman-Palladino is more forthright. “I hate it when it’s over. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. It’s horrible, it’s horrible,” she said. “Because I love these guys so much and seeing them tonight I just want to grab a lot of them – it’s unnecessary and for random reasons.”
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