During the Oscars, FX dropped a new trailer for壕/Verdon, the engineered-to-win-ALL-the-awards drama they have coming later in the spring. Sam Rockwell went into the Oscars the reigning Best Supporting Actor and a back-to-back nominee on the night. Now he’s being set up to win an Emmy. It’s like we’re finally making up for ignoring him inMoon.AndConfessions of a Dangerous Mind.And银河访客。And I don’t care what anyone says, he was a GREAT Zaphod Beeblebrox. So now that we’re done ignoring that Sam Rockwell is a reliably great performer, he’s getting the kinds of roles that end with showers of awards.壕/Verdonis no different. If it wasn’t Peak TV, he’d be a shoo-in to win everything—ditto Michelle Williams. But since it is Peak TV, they will both go into the 2019 TV awards as serious dramatic contenders, but not necessarily locks. There are no locks in Peak TV, except maybe the final season ofGame of Thrones.
I don’t like musicals, but I love dance. Like, I’m fascinated by it. I’m amazed at what people can train their bodies to do, and I am constantly falling down dance video holes on Youtube. So even though I don’t really care about the backstage-musical part of壕/Verdon,I am SUPER into all the dance stuff. The hats! The snaps! The hips! I’m here for all of the dance stuff. But I also love the juxtaposition in this trailer, of Fosse telling Gwen Verdon he loves her, then telling her he loves someone else. That one cut establishes the whole terrain of their relationship. Do we even need a multi-episode series? I almost feel like this trailer encapsulates all of it.
But this is a complicated relationship, as much love affair as creative co-dependency, and Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams are perfectly cast. (It’s actually spooky, how much Michelle Williams looks like Gwen Verdon.) In popular culture, I think Gwen Verdon has been lost, so while I’m sure Rockwell will deliver as Fosse, I am most looking forward to the Gwen Verdon revival Michelle Williams and this series could kick off. Seriously,watch her, she’s electric. Why isn’t she remembered like Ginger Rogers? Fosse/Verdon looks great and will undoubtedly be nominated for everything under the sun. But mostly I hope it gives Gwen Verdon her due.
Attached - Sam Rockwell with Leslie Bibb at the Oscars and Vanity Fair party.
