| A Conversation with David L. Womlper, Executive Producer, "North and "South" As found in the ABC Press Kit Feature |
Q: First things first - what brought you to "North and South" in the first place?
A: Somebody told me about the John Jakes novel, I read it, and I thought it would make a terrific
miniseries. lt's a period of American history - the time before the Civil War – beginning in 1842 that
hasn't been dramatized on television, in motion pictures or anywhere else that I know of . ABC agreed,
and I also bought Jakes' next book, "Love and War," which takes the characters on through the Civil
War. l'm happy to say that things are going so well on the filming of "North and South" that ABC has
extended the project to 12 hours and committed to another 12 hours for "North and South, Book ll,"
based on Jakes' book "Love and War." Never has a network made such a long term commitment for a
miniseries to be played in the same season.
Q: You've produced the most successful miniseries of all time - "Roots" and "The Thorn Birds." What
elements must be in place for a miniseries to be successful and why did you see "North and South" as
right for the genre?
A: I think that for a miniseries to be successful it has to meet one of three requirements:
l) it has to be based on a big, best selling distinguished novel - like "The Thorn Birds" - or
2) it has to be about an incredibly powerful sociological event – like "Holocaust" or "Roots" - or
3) it has to dramatize a historical character or incident, like "Masada" or "George Washington."
lf a project fits one of those categories, I think it makes for a successful miniseries and "North and
South" fits two of them.
Q: And those two are . . . ?
A: First, it's a big, best selling novel by a top author, John Jakes. Second, it 's historical. I don't believe a
miniseries that's an original story about a contemporary subject can be successful because there's
nothing to make it special enough. "North and South" is the story of an intense, vibrant period that is
still affecting American life and thought, and it's a story that hasn't been done before. The twenty years
before the Civil War is really a virgin area for drama. Also, because it's historical, it's a costume picture,
and you don't see, that on regular series television. The costuming is important because that's an
element that can bring an audience immediately into a different world. That's something special, too. A
miniseries has to be an event - something to make an audience say, "l'm not going to miss this. I'm going
to stay home. l'm not going to turn on other television shows, l'm not going to go out to the movies, I'm
not going out to dinner. l'm going to stay home and watch those four or five nights." So it has to be an
event.
I feel that miniseries are the top of the line in television and at this point in my career l'm spending most
of my time exclusively at doing them, with the exception of a few unusual television movies.
Q: You've been filming in South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas – a long way from the
convenience of studio facilities and Southern California locations. Has it been worth the expense?
A: Expense isn't really the question. We couldn't spend enough in Hollywood to build sets that would
equal the homes that have been preserved in their original pre-Civil War state in Charleston and
Natchez. We're in houses with the original furniture, the original walls - the original everything. You can't
improve that on a sound stage, and the look of this show is vital. lt's the Old South: big plantations,
colorful costumes, hundreds of actors - it's a big, juicy epic. The only thing I can think of as a precedent
is "Gone With the Wind," and that's the kind of feeling we're going for.
Q: The "North and South" cast list shows 13 people in starring roles, many of them relatively unfamiliar
names. You also have a list of VERY familiar names as special guest stars. How did you arrive at the
casting?
A: We were looking for major stars for specific cameo roles. But we had to make sure the character "fit"
was right - not names for the sake of names. For instance, Hal Holbrook is playing Abraham Lincoln. I
never even considered anybody else. He's already won an Emmy for portraying him in my "Sandburg's
Lincoln," and was delighted to tackle him again. His voice, his look, his carriage, his attitude is
absolutely correct. lt's uncanny. Elizabeth Taylor is playing a larger-than-life role as a bordello madam
whose scenes contain a vital story element, and Elizabeth is certainly a larger-than-life personality.
Johnny Cash has the right kind of bedrock strength for John Brown; Gene Kelly is a veteran who can
relax and give a little twist to a role of a Senator; Robert Mitchum plays an lrish officer in the Army, and
Mitchum has been an lrishman all his life. So each of the special stars we have bring something to the
show, and although they're small parts, they're very important parts in the picture.
Q: And the leading roles?
A: The key roles are Orry Main and George Hazard; one from the South and one from the North. They
meet as young men at West Point; they grow up together, they become business partners, their families
intermarry; they form bonds that will be broken by the shadow of Civil War. They're the driving force of
the story: one of them is very intense and troubled, the other more at ease and outgoing. We see them
over a period of 19 years, growing from youth to middle age, and it's very, very difficult for an older actor
to play an 18-year-old. With Patrick Swayze and James Read we have two young actors who can easily
be a little younger for the West Point years and also be believable as they grow into their later years,
and who have the strength to carry the story.
Q: As "North and South" covers the years leading up to the Civil War, we see people begin to take
sides. Whose side does the story take?
A: Aside from the truly evil characters, it's tough to find true heroes and the villains. We like the boys;
we like their families. We see the story from both perspectives. When they ultimately face each other in
war, rather than taking sides we're rooting for the whole thing to be over so that people can get back
together again.
Q: You said that you didn't think "contemporary" stories make good miniseries.
Yet how can we relate to the situation of life 20 years before the Civil War? That’s 140 years ago?
A: That's one of the reasons I took on this piece, to understand the relationships between people at that
time. Sometimes I think about it in today's terms. Just think what it would be like if the country were
suddenly about to be divided in half. Think about the heartbreak in individual terms. lf you're a New
Yorker and your wife is from Atlanta – her family is the enemy. lf you live in Nashville and your business
partner lives in Philadelphia - you're out of business. People had built bonds between them, but now they
were breaking apart. lt's terrible to imagine. There were all these enormous tensions. But that’s what
makes drama - and that's what we have in "North and South"…
A: Somebody told me about the John Jakes novel, I read it, and I thought it would make a terrific
miniseries. lt's a period of American history - the time before the Civil War – beginning in 1842 that
hasn't been dramatized on television, in motion pictures or anywhere else that I know of . ABC agreed,
and I also bought Jakes' next book, "Love and War," which takes the characters on through the Civil
War. l'm happy to say that things are going so well on the filming of "North and South" that ABC has
extended the project to 12 hours and committed to another 12 hours for "North and South, Book ll,"
based on Jakes' book "Love and War." Never has a network made such a long term commitment for a
miniseries to be played in the same season.
Q: You've produced the most successful miniseries of all time - "Roots" and "The Thorn Birds." What
elements must be in place for a miniseries to be successful and why did you see "North and South" as
right for the genre?
A: I think that for a miniseries to be successful it has to meet one of three requirements:
l) it has to be based on a big, best selling distinguished novel - like "The Thorn Birds" - or
2) it has to be about an incredibly powerful sociological event – like "Holocaust" or "Roots" - or
3) it has to dramatize a historical character or incident, like "Masada" or "George Washington."
lf a project fits one of those categories, I think it makes for a successful miniseries and "North and
South" fits two of them.
Q: And those two are . . . ?
A: First, it's a big, best selling novel by a top author, John Jakes. Second, it 's historical. I don't believe a
miniseries that's an original story about a contemporary subject can be successful because there's
nothing to make it special enough. "North and South" is the story of an intense, vibrant period that is
still affecting American life and thought, and it's a story that hasn't been done before. The twenty years
before the Civil War is really a virgin area for drama. Also, because it's historical, it's a costume picture,
and you don't see, that on regular series television. The costuming is important because that's an
element that can bring an audience immediately into a different world. That's something special, too. A
miniseries has to be an event - something to make an audience say, "l'm not going to miss this. I'm going
to stay home. l'm not going to turn on other television shows, l'm not going to go out to the movies, I'm
not going out to dinner. l'm going to stay home and watch those four or five nights." So it has to be an
event.
I feel that miniseries are the top of the line in television and at this point in my career l'm spending most
of my time exclusively at doing them, with the exception of a few unusual television movies.
Q: You've been filming in South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas – a long way from the
convenience of studio facilities and Southern California locations. Has it been worth the expense?
A: Expense isn't really the question. We couldn't spend enough in Hollywood to build sets that would
equal the homes that have been preserved in their original pre-Civil War state in Charleston and
Natchez. We're in houses with the original furniture, the original walls - the original everything. You can't
improve that on a sound stage, and the look of this show is vital. lt's the Old South: big plantations,
colorful costumes, hundreds of actors - it's a big, juicy epic. The only thing I can think of as a precedent
is "Gone With the Wind," and that's the kind of feeling we're going for.
Q: The "North and South" cast list shows 13 people in starring roles, many of them relatively unfamiliar
names. You also have a list of VERY familiar names as special guest stars. How did you arrive at the
casting?
A: We were looking for major stars for specific cameo roles. But we had to make sure the character "fit"
was right - not names for the sake of names. For instance, Hal Holbrook is playing Abraham Lincoln. I
never even considered anybody else. He's already won an Emmy for portraying him in my "Sandburg's
Lincoln," and was delighted to tackle him again. His voice, his look, his carriage, his attitude is
absolutely correct. lt's uncanny. Elizabeth Taylor is playing a larger-than-life role as a bordello madam
whose scenes contain a vital story element, and Elizabeth is certainly a larger-than-life personality.
Johnny Cash has the right kind of bedrock strength for John Brown; Gene Kelly is a veteran who can
relax and give a little twist to a role of a Senator; Robert Mitchum plays an lrish officer in the Army, and
Mitchum has been an lrishman all his life. So each of the special stars we have bring something to the
show, and although they're small parts, they're very important parts in the picture.
Q: And the leading roles?
A: The key roles are Orry Main and George Hazard; one from the South and one from the North. They
meet as young men at West Point; they grow up together, they become business partners, their families
intermarry; they form bonds that will be broken by the shadow of Civil War. They're the driving force of
the story: one of them is very intense and troubled, the other more at ease and outgoing. We see them
over a period of 19 years, growing from youth to middle age, and it's very, very difficult for an older actor
to play an 18-year-old. With Patrick Swayze and James Read we have two young actors who can easily
be a little younger for the West Point years and also be believable as they grow into their later years,
and who have the strength to carry the story.
Q: As "North and South" covers the years leading up to the Civil War, we see people begin to take
sides. Whose side does the story take?
A: Aside from the truly evil characters, it's tough to find true heroes and the villains. We like the boys;
we like their families. We see the story from both perspectives. When they ultimately face each other in
war, rather than taking sides we're rooting for the whole thing to be over so that people can get back
together again.
Q: You said that you didn't think "contemporary" stories make good miniseries.
Yet how can we relate to the situation of life 20 years before the Civil War? That’s 140 years ago?
A: That's one of the reasons I took on this piece, to understand the relationships between people at that
time. Sometimes I think about it in today's terms. Just think what it would be like if the country were
suddenly about to be divided in half. Think about the heartbreak in individual terms. lf you're a New
Yorker and your wife is from Atlanta – her family is the enemy. lf you live in Nashville and your business
partner lives in Philadelphia - you're out of business. People had built bonds between them, but now they
were breaking apart. lt's terrible to imagine. There were all these enormous tensions. But that’s what
makes drama - and that's what we have in "North and South"…
| Copyright ABC Public Relations Dept. |