Prime-Video - The Peripheral – let’s talk with Lisa Joy & T’Nia Miller

By Mulder, Los Angeles, 19 october 2022

The Peripheral is a 2022 American science fiction streaming television series executive produced and created by Scott Smith. Produced by Amazon, it is based on the 2014 book of the same name written by William Gibson. Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy serve as executive producers, along with Athena Wickham, Steve Hoban, and Vincenzo Natali. The series had its world premiere on October 11, 2022, at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles, before its debut on October 21, 2022, on Amazon Prime Video.

Q : Hi Lisa, I am very impressed to be able to talk with The Peripheral co-creator and executive producer. You have directed the great movie Reminiscence and worked on such great series as Burn Notice and Westworld; What did you like so much on the William Gibson’s book ?

Lisa Joy : well thank you I am a huge fan of William Gibson's and what I love most about any story is when it you can talk about the world and examine the world and it forms a kind of allegorical mirror to society but you're also looking at people on a very human and intimate skill, people that you can relate to characters that you feel like you know or that you want to know and this book had such a great combination of that sort of futurism and philosophy and Technology but also heart and that's what I think grounds this entire series is the heart of its characters.

Q :  We haven't been given all of the episodes so I don't know exactly where things are heading but certainly in the early episodes your character is depicted in a very kind of sinister light so I just wanted to ask how did you find playing the villain in in this project and what can you tease about your character's Ark in this season ?

T’Nia Miller : you know I always think that the villainous characters are not far more interesting to play especially when she is as charismatic and Charming and you use the word has such agency right in a way that we don't normally see women portrayed on screen. I will say that although she's painted as a villain, I think she's called the bowl the queen bee. She's described us but not it all isn't as it seems there's a reason so there's a method for her Madness. There's a reason why she says she shows persistent at any cost and even though she really is there for the collective. I believe she's really there for the collective and greater good in her mind at least you know and she has made a real contribution to the world that she lives in that is benefiting all which I'll find out…   I look forward to you enjoying it. 

Q :  So there are so many badass female characters in this series. What was it like you know bringing them into this sci-fi genre that is not so like you know you don't normally find that you don't find females ex exploring this genre too much so what was it like getting that on board in this series ?

Lisa Joy : well I was very fortunate in that when I read the book by Gibson I saw okay well there's Cerise and there's Aelita and there's Flynn and I immediately I think it was truly the female characters who made me understand this is something that we have to make you know because each of them is so powerful in their own unique way and I hadn't seen those different permutations and expressions of selfhood and Power in that many in that many genre or non-genre shows and so then you add somebody like this Marvel and it just takes it to the next level like. I feel like you know the Wonder Woman pose you're supposed to do before a meeting. What's that pose though I'm murdering you. 

T’Nia Miller : She's definitely very sure of herself you know and we talked about these characters but what strikes me is while Clayton is still quite proud patriarchal. We see residents of that in London there's none of that it's gone it feels like it's I just realized that now and the future is female the teacher is absolutely female as it should be sorry guys budget time because it's our time now.

Q :  hi T’Nia Miller what was preparation to create your character ?

T’Nia Miller : I mean look I just started with what was on the page and talked to  the writers, with Vincenzo and explore that and with Greg as well about how they saw her and just kept questioning but it's so beautifully written. These scripts you can't imagine it they're so and of course there's always the edit so you're not necessarily seeing everything that that was there and it goes through rewrites and stuff and actually that helps that helps to kind of go okay well that's out of them now but it's still part of her Narrative of the story of the journey so it really is just about honoring what was on the page and because it is the future you're sort of not bound to anything that's sort of occurring but the thread is that these are very relatable characters these are very human characters and so yes that that was the that has been for me.

Lisa Joy : With your voice when you're Charisse it's so intoxicating and powerful and hypnotic what are you doing with your voice that makes it so great how do you do that you just turn it on. You say here's my Slinky service situation it's there's just some..

T’Nia Miller :  but that happens so recently I remember playing a role once and I didn't like her voice I won't say which role it was but every time I spoke at her I was like oh God it's so jarring but I couldn't for the life of me get out of it that was just her voice I think that's the same thing that she needs I find I think it's what's on the page .

Lisa Joy : you have like a snake charmer with that voice and the you know shoulder pads. oh gosh so good.

T’Nia Miller : the other thing you talk to your question,  Michelle Clayton our gorgeous costume designer I found my way into Teresa's World very much through the costume in this case because she does have these big shoulder pads and you know and those fittings took hours but they'll beautifully spend and we discovered her and this world together and so it was a great part of the prepping and finding her in a way that it hasn't been on any other shows so far.

Q : well to come back to you for a moment today, I was curious because you've done quite a lot of work in the sci-fi and fantasy genres recently with collaborators like Russell T Davies , Mike Flanagan and now of course Lisa and Jonah, so I was wondering what is it about the genre that attracts you and what kind of things do you look for in your collaborators

T’Nia Miller :  I mean it's not so much a genre. I have just been fortunate to have worked with these amazing people you know it really is a writing and the role and how much I get to play and it's always a conversation with the creators as to what they want and I am a bit of a people pleaser. I'm like that little girl at school that just wants to do it right so after every take I look at Vincent oh my God you know but then unless I feel very strongly about something like no I don't think it's my bad. At the moment but most of the time.  I just want to serve the words for God's sake so it's just about interesting characters and interests and story and does it is telling us stories,  is it telling him as it does it have a message what's the message what's the what's the overall story is it going to have an impact and those are the stories that are interesting in in general the stories that leave an audience questioning asking questions because if it provokes that from me then it will do the same out there right.

T’Nia Miller : I think I've become hypnotized by your voices that's so good so pleasant. it's so good whatever it's working that's an aside that's not an interview question wa

Q :  So you know this series is set in the future I was curious if uh what according to YouTube is the message from the future in the series ?

Lisa Joy : well I think you know as Teresa's character knows she's manipulating everything from like the bees to The World At Large and I think it's really interesting that William Gibson's idea of an apocalypse or in this case the jackpot isn't one giant event but a Cascade of smaller events right, political manipulations and climate change and you know colony collapse bees and what I think it tells us is the future can look for voting and it can seen as though we as individuals can't really affect that much but the truth is the apocalypse doesn't happen like that it's tiny things compounding and in each of those things. We have choice and we have agency to shape the world that we want you know our next Generation to inherit so I actually think you know London is not a dystopian Universe like mankind has pulled itself together and kind of hobbled onwards but there are also lessons on how to avoid disaste,r how to avoid getting to that place. I find that to be quite hopeful 

T’Nia Miller : and when I read at well finishing it there my thing was never forget the small man the so-called small man and I were also interconnected and relying to know each other this Global community that we have is it's smaller than we think and so whatever we're doing over here we need to be in conversation and dialogue with that person and it shows us that our current systems where we have just a few people empower. That's not just of this Western world because that spreads right to those tiny little villages in wherever it affects them as well that  no one person should have that amount of power that we do have agency as a collective because for most of us we're always singing from the same hardship but everyone wants to be empowered everybody wants to be happy everyone wants to feed their kids pay their bills right go out at the weekend or in the week eat nice food put on some clothes right go running to a jug everybody wants the normal basic things in all it means to be human and sometimes it doesn't feel tangible or that we don't have any agency at all and those people over there maybe to sit in the high tower make those decisions for us but actually as a collective we are Powerball how do we get there, that's the question how do w,e how does we look for more socialist future or new socialism.

Q : What can you tell us about your work with Vincenzo Natali ?                                      

Lisa Joy : Vincenzo is such a brilliant director. It's just a delight to work with him. He's also this incredible artist. I remember when I first worked with him on Westworld he gave me the script back for the episode he directed and every page he had storyboarded in his own art and it was just beautiful it was absolutely beautiful and so when you're dealing with a world or world's plural like this to have somebody who is so attuned to the Aesthetics and who is such a sensual gaze in his camera movements and his shot design. I think that's really perfect companion to Scott's writing too which is so textured and layered and kind of human so you know honestly. I'm a huge fan of Vincenzo's and Scott so to see their work together has been excellent.

Q :  Vincenzo had mentionned that season two and three  are in discussing. What do you hope to explore in these seasons ?

Lisa Joy :  I would love to have season two and season three and all the seasons in the world to explore this amazing novel you know and I know we've already started brainstorming about season two in the hopes that we get a season two and the world only gets more kind of vast and complicated but the thing that really appeals to me about it is how much deeper we're able to dive into each of the characters lives and personal lives and ambitions and motivations to me that is where it gets really exciting

Q :  I was wondering when you were developing this series did you see any parallels between The peripheral and Westworld in terms of kind of theming ?

Lisa Joy :  you know, I think it was so different for me in that you know when you do any kind of sci-fi you know there are some things that are you know in common in terms of just the scope of the world and imagining new technologies and such but for me Westworld was so much about the examination of humanity from an AI's advantage point you know and thinking about what Consciousness is and the responsibilities of Consciousness whereas meanwhile The peripheral starts from a wholly different place it's not an exercise in examining what makes up Humanity. You're simply presented with humanity and a very loving family these very relatable human characters the question of The peripheral is more what is our obligation as people to this world and to each other. You know I feel like the themes are very emotional and human in a sense and it covers a very different thematic territory than Westworld.

Synopsis:
In the near future, technology has begun to subtly alter society. Flynne Fisher discovers a connection to a very different reality, and the very dark fate that awaits him...

The Peripheral
Created by Scott Smith
Based on The Peripheral by William Gibson
Starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Gary Carr, Jack Reynor, Eli Goree, Charlotte Riley, JJ Field, Adelind Horan, T'Nia Miller, Alex Hernandez
Composer : Mark Korven
Executive Producers: Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy, Scott Smith, Athena Wickham, Steve Hoban, Vincenzo Natali, Greg Plageman
Production companies : Amazon Studios, Kilter Films, Warner Bros. Television
Distributor : Amazon Studios
Original Network : Amazon Prime Video

Photos : Copyright Prime Video

We would like to thanks Lisa Joy & T’Nia Miller for answering to our questions