Anna Paquin, best known for her role in True Blood, is the star of Pop TV’s new series Flack.
The show, which Paquin’s husband Stephen Moyer is producing, is a six-episode limited series that delves into the fast-paced and cut-throat world of celebrity public relations.
In the show, Paquin plays Robyn, a “spin doctor” who is skilled at navigating crisis situations for her high-profile clients in entertainment, fashion, and sports, but struggles with her personal life.
Paquin spoke to Parade.com about her acting career, saying, “I’m attracted to good writing and a lot of creative, talented people, and that is really the only common thread linking all of my work.”
“I don’t have an overall plan, per se, for what I want to do at various stages in my life, it’s just a little more freeform than that.”
She received critical acclaim for her role in The Piano, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at the age of 11.
This role launched her acting career, leading to various film and TV roles.
Flack co-stars Sophie Okonedo and Lydia Wilson praised the unique culture on set and the strong female characters in the show.
Okonedo, known for her role in Hotel Rwanda, said of the all-female cast, “Each of them is really interesting and diverse, and it added a real excitement on the set. It was a really great place to be, and we had enormous fun.”
She added that instead of returning to their trailers between takes, the women would huddle together and bond.
Wilson, who has long admired Paquin’s work, said of her co-star, “As a producer, she was kind of our boss, our champion and our friend.”
“Anna is just so much fun to play with, especially because the characters are so well drawn.”
Flack reflects the brutal reality of modern life, in which problems can go viral instantly.
The show portrays various celebrity scandals, and Okonedo spoke to a few PR professionals to ensure the portrayal was realistic.
“When I asked them they were like, ‘no, no, no, this is not over the top. I’m worse,’ which looking at it page after page was a little shocking,” she said.
Okonedo hopes viewers will find the show “cunning, surprising, quite shocking, and hilariously funny,” while Wilson hopes they will be inspired by Paquin’s performance.
Paquin has had a successful acting career.
She began her acting journey when she was chosen from 5,000 candidates to play Holly Hunter’s daughter in The Piano, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 11.
Since then, she has taken on various film and TV roles, including her starring role in True Blood.
Flack co-star Sophie Okonedo spoke about the unique culture on set, saying, “When they were setting up for a new scene we would all get into a little corner, huddle down, kick our high heels off, put our feet up and have fun joking around.”
She added that it was a great experience to work with such talented and diverse women and that Paquin, who is also a producer on the show, was hands-on and supportive.
Lydia Wilson also praised Paquin, saying, “Anna is a brilliant actress and TV executive.”
“Getting to see how rounded and experienced she is on every level, and how much energy she has was an unexpected bonus.
“Anna holds this amazing space in the middle of all the bustle and I really admired that despite toxic situations her character finds herself in, Anna shows such great depth in her portrayal.”
Flack deals with various celebrity scandals and reflects the modern reality of problems going viral instantly.
Okonedo said that when she spoke to PR professionals to research the show, they told her that Flack was not over-the-top in its portrayal of these scandals.
Okonedo hopes viewers will find the show “cunning, surprising, quite shocking, and hilariously funny,” while Wilson hopes they will be inspired by Paquin’s performance.