Fair play
DQ hears from All’s Fair stars Kim Kardashian, Naomi Watts, Niecy Nash-Betts, Teyana Taylor, Sarah Paulson and Glenn Close about linking up with creator Ryan Murphy for this Hulu and Disney+ legal drama following a team of female divorce lawyers.
With mix of emotion, entertainment and high stakes, Hulu and Disney+ series All’s Fair is set to shake up the genre of legal dramas.
From creator Ryan Murphy (Feud, American Horror Story, Monster), the show follows a team of female attorneys who leave a male-dominated firm to open their own practice specialising in divorce and family law cases. Fierce, brilliant and emotionally complicated, they navigate breakups, scandalous secrets and shifting allegiances – both in the courtroom and within their own ranks – in a world where money talks and love is a battleground.
The series features a suitably powerhouse cast, led by Kim Kardashian, Naomi Watts, Niecy Nash-Betts, Teyana Taylor, Sarah Paulson and Glenn Close.
Produced by 20th Television in association with Ryan Murphy Television, it is written and executive produced by Murphy, Jon Robin Baitz, Joe Baken, Jamie Pachino, Lyn Greene and Richard Levine. Kardashian, Close, Watts, Nash-Betts and Paulson are also among the executive producers, with Murphy also among the directors.
Ahead of the launch of the series on Hulu and Disney+ today, the cast gathered for a press conference to discuss representation, resilience and why All’s Fair is more than a courtroom drama.
All’s Fair puts powerful women front and centre, and representation was key to the project.
Nash-Betts: When I was five years old, I saw the most gorgeous black woman I had ever seen on television in my little five years of living. She had on a long red dress and her eyelashes looked like butterflies. I look at my grandmama and I say, “Who is that?” She said, “Girl, that’s Lola Falana.” I saw myself in her, and I look at my grandmother and I say, “I want to be black, fabulous and on TV just like that lady.” And I am.
Kardashian: For young girls who want to grow up and be an attorney or want to grow up and have a really successful career, it’s important to have that representation on TV.
Close: I grew up on Walt Disney and early Farmer Gray cartoons. I did not have strong female influences. I had fascinating grandmothers, but they weren’t allowed to do what they wanted to do. I was the first woman [in my family] to go to college, funnily enough. My mother told me in her 80s that she felt she hadn’t accomplished anything. So to be in something like this and to revel in our relationships with each other and to be written as the matriarch of this incredible group of women is thrilling for me.
Paulson: I was raised by a single mum so I certainly saw that kind of strength and determination and tenacity as a lived experience with my mother. I’ve been in Ocean’s 8 and Mrs America, and it was all these women, so it feels very familiar to me to be with such incredible, strong, powerful women. I realise how rare it is, but it’s very special to me. Working in the Ryan world for so long, who writes these parts for women who are not 12, it’s really lucky to be working for a man who wants to put that kind of content out in the world. I may not have seen a lot of it growing up on television, but I’ve experienced a lot of it as a grown woman now, so I feel very lucky.
When it came to building the cast, Murphy called upon some familiar faces like Paulson – and some new ones too.
Watts: This was the third time [working with Murphy] – we’d had two occasions where it worked out very well and had a great experience. I loved the writing, loved the team he put together. So he called me, and pretty much everyone here was already [signed on]. I think I was the last one to come along. He pitched the idea and I thought, “Oh, wow, that sounds like a lot of juicy fun to be had there. What a great idea.” And [I liked] how these women come in, broken, half broken or in pieces, and how we can work together and put them back together and be part of their reinvention. It just sounded like a really aspirational idea to me.
Taylor: I got my call a little on the later side too, because by the time he called, everybody was involved and I was like, “Oh my God, yes!” I’ve always wanted to work with Ryan. We were supposed to work before, but I was on another project when he reached out, so I was not letting this opportunity pass me by. To be able to share the same space and the same room with these amazing women and breathe the same air as them is truly amazing. It’s an honour. I’m just soaking everything up and being a student.
Close: He called me and said it was about women lawyers and I said, “Well, I did Damages. I don’t want to be like [my character in that].” I’ve done that territory of being [someone] that everybody says is a bitch, but truly, she was just acting like a man. He said, “No, you’re gonna be the matriarch, you’re gonna be the mentor. You’ll have great clothes.” Coming off some of the things I’ve been doing recently, [that] was very seductive. I had never done a Ryan show, so it took me a little while to get it. But then I got it and started having a really wonderful time, but also connecting with these women on a personal basis and looking forward to seeing them every day was a very great blessing for me on this project.
Despite juggling business ventures, motherhood and her law studies while building her acting career, Kardashian always arrived on set fully prepared – and quickly earned the admiration of her co-stars.
Kardashian: I knew coming on to this that I was working with women who were the best at what they do, and they’ve been doing this for a very long time. So my job was to make sure I didn’t waste anyone’s time and I showed up prepared as best as I could. Every single day, I learned from them just by watching them – how they live their lives and how they perform their craft is just the best lesson I could ever learn. I obviously am not experienced the way they are, but it was so much fun to come and learn from them every day.
For Watts and Close, All’s Fair marks a new creative chapter by joining the Ryan Murphy Universe.
Watts: Ryan came just at the perfect time and, like Kim and many of us have just said, when he calls, it’s like, “Yes.” You call straight back. He’s not afraid to give women these phenomenal parts. Usually you go to work with a bunch of men, maybe another woman, but you’re usually in conflict with that other woman. In this case, we’re all rooting for each other. There is some conflict, as we know – it makes for good, juicy drama. We’re women of a certain age, but he’s not afraid of it. Women need to see their stories reflected at every age, and we’re half the population, so why shouldn’t we see ourselves up there on the screen? Our stories matter at every point, and Ryan’s not afraid to gather those stories and put them up there.
Close: I never like to repeat myself because I don’t want to bore myself, so I have to honestly say this was a huge learning experience for me. I’d never been in a show like this. I’d never experienced the way it’s shot, and I’d never been in this kind of company of women. It took me a while to get my feet. I was actually kind of intimidated in the beginning. But I learned, and it has been an experience and hopefully will continue to be an experience that will always have great surprises.
Kardashian: When you expressed you were intimidated at the beginning, I was scared shitless. I just was like, “Glenn Close is intimidated? What should I be?” That scared me.
Nash-Betts: Ryan called me and said, “Hey, I’ve got this thing I want you to do.” And I said, “OK.” And then I got the scripts for Dahmer [Murphy’s Netflix show about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer]. So I said yes so fast [to All’s Fair] and didn’t even know what I said yes to. Ryan Murphy will always have me at ‘hello.’ Always.
Paulson: The only time I ever said no to him was when he came to me however many years ago that Glee was. I had done an episode of Nip/Tuck for him and then he came to me and said, “Do you want to play this part on Glee?” And I was like, “Yes, I do,” but then I got offered a play and I wanted to do the play instead. That was the only time I ever said no to him, and it will never happen again, basically.
The cast all reflected on their personal experiences to inform their performances.
Kardashian: I come from a household where my parents got a divorce when I was 10. As a child, you experience it one way, but then you realise everything’s gonna be OK. Then when I got a divorce, it’s different getting a divorce with no children versus getting a divorce with children. Everyone is affected by it; or, unfortunately, more people than we would like are affected by it. But the one positive thing you could try to pull out of a situation that is not hopeful or positive at the time is that you learn about yourself, that you will be OK, and you learn who your support is around you. We’ve connected about relationships and that’s the bond we all had on set, talking about our situations in life and how we grow and learn and how we get through it together.
Nash-Betts: I’m a two-time divorcee. And what I learned is that you really don’t know anybody until you live with them or until you divorce. That’s when you meet the real person. But I also agree that, in the moment, it can feel like the worst thing that has ever happened and you feel like you failed and you didn’t have it together. Then you turn around three times and you realise, “I am so glad I did this!” and “I’m so much better off.” You realise how special those people are who support you in that time.
Close: I went to England to do Sunset Boulevard for the second time to heal myself and to find out where my creative soul was, because it had been basically destroyed. I found it and I found the strength, and it was through the process of recreating this incredible character. What has sustained me through ups and downs is the privilege – and it is a privilege – of trying to do justice to whatever character comes my way. I find it incredibly thrilling. It’s soul-feeding.
Like that? Watch this! Suggested by AI, selected by DQ
The Good Fight: After a financial scam wipes out her savings, seasoned attorney Diane Lockhart rebuilds her career at a progressive Chicago law firm.
Ally McBeal: A quirky young lawyer navigates career challenges, complicated romances and feminist ideals inside a Boston law firm.
The Morning Show: Behind the polished façade of a network morning programme, anchors and producers fight personal and professional battles in a world reshaped by scandal and shifting power.
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tagged in: 20th Television, All’s Fair, Disney, Glenn Close, Hulu, Kim Kardashian, Naomi Watts, Niecy Nash-Betts, Ryan Murphy, Ryan Murphy Television, Sarah Paulson, Teyana Taylor