If you haven’t watched Amazon Prime’s Utopia, spoilers ahead!
Utopia is this, frankly; dystopian remake of an UK show. The U.S. version is brought to us by the insanely talented Gillian Flynn. The series centers around a group of conspiracy theorists whose ideas about a comic book turn out to be true. As well as more than any of them bargained for. Jessica Rothe is one of the original conspiracy theorists, who plays Samantha in the show. While fans may have come to Utopia [if they’re Rother fans] due to her being in the Happy Death Day films, they may have been disappointed that Samantha was killed early on by Jessica Hide.
It was a scene that even shocked me. In a recent interview, Flynn describes why she decided to kill Samantha off so early:
“Samantha was a character that I created – she’s not in the UK original – and I did it for couple reasons, some of which I’ll be able to remember and some I probably won’t be able to remember. I liked the idea of a character being suddenly shot and killed. I really like that idea of ‘Welcome to this world.’ Obviously, that’s nothing new; I’m not taking credit for that. You know, you can go back to Psycho when you think of the person that you think that you’re following, but you’re not. But I still liked it, and I did like that it was the person that you think might be the leader. We should have a drinking game for the number of times someone refers to Sam as the leader. [Laughs.] You know, ‘Sam knows the most.’ Because I wanted her to feel that way.”
Flynn also commented:
“I also really liked the idea of casting a blonde-haired, blue-eyed actress, and Jessica Rothe was totally in on this and great about it as the person that we’ve been trained to think is going to be the one to watch for, and having Sasha Lane kill her, sort of like ‘Welcome to the new world order, bitch.’ I appreciated that reversal of that, and that it would be sort of shocking. Sasha did such a great pivot there where I don’t even think you see it coming, the way she does it. So I did like that. I like that a new heroine is in town, and she doesn’t look like the girls from the ’80s.”
Rothe also commented on the fate of her character. Especially how she felt going into the project:
“You know, the moment a Gillian Flynn project comes across your desk you say yes, no matter what. I was such a huge fan of hers from Gone Girl, from Sharp Objects, from her work as a novelist. And when I read the script, and read the first two episodes and saw Sam’s short-but-fiery presence in the show, I just knew I had to be a part of it. I think it’s such a rare and unique opportunity both to portray such a strong female character who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to go after it and is so fiercely intelligent and unapologetic in her desires and her dreams. It was such a joy to jump into that space. And not only that, but I got to work on a show with such an incredible lead character in Jessica Hyde, and such a fierce, brilliant showrunner in Gillian Flynn.
Of course, I wish I could have stayed around a little longer, because I think this is one of the most talented and unique casts and crew that I’ve ever encountered, and everyone brought their A-game every day. But I do actually think, in a funny way, Sam fulfilled her destiny. I do think that, although tragic what happens to her, it helps fuel the Nerds on their quest to save the world. And at the end of the day, that was her sole focus. So you know what, she’d probably be like, ‘Fuck yeah’.”
Have you seen Utopia? If so, check out my review for the series, which I believe is a must-watch! We better get a season two!
Source: Cinema Blend
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