Oscar-winner Natalie Portman and up-and-comer Moses Ingram lead this period drama about two women whose ahead-of-their-time dreams land them at the intersection of racism, sexism and murder in 1960s Baltimore
The disappearance of a young girl on Thanksgiving 1966, closely followed by the murder of Cleo Johnson (Moses Ingram), a Black activist trying to navigate the underbelly of Black Baltimore, initially seems like a juicy mystery for Jewish housewife Maddie Schwartz (Natalie Portman) to solve, as she tries to reinvent herself as an investigative journalist. But in the hands of Honey Boy director Alma Har’el, this dual murder mystery based on crime author Laura Lippman’s 2019 book becomes less of a ‘whodunit’ and more of a ‘who am I?’ as we watch Maddie and Cleo experience firsthand the price women pay for their ambition and dreams.
It doesn’t take long for this television adaptation of Lady in the Lake to veer off from traditional storytelling territory into what Har’el describes as a transcendental trainwreck between two women on a collision course. To Har’el, the unique nature of her series was, to some degree, reflected in the source material. “The thing that isn’t straightforward about Laura’s book is that it has this Black woman that speaks to you from after her death,” the filmmaker explains. “That very much intrigued me. My instinct was to focus on the two women, and I actually made Cleo Johnson’s part a lot bigger.”
The series explores religion, partnership, trauma — all themes that fascinate Har’el on a personal level. “It’s my own relationship to my Jewishness and the duality of being both persecuted and a victim and also an oppressor, and the vicious cycle of trauma travelling through generations, both in the Jewish and the Black community,” she reflects. “More than anything, it was the possibility to juggle something that is so full of twists and turns, and at the same time have so many pockets for character work and exploration of the subconscious. I didn’t necessarily know how complicated it would be to achieve it, but I dove in.”
For this nuanced investigation, Har’el surrounded herself with an equally ambitious team. Portman, who both stars and serves as executive producer, had all the qualifications the showrunner was looking for in terms of painting outside the lines. “Natalie has a body of work that, if anything, is extremely intimidating,” she says. “I needed somebody who is capable of travelling between genres and being open physically to try things. I knew Natalie could do it. I had no doubt. I was just excited to take her there and give her seven hours to play instead of an hour-and-a-half.” The same applied to Ingram, best known for her roles as Jolene in The Queen’s Gambit and Reva in Obi-Wan Kenobi. “Moses is a dancer, a singer, an actress and a poet,” Har’el says. “Just having these two ladies who can play so well was like the gift that kept on giving.”
Har’el also re-teams with Honey Boy star Noah Jupe, who plays Maddie’s teenaged son Seth. “Oh man, Noah. What a jewel,” enthuses the director. “Watching him grow up and seeing his insight into human nature and relationships, and having conversations with him and Natalie about [their characters’] relationship — for a woman to give birth to a young man and then seeing him grow up and start to oppress her, and him confusing her need for freedom for a lack of love . . .”
Having worked with Har’el in his childhood, Jupe was eager to jump back in the deep end as a young adult. “If I’m being completely honest, I would’ve said yes to anything Alma asked me to do, but I was very lucky that it was a really cool story as well,” the actor explains. “Seth Schwartz is an angry teenager, going through a really tough stage in his life. Not only is he realizing the scariness and toxic nature of the world, but he’s also realizing that his family wasn’t as strong as he thought. His relationship with his mother is quite toxic, and there’s a lot of anger and frustration there. I think it makes for an incredibly complicated time for both of them, but as an actor, it’s a pretty awesome thing to work out.”
What’s more, Jupe can’t rave enough about the experience of acting opposite Portman. “You couldn’t really ask for a better scene partner,” he says. “It was one of those moments where, when I was in it, I was like, ‘This is just Natalie. We’re just hanging out and we’re just doing these scenes and it’s great.’ And then you finish the job and you look back, like, ‘That was crazy.’ ” The series, he thinks, is sure to raise as many questions for the audience as it did for those involved in the project. “You get a feeling on set, like, all the actors [are wondering], ‘Is this going to work out?’ But everyone knows that we’re making something crazy and special,” Jupe muses. “Also with Alma, she’s magical in the editing room. She can make incredible stories with the beautiful stuff that she shot.”
Lady in the Lake, streaming Friday, August 9 Apple TV+