Fans of the Netflix series Black Mirror are getting a big Christmas present – season 4 will be released on Dec. 29.
One of the highly-anticipated episodes, Arkangel, was directed by Jodie Foster and stars Rosemarie DeWitt.
Evening talked to them about making the emotional episode, which revolves around a single mother, her daughter, and the unintended consequences of technology that’s used to protect children.
KIM HOLCOMB: "As parents, when you're looking at this script and figuring out how you're going to make this happen, are you reflecting on choices you've made yourself?”
DEWITT: “It's really interesting because I'm a young, kind of newbie mom - I have a 4 1/2 year old and a 2 year old. Definitely, this was really appealing to me as a mom. And we spent a lot of time talking as daughters, too."
FOSTER: "I really saw myself in some ways more in the daughter's shoes. But I also had to understand my mom's point of view. That's what we do as women, we get inside other people's faces and look around and say, ‘How would I feel if that happened?’"
HOLCOMB: "When you're coming in to a show like this, which is so unique because it's a Twilight Zone-type show where every episode stands on its own, is that helpful or does it make it more challenging?”
DEWITT: "I was a little nervous about it because I started watching them and I was like, ‘Oh my god these are so good!’ I didn't want to be influenced by them and I knew that Jodie is a straight-A student - (she) would know what she needed to tie into the whole series, and where we had the freedom to go off and be our own thing."
FOSTER: “I love the fact that you never know what you're going to get. As somebody who loves movies and loves all kinds of genres of movies, I love that (Black Mirror is) only aligned by theme."
HOLCOMB: "Netflix is wonderful for those of us who have no patience. What are your personal feelings about binge watching?"
FOSTER: "I can't stop myself from binge watching, actually. Breaking Bad nearly killed my back (laughter) and it was a very expensive binge-watching experience."
DEWITT: "It's super dumb to do when you have small children because you're up at three in the morning and you're like, ‘I've got to be up in three hours, what am I doing?’ Again, the same way technology is changing our wiring and our pace, this is the same thing.”
FOSTER: “It changed our viewer habits. That's why we’re all watching streaming and we're not going to the movies anymore. And we just have to accept that.”
DEWITT: “Which we want to bemoan, and at the same time there's something great about it."
Travel and accommodation provided by Netflix.
