Netflix has released the trailer for its new limited series Hollywood, from Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan.
According to the official synopsis, the show “follows a group of aspiring actors and filmmakers in post-World War II Hollywood as they try to make it in Tinseltown – no matter the cost. Each character offers a unique glimpse behind the gilded curtain of Hollywood’s Golden Age, spotlighting the unfair systems and biases across race, gender and sexuality that continue to this day”.
The cast ensemble includes David Corenswet, Darren Criss, Jeremy Pope, Laura Harrier, Samara Weaving, Dylan McDermott, Holland Taylor, Patti LuPone, Jim Parsons, Jake Picking, Joe Mantello, and Maude Apatow.
The trailer, partially set to Glen Miller’s iconic “In The Mood” (a song popularized by Miller in 1939, which was considered one of the best-known arrangements of the big band era and was featured in the 1941 movie “Sun Valley Serenade”) gives viewers a glimpse into the lives of several aspiring actors and directors, revealing the challenges they need to deal with, as well as achievements worth of the What If land. Thus, while one of the scenes hints at the possibility of Rock Hudson (played by Jake Picking) being openly gay, another one hints at the possibility of a black actress landing a lead, non-servant role in a major motion picture. “If we change the way that movies are made, I think you can change the world,” Darren Chriss’ character says in one of the scenes. He is the one telling Harrier’s character that he wants her to be star in a new movie. Australian actress Samara Weaving’s character is shown telling someone, in one scene, “If you want something, you have to declare it”.
The series, which “exposes and examines decades-old power dynamics, and what the entertainment landscape might look like if they had been dismantled,” debuts on May 1st on Netflix.
