Two trials take place in Apple TV+'s new adaptation of lawyer and novelist Scott Turow's best-selling 1988 legal thriller. presumed innocent: A criminal case against a Chicago prosecutor accused of murdering a colleague, and a domestic nightmare that brings a murder trial to the defendant's family.
These parallel ordeals stood out to actor Jake Gyllenhaal, who stars in the eight-episode limited series, which premiered Wednesday and runs through July 24. presumed innocent At the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, Gyllenhaal said during a panel discussion with showrunner and writer David E. Kelley and directors Anne Sewitsky and Gregg Yaitanes that “the family's trial and He spoke about “real trials” and “trials of families” and “the juxtaposition between the two.” two.”
“The courtroom scenes are so well scripted and acted that I think it will be like its own courtroom at home,” Gyllenhall said of the packed theater that saw the first two episodes.
Gyllenhaal plays Rusty Savich, who becomes the prime suspect in the brutal murder of fellow prosecutor Caroline Polhemus. Savich, who is married with children, maintains his innocence of the murders but has no alibi for the damage caused to his family.
It's actor Gyllenhaal's first streaming project, and he spent six and a half months in the role. He is also one of the show's executive producers, along with Kelley and JJ Abrams.
As the investigation progresses and the depth of Savich's obsession with his murdered lover becomes clear, the once-respected prosecutor finds his colleagues turning against him, along with the judicial system he dedicated his working life to. At home, he is faced with his devastated wife Barbara, played by Ruth Negga, and their two teenage children, Jayden and Kyle, played by Chase Infinity and Kingston Rumi Southwick.
“I remember telling David very early on that family was the most interesting thing,” Gyllenhaal said.
Eight episodes gave Presumed Innocent's creators more time to explore the trial's impact on the corrupt prosecutor's home life than the 1990 film version. But the first two episodes don't limit the legal and political intrigue that helped make the book a bestseller, and it was adapted into a 1990 film with Harrison Ford leading an all-star cast.
Peter Saarsgard, Gyllenhaal's real-life brother-in-law, played the role of Tommy Molto, the prosecutor who led the case against his former rival Sabich. Replaced by Chief Adjutant General. Molto's boss, newly elected Chicago State's Attorney Nico Della Guardia, played by OT Fagbenle, and Molto and Della Guardia's scheming collaboration takes them to the quarry where their former colleague has turned into a quarry, with a passion that is almost unsightly.
Sabich and Molto clashed almost from the start, and Gyllenhaal said it was a “delight” to work with Saarsgard. He called Saarsgard “our family's surrogate expert.”
“I think people were excited to see what would happen between us on set, and that energized us even more,” Gyllenhaal said.
Meanwhile, Sabich was defended in court by his former boss, Raymond Horgan, whom Della Guardia ousted in the election. Bill Camp plays a jaded, aging court warrior and defeated politician who accepts Sabich as a client despite his anger when he realizes that Sabich has betrayed him and could cost him the election by slowing down the high-profile investigation into Polhemus' death. Plays Horgan.
In the first two episodes, audiences see Polhemus, played by Renate Reinsve, in flashbacks. The scene reveals the intensity of her relationship with Sabich, exposes her ethically questionable behavior in her previous murders, and reveals disturbing similarities to her own grisly killings.
Turow, a co-executive producer of the show who was in the audience on Sunday, stood up and received applause at Kelly's request. When asked by host Jessica Shaw about the challenges of gathering evidence and modernizing her story for a new age of everyday camera surveillance, Kelley said: It takes total change to fix it today.”
“This is a testament to Scott’s writing,” Kelley added. “He knows the law and he knows character.”
Turow's book is equal parts mystery, courtroom drama, and generous moral character study. He also co-wrote the 1990 screenplay with director Alan J. Pakula. In Turow's words, the criminal justice system is only as imperfect as the people who work within it: the police, lawyers, investigators and judges who are tasked with finding the truth and enforcing the law even when goals conflict.
Kelley is no stranger to dramatizing legal conflicts. practice, boston legaland Ally McBeal.
“What David drew so beautifully was his wealth of morally ambiguous characters,” Gyllenhaal said.
Turow, who spoke to Deadline as he entered the theater, said he had no theory as to why. presumed innocent Returned to the screen after 34 years.
“I really can’t tell you why,” he said. “It actually could have been the Perry Mason series on HBO. But Dustin Thomason from Bad Robot, who I've known for years, called me every three weeks and said, 'It's time to go back to assuming innocence.' So again, we don’t know if it was in the water or what.”
Whatever the reason, Turow said, “They did an amazing job.”