[MUSIC PLAYING]
ANDREW GARFIELD: How do we depict a step-by-step loss
of faith, loss of everything that you have
until now known to be true?
DAISY-EDGAR JONES: FX's "Under the Banner of Heaven"
is about the lead character of Jeb Pyre, when he discovers
a murdered woman and her child.
And it's about his exploration of his relationship
with his faith and also trying to find out who did the crime.
Please help me find the rest of my family.
ANDREW GARFIELD: On the surface, it is a crime story set in Utah
in the '80s, and it centers around this heinous murder that
occurred within a very, very high-ranking family in Utah
during this time.
What our story follows is the attempt
to unravel and ultimately stop these lunatic evil-doers
from killing any more people.
ADELAIDE CLEMENS: Jeb Pyre's conflict comes from the fact
that the murder that he's investigating
has to do with the original text of Joseph
Smith and Brigham Young.
And so his faith begins to be questioned.
DUSTIN LANCE BLACK: The idea was that the show could feel
like an investigation, a show that takes place
almost entirely in Pyre's mind.
We see what he sees as he's investigating
the double murder of Brenda Wright-Lafferty
and her 15-month-old daughter.
We are Lafferty's.
We can do anything.
DAISY-EDGAR JONES: The Lafferty family is a big, old,
kind of famous Utah family.
But I think, as the series develops,
we start to sort of unpick the different dynamics
and that there is quite the toxic sort
of patriarchal system.
Dan, you say the prayer.
Dear, Heavenly Father, I'd like to--
DAISY-EDGAR JONES: And the brothers are all sort
of fighting to be the favorite.
RORY CULKIN: Brenda Lafferty is the young woman who marries
into the Lafferty family.
And she sort of has bigger ideas than just being a servant
to her priesthood holder.
She wants a job on television, and she wants
more freedom than the Lafferty's are
used to giving to their wives.
WYATT RUSSELL: She really does represent that female who
pushes back on this idea that men should be the ones who
control everything.
DAISY-EDGAR JONES: She's sort of able to expose that sort
of more archaic way of thinking by sort of trying to open up
the other women's eyes and have them
see that what's required of them is
not necessarily a good thing.
They all wanted to find fault in her or for her to save them.
DUSTIN LANCE BLACK: "Under the Banner of Heaven" tells
multiple stories that are woven together.
I had to tell the Lafferty story and the Brenda Wright story,
the story of the crime.
Then, I also had to tell the history of the Mormon Church
in the 19th century.
Then, I needed someone asking tough questions, digging
into history, which would eventually lead
to questioning his own faith.
How did the past, the 19th century,
lead to these crimes in the '80s.
(SHOUTING) Hands up.
Hands in the air.
SAM WORTHINGTON: The series is an exploration
of the complexities of unyielding
faith, whether that's to religion or family or love.
WYATT RUSSELL: When you become so
ultra-convinced that your convictions are
the only convictions is when you need
to look at yourself in the mirror and go,
is it really right?
You don't know a thing, sir.
DAISY-EDGAR JONES: I really do think
the show will keep you on the edge of your seat
from beginning to end.
There's so many twists and turns,
and it takes you on a real journey.
ANDREW GARFIELD: Yes, it has all these weighty themes,
but ultimately, it's a crime thriller.
And it's stranger than fiction in that way.
And I find that really exciting.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]