By the way Hailee Steinfeld is here, everybody!
Sorry, I'll get right in, (audience cheers and applauds)
you've turned me into a giddy girl, I can't help it.
(Hailee laughs)
I wanna thank you for inspiring me
to pick up this collected poem of Emily Dickinson.
I saw season one, by the way, David Gordon Green,
the director who directed the premiere
in the first episode is one of my favorite directors.
The best.
And I just loved the tone of it.
And now season two, I've been watching that.
It's incredible.
You have been a huge fan of Emily Dickinson
before the show, is this right?
Yeah, so I came across, Emily's work in school,
but I hadn't, I never spent as much time
as I have with her because of the show.
And I am equally as thankful to this show
for sort of reintroducing me to her
and her story, and her poetry, because it is so incredible.
And I have really felt so impacted
by her work and her words.
I almost wish I came across it sooner,
at least to this degree,
but I guess that's why we have the show now.
And I am so excited about it
and grateful that we have a season two out,
and very excited for people to see it.
She must be a very emotional person to portray and embody.
Did that take over and affect?
Absolutely, one thing about Emily's poetry
that you will find very quickly.
She talks about everything,
from death
to demons,
and light, nature, trees, butterflies,
and everything in between.
And it is, it is emotional, exactly what you said.
It's, it takes you to dark, darker places,
and places you don't necessarily
want to spend a lot of time in,
but what's so wonderful about this show
is it touches on that, and in the same moment,
or in the next moment, you're laughing,
and there, it's, there's humor behind it
that makes it feel, you know,
as light as it can dark sometimes,
it's got really everything in it,
and it's all driven by her poetry.
It's incredibly delightful, yet full of depth.
And I know it won a Peabody Award, which is just.
Thank you.
I know, it's really such an honor.
I mean, to be making a story about a woman
who spent the majority of her life,
you know, unseen, at least she felt
unseen and misunderstood.
And beyond that, no one even knew her work
until after she died, and to be making a show
about that and having the opportunity,
in my position, to be an actor that has a platform
and has a voice, it's made me realize how grateful I am,
and you know, to the Peabody Awards,
so incredibly grateful that they continue
to shine a light on stories that mean something,
and this is a show that is about
not putting people in a box, and seeing,
and being seen, and being accepted for who you are.
And we can never have enough of those.
And so, I'm incredibly honored that
we were given that reward.
And is it true? (audience applauding)
I know.
It's so wonderful.
I had to talk about that.
And is it true, also, that each episode is based on a poem?
Yes, yes, and it's fun.
Oftentimes, I will associate my favorite poem
with my favorite episode,
and it changes all the time, I find.
But Alena Smith, our writer and creator, is a genius.
And my Emily Dickinson encyclopedia,
as I like to call her.
And knows anything and everything
there is to know about her,
and she has taken what we do know about her life,
and the rest is us interpreting her crazy mind,
and again, using her poetry,
and we get the result of a really fun show.
Well, I loved hearing that detail while watching it,
and knowing that piece of information,
'cause it's a very clever structure.
(warm upbeat music)
♪ Oh, oh ♪