GEOFF: THE FILM "A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN" QUICKLY BECAME A CULT CLASSIC AFTER ITS INITIAL RELEASE
IN 1992.
THE MOVIE, DIRECTED BY THE LATE PENNY MARSHALL, WAS BASED ON THE
ALL-AMERICAN GIRLS PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE THAT STARTED IN
1943.
WITH THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN MEN
SERVING OVERSEAS IN WORLD WAR II, WOMEN QUITE LITERALLY
STEPPED UP TO THE PLATE, AND AS A RESULT, WIDENED THE HORIZONS
FOR GENERATIONS OF YOUNG GIRLS.
NOW, 30 YEARS AFTER THE FILM
PREMIERED IN THEATERS, THE ROCKFORD PEACHES ARE COMING BACK
TO OUR SCREENS.
JOINING US NOW IS ABBI JACOBSON,
THE CO-CREATOR AND STAR OF THE NEW PRIME VIDEO SERIES "A LEAGUE
OF THEIR OWN."
IT'S GREAT TO HAVE YOU WITH US.
ABBI: OH, MY GOODNESS.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME.
WHAT A PLEASURE.
GEOFF: AND YOU HAVE SAID THAT
THIS NEW SERIES, IT'S NOT A REMAKE.
IT'S MORE A REIMAGINING OF THAT 1992 FILM.
WHY REIMAGINE THIS PARTICULAR STORY?
ABBI: I MEAN, I GREW UP WITH THIS FILM.
I LOVE THIS FILM.
AND IT WAS SO IMPACTFUL FOR ME
AS I WAS A VERY SPORTY KID, VERY ATHLETIC.
WHEN WILL GRAHAM, WHO CO-CREATED THIS WITH ME, APPROACHED ME WITH
THIS PROJECT IN 2017, AND WE BOTH BONDED SO MUCH OVER OUR
LOVE OF THE FILM.
BUT ALSO, IF WE WERE GOING TO DO
THIS, IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE REMADE.
PENNY MARSHALL HINTED AT A LOT OF THINGS IN THE FILM VERSION
THAT WE ARE REALLY LEANING INTO.
AND THE MORE WE RESEARCHED, THE
MORE WE FOUND THAT THIS AMERICAN GIRLS PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL
LEAGUE WAS THIS REALLY INCREDIBLE TIME FOR A LOT OF
QUEER WOMEN THAT THOUGHT THEY WERE THE ONLY ONE.
THEY ENDED UP FINDING EACH OTHER THROUGH THIS LEAGUE.
AND SO THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE FELT LIKE WE
REALLY WANTED TO EXPLORE.
AND THEN ALSO, IF YOU REMEMBER,
THERE'S AN ICONIC SCENE IN THE FILM WHERE A BLACK WOMAN PICKS
UP A FOUL BALL AND CHUCKS IT BACK TO GEENA DAVIS.
GEOFF: RIGHT.
ABBI: AND WHOA, IF YOU BLINK,
YOU MISS THIS SCENE, AND PENNY IS ALLUDING TO THE FACT THAT
THAT LEAGUE WAS SEGREGATED.
BLACK WOMEN AND WOMEN OF COLOR
WERE NOT ALLOWED TO TRY OUT.
SO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THIS LEAGUE
IS THIS INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY FOR WHITE WOMEN AND WHITE
PASSING WOMEN TO GET TO PLAY BASEBALL, AND IT'S ALSO A DOOR
THAT CLOSES FOR WOMEN OF COLOR?
THOSE ARE STORIES THAT PEOPLE
NEED TO KNOW ABOUT.
IT'S BASEBALL.
IT'S AMERICAN BASEBALL HISTORY.
SO, IT'S VERY EXCITING.
GEOFF: THE IDEA TO UPLIFT STORIES AND PERSPECTIVES IN YOUR
SERIES THAT THE ORIGINAL MOVIE DIDN'T NECESSARILY TOUCH, WAS
THAT INTENTIONAL OR WAS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU HAPPENED UPON
IN THE PAST HALF-DECADE OF RESEARCH THAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING
WHERE YOU THOUGHT THIS REALLY NEEDS TO BE ELEVATED?
ABBI: MAKING SOMETHING IN 1992, THERE'S A LOT OF LIMITATIONS TO
THE KIND OF STORIES THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO TELL.
NOW, WE KNEW WE WANTED TO HAVE OUR OWN TAKE ON THIS LEAGUE IN
THIS TIME AND THIS GENERATION OF BALLPLAYERS.
AND ALSO, THE MORE WE DIVED INTO THE RESEARCH, THE MORE WE WERE
JUST LIKE, THESE ARE STORIES THAT ARE FASCINATING TO US.
WE THINK THEY'LL BE FASCINATING TO AUDIENCES.
GEOFF: YOU AND YOUR CO-CREATOR HAD A CHANCE TO SPEAK WITH PENNY
MARSHALL SHORTLY BEFORE SHE PASSED AWAY ABOUT THIS PROJECT.
WHICH WHAT DID SHE TELL YOU?
ABBI: WE NEEDED HER TO KNOW HOW
MUCH WE LOVE THE FILM AND THAT WE WERE, AS I'M SAYING, NOT
TRYING TO REMAKE IT.
AND JUST WHY WERE RE-APPROACHING
IT AND WHAT OUR GOAL WAS IN DOING THIS AGAIN, AND SHE SEEMED
REALLY EXCITED AND TOLD US A LOT ABOUT WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO MAKE
THE FILM AND ALSO HOW, YOU KNOW, SHE FELT LIKE SHE COULDN'T TELL
ALL THE STORIES AND SHE WISHED SHE COULD.
SO SHE, YOU KNOW, SHE TOLD WILL AND I, SHE SAID, GO DO IT
ALREADY.
AND SEEMED REALLY EXCITED.
SHE ALSO TOLD US THAT WHEN SHE MADE THIS FILM, THE REAL WOMEN
BEHIND THE FILM, THEIR STORIES CHANGED HER LIFE.
AND SHE SAID TO US, I THINK THEY'LL CHANGE YOURS, TOO.
AND THEY REALLY, REALLY HAVE.
GEOFF: THERE ARE PARALLELS, AS I
UNDERSTAND IT, BETWEEN YOUR LIFE AND THE LIFE OF THE CHARACTER
YOU PLAY, CARSON SHAW.
GIVE US A SENSE OF THAT.
THAT'S SORT OF THE MIRROR, MIRROR IMAGE, SUCH THAT IT
EXISTS.
ABBI: I CAME TO KNOW MYSELF AND
MY SEXUALITY PRETTY LATE IN LIFE.
AND THAT'S DEFINITELY A BIG PART OF CARSON'S JOURNEY ON THE SHOW.
AND I THINK ALSO THERE'S LIKE A BIG META EXPERIENCE FOR ME IN
BEING ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE SHOW AND PLAYING A CHARACTER WHO
BECOMES SORT OF A DE FACTO LEADER OF THE PEACHES, AND A
VERY UNLIKELY ONE.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING I'M REALLY
EXCITED TO PORTRAY IN A CHARACTER, SOMEONE WHO'S KIND OF
MESSY AND INSECURE AND ISN'T THE PERSON THAT YOU MIGHT THINK
SHOULD LEAD AT FIRST.
BUT THE MORE SHE KNOWS HERSELF
AND THE MORE SHE GETS TO KNOW HERSELF THROUGHOUT THE SEASON,
THE MORE SHE FINDS HER VOICE AND HER CONFIDENCE AND BECOMES A
REALLY GREAT LEADER.
GEOFF: YOU MENTIONED THAT AS A
KID YOU WERE ATHLETIC.
DID YOU PLAY BASEBALL OR
SOFTBALL?
I MEAN, WHAT WAS THE TRAINING
LIKE?
I CAN'T IMAGINE THAT YOU USED A
LOT OF STAND INS.
IT DIDN'T LOOK LIKE IT FROM
WATCHING THE SERIES.
ABBI: WELL, THAT'S GOOD TO HEAR.
YES, I PLAYED SOFTBALL AS A KID, BUT I MEAN, I HAVEN'T PLAYED IN
A LONG TIME.
AND YES, WE HAD A LOT OF
TRAINING.
AND SO WE DID A THREE WEEK
TRAINING CAMP IN LOS ANGELES BEFORE WE SHOT THE SERIES.
AND BASICALLY, IT WAS ALL OF US ALL DAY.
YOU KNOW, YOU HAD LITTLE SECTIONED OFF POSITION TRAINING
GOING THROUGH ALL THE DYNAMICS OF WHAT IT LOOKS TO BE A PLAYER,
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE, ALL THE DIFFERENT DRILLS, AND WE WERE
COACHED BY -- OUR MAIN COACH WAS JUSTINE SIEGAL, WHO WAS ACTUALLY
THE FIRST WOMAN TO BE STAFFED IN AN MLB COACHING POSITION.
OF THE TRAINERS WERE OTHER WOMEN AND PEOPLE WHO ARE A PART OF HER
BASEBALL FOR ALL ORGANIZATION.
IT WAS SO INCREDIBLE BECAUSE ALL
OUR TRAINERS WERE BASICALLY THE MODERN DAY VERSION OF THE WOMEN
THAT WE WERE PLAYING ON SCREEN.
SO IT WAS SO COOL TO REALLY BE
AROUND REAL PLAYERS AND GET TO HANG OUT WITH THEM ALL DAY.
EVERYONE GOT BETTER.
BUT WE DID HAVE DOUBLES.
GEOFF: HOW HAS THIS PROCESS CHANGED YOU?
HOW HAS IT CHANGED YOUR OUTLOOK, YOUR PERSPECTIVE, NOT JUST
STARRING IN A SERIES LIKE THIS, BUT ACTUALLY CREATING IT,
PRODUCING IT, DURING A PANDEMIC, NO LESS?
ABBI: YEAH, YOU KNOW, I THINK MY CAREER UP TO THIS POINT HAS
MOSTLY BEEN "BROAD CITY," WHICH WAS A SHOW THAT IS NEAR AND DEAR
TO MY HEART.
AND I HAD A LOT OF THE SAME
ROLES ON THAT SHOW.
BUT EMBARKING ON THIS, THIS IN
SCOPE AND IN SIZE AND -- IT'S JUST A VERY GRAND PERIOD PIECE
SHOW.
SO THAT WAS VERY DIFFERENT.
I FEEL A GREAT HONOR AND A RESPONSIBILITY IN MAKING SURE
THAT THOSE EXPERIENCES FEEL AS TRUTHFUL AND AS EXPANSIVE AND
JOYFUL AND NUANCED AS THEY CAN BE.
AND THE MOST POWERFUL THING I FEEL IS REALLY PROUD OF PUTTING
THESE CHARACTERS OUT INTO THE WORLD.
I HOPE PEOPLE FEEL LIKE THEY SEE THEMSELVES IN SOMEONE ON THE
SHOW, AND THAT'S EXCITING TO ME.
GEOFF: WELL, THAT SENSE OF PRIDE
YOU FEEL, I HAVE TO SAY, IS WELL-DESERVED.
SO, ABBI JACOBSON, THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.
I REALLY APPRECIATE IT.
ABBI: THANKS FOR HAVING ME.