Starz’s limited series Gaslit takes a deep dive into Watergate, focusing on the central figures involved in the political scandal that took down Nixon’s presidency. Series creator/showrunner Robbie Pickering describes Gaslit as not just a political thriller but a relationship drama, with Watergate whistleblower Martha Mitchell (played by Oscar winner Julia Roberts) and her husband, Nixon’s Attorney General John Mitchell (played by Oscar winner Sean Penn), at the core of the story.
“Not many people know the story about Martha and that’s kind of a tragedy, and I hope, after this, they will, and they’ll know the story of Mo Dean (played by Betty Gilpin) which is fascinating as well,” said Pickering during the Television Critics Association winter press tour.
Pickering is a self-proclaimed Nixon geek and wanted to take the limited series in a different direction than other Watergate projects, avoiding the labeling of key players as either heroes or villains. Most dwell in a grey area, and Pickering was determined to show that.
“When you really read the history, what you’re struck by is the humanity of everybody in this story and how relatable they are. And I think the (‘Slow Burn’) podcast really did a great job of putting us into their shoes. I don’t know if back then many people knew who John Mitchell was. Martha Mitchell was a huge celebrity. I mean, people knew John Mitchell as the villain, Martha Mitchell was a huge celebrity. But I’m more interested and I think we’re all more interested in them as human beings and not political animals or anything like that. I think that in a weird way is comforting watching the series, is seeing the humanity in all these people and knowing that it wasn’t some special place in time that is just so idiosyncratic, it’ll never happen again,” explained Pickering.
Betty Gilpin recalled that while researching Watergate she had to adjust to the fact that during that time period celebrities – and politicians – were much more guarded.
“Whereas now, someone’s public persona is sort of the branding of their authentic self and real self, and that they present themselves as, ‘Oh, this is who I really am.’ And back then it was sort of your public self was very formal, and austere, and sort of this stiff, Norman Rockwell version of yourself,” said Gilpin. “The White House was still sort of seen as this distant Camelot, and it’s sort of the time when that was getting a little stale and people weren’t trusting it as much.
For Martha Mitchell to be the opposite of a stale Norman Rockwell façade and have id leaking out of her eyelids and so her authentic self and telling you the truth that you don’t want hear every other sentence…it was just a mental adjustment for me to that that was really rare. Whereas now we’re sort of inundated with people being their true, authentic, loud, brash selves in our face that Martha Mitchell was sort of refreshing even to people who didn’t agree with her (politics).”
Shining the Spotlight on Watergate’s Women
Executive producer Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot) believes it’s been a deliberate choice to keep the women central to the Watergate scandal in the background.
“I grew up, obviously, like Robbie, hugely fascinated with the Watergate scandal. All The President’s Men was one of my favorite movies. I watched every documentary. I’ve seen the Nixon movie by Oliver Stone but I don’t think it’s a mistake that the women who played an instrumental role in this scandal were ignored and silenced. I mean, that’s literally one of the reasons why I found the story compelling when I listened to the ‘Slow Burn’ podcast- that this was by design,” said Esmail. “That is something that we’re sort of reckoning with today. And so, for me, that’s the perspective shift that this story takes on.”
Pickering shared that he hopes his young daughter will be taught the truth about Martha Mitchell’s important role in Watergate and that this series will go a long way toward correcting history.
“I want her to learn that Martha Mitchell played an instrumental role in it and she wasn’t just some drunk crazy lady. She was right. She was the first person to publicly blow the whistle on these people. I don’t want her to have to find that out by digging and digging and talking to historians. I want her to be taught that in school – and she should and everybody should,” said Pickering.
Examining the Private Lives of Public Figures
Pickering describes Gaslit as the story of two marriages and how complicity destroys or binds those relationships, with Watergate as the backdrop. That means much of the action will take place during the couples’ private moments away from the spotlight.
“In the case of John Dean (played by Dan Stevens) and Mo Dean, it really bounded them together. I mean, they’re married to this day. And in the case of John Mitchell and Martha Mitchell, played by Sean and Julia, it really split them apart and wrecked a really beautiful love between them,” offered Pickering. “We really wanted to concentrate on that in the writers’ room. And I know even with G. Gordon Liddy, with Shea (Whigham’s) character, I mean, it wasn’t so much about the political machinations of what’s going on.”
Shea Whigham latched onto the fact Gordon was very “family-centric” when delving into Liddy. […]“Some of the best stuff that I enjoyed in the piece was the stuff with the family, the boys, and albeit in a prison but, yeah. I think just these themes that are running through (this) humanism of who these people are, and that’s what I wanted to tap into. That was what interested me,” said Whigham. “I thought when I read this thing, it came right off the page.”
As a Brit, Dan Stevens had just a surface-level understanding of the American political scandal. He was drawn to Gaslit by the personalities of those involved more so than the Watergate scandal itself.
“Since living in the States for about 10 years, I’ve made the best efforts to acquaint myself with American history and the American political system. But what I think really leaps out about something like this – for any nationality of actor – is when you’re given the opportunity to play more than just sort of a historical entry.
Anyone can go and read a book about this or read the Wikipedia entry, but when there are human stories lifting off the page, they kind of illustrate the depth of these stories,” explained Stevens. “I think what stood out for me for this one was the fact that what you don’t read on Wikipedia or any history books is about the wives and daughters of these men who were mentioned. And so even if you do have a sort of surface knowledge, the way that a story like this is told is deeply fascinating for someone who’s learning about the roots and the network of the American system.”
Stevens added: “There was a great book that was published last year called King Richard by Michael Dobbs that was a terrific illustration because a lot of the history around this can be – the books can be quite dry. They’re very factual […]I actually listened to the audiobook of that book and in between each chapter they play the relevant bits of the Nixon tapes. And you’re reminded of the actual voices of these people, rather than just seeing it in sort of a dry narrative. And that’s, I hope, what we’re doing with this.”
Executive producer Sam Esmail agreed that what drives the series is the people at the heart of the story and not the intricacies of the actual scandal.
“Someone asked earlier, is this about the Watergate break-in? I think that is background. It is solely about the people behind it. It is solely about the sort of drama between not just the couple but the sort of interrelationships between those couples. But at the same time, they are the engine of the story,” said Esmail. “It’s a thing that you just didn’t realize until you listened to that podcast and you watch this show that you really realize that this takes looking at Watergate to another direction when you realize what actually went on.”
Gaslit premieres on April 24, 2022 on Starz.
