Maura Tierney's Affair With Cable: How the Network TV Darling Is Mixing It Up on Showtimeby CHRIS HARNICK Thu., Oct. 9, 2014 2:00 PM
Maura Tierney is dipping her toe into unfamiliar waters, and we're not talking about those off the shore of Montauk; the Emmy nominee is heading to cable with The Affair.
Tierney spent almost 10 years on ER, NBC's hit medical drama. Before that there was nearly 100 episodes of the comedy NewsRadio. Stints on Rescue Me, The Good Wife and a short-lived legal drama The Whole Truth followed, but now Tierney is heading to Showtime for the provocative new drama costarring Dominic West, Ruth Wilson and Joshua Jackson.
"Initially, I had really wanted to work on cable television. I was on network TV for about 15 years or so, which I loved. I was on two amazing shows on network, but I've never worked without those kinds of constraints, so I really wanted to work in that environment," Tierney said.
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The Affair tells the story of, well, an affair. Tierney plays Helen, the wife to Noah (West), and mom to four kids. The show tells the story of Noah's affair with Alison (Wilson) from their two points of views. And for Tierney, her first cable drama starts off with a bang.
You kick it right off with a sex scene.
Yes, I know, I know! I was more thinking about the subject matter freedom, not that, but that was really interesting to me. Sarah Treem, who wrote it, I think is really talented, she's a playwright. I think she's a wonderful writer. I like that the show is built around the two different perspectives of the two characters.
Will we ever see your perspective?
I believe…I'm not sure because I don't ask any questions. Some of the other cast members ask questions, I don't just because, I don't know, I'm OK not to. But I do believe if the show continues to next season…the viewpoints will expand. Not just to me, but to some of the other characters.
Right. As I watched I was wondering, "How many seasons can this last?"
I think the whole thing is going to be a memory piece. That's what's special about it, I think. I think two things: It's special that it's a memory piece and that it's a difference between a feminine and masculine perspective on events, a memory. I like that.
When I watched, I vaguely knew what the show was about, but I didn't realize it'd be split. Everything, down to the clothes was different.
That's what's fun about it. It's not just they remember different—everything's different. I get to play two different characters, sort of, which is really fun.
Do you prefer one perspective to the other?
I like it when I'm in Ruth's [Wilson] perspective because it's more of a stretch for me. In her character's perspective, I'm very chic and intimidating and kind of cold…It's fun to play. It's not like me, but it's more fun because she's a little bit of a bitch. I like that. Not so much in the pilot, but down the line.
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The Affair seems like something I have ever seen on broadcast or cable.
Yeah! I think it's really, really fun.
Is that what kind of drew you to the project specifically?
Yes. I liked the writing a lot and like that I essentially get to play two different versions of the same person.
It's definitely provocative.
Totally.
I think that's the right word.
No, I think it is.
What's your elevator pitch to people?
This is what I say: It's called The Affair, it's about an affair. [Laughs.] It is what I say!
The subject matter, adultery, can turn people off in a way. Did that worry you at all?
No. Does it turn people off?
I feel like it does sometimes. Like, happily married people?
But sometimes happily married people—someone has an affair. There are weird statistics that sometimes when infidelity occurs, the person who cheats says, ‘I was happy in my marriage.' It's a mysterious thing what keeps people together...I think infidelity is difficult, monogamy is difficult and marriage is difficult. It's sort of like, what's that little trip wire that makes the thing happen, that goes wrong?
At this point, do you prefer drama or comedy?
I've been doing dramas for a long time. Actually, this year I was looking to do a comedy. I thought it'd be really fun, that's the stuff I was reading. Then I was offered this role and it was too good to not take. I do miss comedy, yeah. But I try to be funny on the show. You'll see, my character is kind of funny.
TV revivals are all the rage these days.
Mhm.
Would you ever do an ER TV movie?
I mean, probably not. I don't know, it depends on who wrote it...They did it already!
The 20th anniversary is coming up. [Note: This interview occurred prior to the 20th anniversary of ER's premiere in September]
Yeah, but when they ended the show everybody came back. I feel like they did that already.
You never know. Strange things have happened, especially lately. Do you want to add anything about The Affair?
I think it's going to be a really fun show. The idea is to have the audience not know who to root for, which couples to root for. Hopefully we'll do that and hopefully it'll be fun.
The Affair premieres Sunday, Oct. 12 at 10 p.m. on Showtime. You can watch the first full (edited) episode now below.
www.eonline.com/news/586486/maura-tierney-s-affair-with-cable-how-the-network-tv-darling-is-mixing-it-up-on-showtime'The Affair' reveals complexity of marriage Robert Bianco, USA TODAY 11:23 a.m. EDT October 12, 2014
Affairs are in the eyes of the beholder.
That's always been true — and it's never been an easy thing for film to convey. Which is why the possible glory of this intimate, potentially great, potentially off-putting Showtime drama (Sunday, 10 ET/PT; ***½ out of four) is the way it captures how difficult it is to establish not just fault but actions and appearances when marriages break down and affairs intrude.
Some of the ways creators Sarah Treem and Hagai Levi and director Mark Mylod have chosen to let you know their story is being told from different perspectives are obvious. A title card, for example, appears near the midpoint of Sunday's premiere, alerting you to a major shift from one character's point of view to another's.
But some of their methods are more subtle, and far more interesting. Because it's not just events that change when the narrator changes: Who makes the first sexual move; who is responsible for saving a choking child. It's the small changes that matter just as much; the way characters are dressed, how they see themselves and each other. In those shifts, The Affair perfectly captures the tricks memory and infatuation can play on all of us.
The story Treem and Levi introduce has no apparent villains, though to judge from an as yet unexplained police interrogation, a villain may someday appear. For now, you're watching four seemingly nice people stumble into each other, threatening the stability of two once-happy marriages. And as an incentive to watch, those people are played by as good a TV quartet as you're likely to find: Maura Tierney, Ruth Wilson, Dominic West and Joshua Jackson.
Noah and Helen (West and Tierney) are off wth the kids to the Hamptons to visit her hard-to-like father (John Doman, like West, a Wire veteran). Along the way, they stop at a diner and meet Alison (Wilson), a waitress whose marriage to Cole (Jackson) has been struck by tragedy.
An affair begins, though exactly how you should discover for yourself. But the story isn't just about infidelity: class, loss, gender, and the pressures that push couples apart are as significant here as sexual attraction.
Though the treatment of the younger characters is a bit heavy-handed, the four main adults are beautifully drawn and played, and they are, after all, the show's primary focus. Where they and their show go from here – and whether you want to spend ten weeks following seemingly smart adults make some obviously foolish choices — is an open question. But Sunday, at any rate, The Affair gets off to a strong start, as affairs so often do.
Where it ends, we'll have to wait to behold.
www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2014/10/10/the-affair-review/16910619/'The Affair': TV review Great cast (Ruth Wilson, Dominic West. Joshua Jackson, Maura Tierney) and an ominous beginning make Showtime's drama a must-watch
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Friday, October 10, 2014, 2:00 AM
BY DAVID HINCKLEY
You have no idea where Showtime’s new drama “The Affair” will go. You just know the ride will be disturbing and that you probably won’t be able to resist taking it.
It’s also true that you’d probably watch a show about rearranging the closet if its leads were Dominic West, Ruth Wilson, Joshua Jackson and Maura Tierney.
For “The Affair,” they split up into two married couples: Noah and Helen Solloway (West and Tierney), who are wrestling with a flock of small children, and Cole and Alison Lockhart (Jackson and Wilson), who are wrestling with an awful tragedy.
When the Solloways take a family trip, they have a chance encounter with Alison, who’s a waitress.
Noah and Alison strike up an ominous but credible acquaintance that quickly tells us both have some serious issues simmering not far below the surface.
Ten episodes gives the story time to play out, for better or worse.
“The Affair” is part mystery, part romance, and it’s even more intriguing because it shows many of its crucial scenes from two different points of view.
As we see his memories and her memories, we’re reminded that in art as in life, memory is rarely as reliable as we might like to think.
While that “he said/she said” technique could feel gimmicky, here it does not, thanks to the writing and the performers.
Wilson and West are terrific, wholly believable in their troubled uncertainty. Tierney and Jackson are also solid.
“The Affair” looks to be a bit more cerebral than some of Showtime’s other star shows. That makes it no less compelling.
dhinckley@nydailynews.com
www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/affair-tv-review-article-1.1968888