Chad Powers has finished its first season of football. Well, television. The hit Hulu series starring Glen Powell, had its finale and it left us with a lot of questions for the future of Russ Holliday and the Georgia Catfish.
The series focused on a redemption story but it was far from typical. Russ Holliday (Powell) was down on his luck, took on a disguise, and learned the hard way that he is a good person, even if he had to be “Chad Powers” to figure it out. With the help of his roommate Danny (Frankie A. Rodriguez), he manages to become the quarterback the Georgia Catfish needs. And maybe finds himself in a will they/won’t they relationship with Coach Ricky Hudson (Perry Mattfeld).
To help breakdown the finale, the show as a whole, and the star power that Powell has, I spoke with Michael Waldron (who co-created the series with Powell and made his directorial debut with the show’s season one finale) about all things Chad/Russ.
**Spoilers for the entire first season of Chad Powers lies ahead**
The Mary Sue: It is exciting to talk to you guys before the show started and then now get to talk to you after it is done. I like seeing how everyone (online) is kind of realizing the deeper themes you guys were putting in at the start of the show. How has it been seeing online? Everyone realizing how fundamentally sad Russ is as a character?
Michael Waldron: It’s sort of been the vibe of like, “Oh, this is actually good.” I think that’s my favorite comment to see, which is also, “Oh, the premise is ridiculous.” And I don’t know that it’s a premise that people expect all that much out of and I think I’ve said this before, that that’s probably what drew us to it. To be able to find something really unexpected with this premise. And especially last week, episode 5, which takes a really sort of serious human turn. It was so fun to see the reactions to that. And, that’s my favorite stuff to write and make anyways. So I think that the show really becomes the truest form of itself and sort of becomes what it’ll be moving forward in these last two episodes. So it’s been a blast to see people respond positively to that.”
The Mary Sue: And speaking of that last episode, I loved the layers that it gave specifically to Ricky, because when you have a dad who is either like, my dad died, but he had heart stuff when I was younger, and it changed how I view a lot of things. And I liked that we got to see that, especially in the finale. Her kind of breaking in a way that I think given the situation, she would’ve reacted very differently had all this not happened at the same time as what was going on with her dad. How was it getting to work with Perry (Mattfeld) and figuring out exactly where Ricky’s anger was in a lot of these last two episodes and figuring out kind of where she is as a character?
Michael Waldron: Well, Perry is a genius of an actor and so it’s a pleasure to work with her. And I could write scenes like that scene on the bus with full confidence and excitement knowing what we were gonna get out of her. And she had made really strong deliberate choices with the character over the course of the season to play her as sort of a powder keg. Ricky is it many ways a mirror of Russ, she’s an athlete who flamed out and is carrying around a lot of probably rag deep, deep down, she’s a competitor. In episode five, which for a lot of the episode it feels like everything’s going great for everybody, you see her maybe wondering, do I like Chad power?
Michael Waldron: There is this connection with this weirdo. Then it all goes so terribly wrong and everything blows up and her dad has a heart attack, and Chad Powers this person who saw her in a way that nobody else did is revealed to not even exist. And, in fact that person is a bad guy and the bad guy who hurt her dad. So we felt like that’s a justified lighting of the fuse to have her explode to, to detonate on him. And so I think Perry really, she understood it and we rehearsed that scene, we taped out the full length of a bus. I really wanted to set it on the bus. So they had this sort of claustrophobic, shut in the airlock. You’re stuck in there together and you’ve gotta have it out feeling. We rehearsed the movements, but not the performance, that would let them sit on that. And when Perry let that loose the first take, I’ll never forget, was absolutely breathtaking to see her go to that place and really, really, really special.
The Mary Sue: Yeah. I loved it. And I also realized while I was rewatching the finale last night, I mean, you guys are very smart individuals, you and Glen, so I figured you’ve did this on purpose, but I was like, wow, Chad and Ricky’s relationship is really the idea of a woman will like someone for their personality and their kindness versus their looks. And I was watching that unfold. And I realized Russ can’t really understand it because people would deem Russ attractive versus the Chad of it all. And it was very cool to kind of come to that realization while watching her get so angry about her friend that is now dead in her eyes. When you are doing stuff like that and you’re kind of working through how these characters are gonna go throughout an entire season, do you plan out beats like that love story or is that something that you guys kind of came to organically as you were working through the show?
Michael Waldron: I think in this case, I always knew just because in my work can’t help but bend in this direction. I just I love the love story. Even if it’s kind of a tragic one in this way or even a friendship story, whatever you wanna call this. And so I always knew that maybe Ricky finding out was the endgame of the season in some way. I think, that it had been enticing to us at times that, ‘Well, what if that’s final moment of the season?’ And then I really got in my head, ‘Why am I saving the fun?’ That was when we said let’s accelerate and let’s have her find out much sooner than maybe the audience expects her to and then let’s explore the fallout in the finale. And so you always have a general blueprint in your head especially with a show like this, I like to just take it episode by episode and you try and kinda write yourself into a corner and then figure out how to put Russ and Danny into a tough situation and figure out how they’re gonna get out of it.
The Mary Sue: You directed the finale, which is a big deal, and I already like one thing you said about the blocking because it is my favorite part of the episode when she has to ask permission to get off the bus because Russ is standing directly in her way. And it’s cool to hear like the mechanics behind the blocking of stuff like that.
Michael Waldron: Such a great delivery by her, “Please move so I can get off this bus.”
The Mary Sue: Exactly. And so for you though, what was the biggest challenge of not only taking on the finale for a directorial debut, but getting to kind of capture a lot of different moments? Because you have the big stadium set pieces, you have the emotional beats between these characters and all of it has to kind of come to a cliff-hangry resolve as it is.
Michael Waldron: Of course I was nervous but that’s probably good nerves. I felt confident because I believed in our script and I really believed in my actors and so at that point, a lot of my job is get out of the way. And this one was kind of on a rocket and we were writing the season as we were there in Atlanta. So it wasn’t like we had a ton of prep time. But the things that needed a ton of rehearsal, like the bus or the running out in Georgia, we were able to do. And I had an amazing team around me. And I would say the biggest thing, if I think about that episode, when I watch it, the biggest challenge for me was actually it’s the second to last scene where there everybody’s in the locker room.
Michael Waldron: And only because that was my second day, my first full day directing ever. And I hadn’t had a chance to prep with my DP. And it had a ton of characters and a ton of stuff we had to cover in that scene and sort of just followed my instincts and was pleasantly surprised when we got into the edit. And I was like, ‘Alright, I think we got out alive here.’ But again, we have great camera operators and Mark Schwartzbard, our DP, took care of me every step of the way. So I was lucky. A lot of people made me look good.
The Mary Sue: Well you guys did a something in this season that I never think is possible. But you guys did it, which is, you wrote very, very good, bad improv. Because I studied improv for four years and every time someone tries to do bad improv, I’m like, ‘You’re just…no, this is bad.’ But Russ cannot think on his toes to save his life. How much fun was it to get to not only work with Glen on, the creation of this, but like then get to play around with just how bad Russ is at coming up with something that is like sane and normal as Chad?
Michael Waldron: It was amazing. You can’t be stupid enough. And also it’s easy. I would say it’s easier. It comes out of laziness because if I need to write a Chad line, typically if I am, if I’m spending too much time on it, it’s the wrong thing. Like the trick with Chad is to sit down and just kind of close your eyes and like, what’s your first thought? That’s how the wolves thing came. I was just like, ‘I don’t know.’ And then you look at it and you’re like, ‘Well, if Glen does this, it’s so stupid.’ And so that was fun. And then actually improvising bad improv. That’s it. This testament to how funny Glen is. That he’s just able to. That was improv from him in episode five when he goes, ‘Is this wood?’ Which I think is maybe the funniest line in the entire show.
The Mary Sue: It’s really good. Well, and I also wanted to ask you because or it was a very weird, I don’t know why I did this, but then it broke me a little bit, but I obviously had seen the whole season when I interviewed you guys first, then I came home, was watching all of Monster: The Ed Gein Story and then started Chad Powers back up and was like, ‘I can’t listen to these voices’. Both of these voices are gonna drive me insane. But it is so funny because you have little moments, especially with Danny and then Ricky at the end where they’re like, ‘Stop doing the voice. Like you’ve gotta like just talk like a normal human being.’ How was that though on set, figuring out when the voice was too much or when you needed more of it and really leaning into it to make people uncomfortable with the Chad voice at times?
Michael Waldron: Well, the voice is never too much. I still get such a thrill anytime I can get Glen to start it, anytime he does it. I’m so spoiled when we’re shooting because I hear it all the time and if I’m on Zoom with him or we’re pitching something and he just started ‘Oh yeah and Chad can talk like this,’ I get so excited. But I mean, we were trying to make it uncomfortable and then as the season wore on, we were excited about just mixing and matching. So there’s the scene in episode five when he is talking to Danny and he’s writing his autograph and he’s got the face on, but the wig off and he’s going in and out of the voice and such a amazing performance from Glen to just be doing that. And I just think it’s so unearthing to see and it’s like the show in many ways about a guy losing his mind so I don’t know. I love it. I want it to be uncomfortable.
The Mary Sue: Yeah. Him singing a mix of Let It Be and Reflection from Mulan in the Chad Powers voice. I was like, ‘Oh, I kind of hate this actually.’
Michael Waldron: Yeah. It’s great. So stupid
The Mary Sue: Well, and to that point, I talked when I talked to you the first time about how my favorite show of all time is Parks and Rec, which does the same thing I think Chad Powers does of teetering on stupidity at times in a way that is so much fun as an audience member. How is that for you writing and getting to lean on the stupidity? Because you’ve done comedy and stuff before versus doing something that is a little bit more heavy hitting like a Marvel thing or whatever it may be, but getting to come back and just have fun with a comedy series.
Michael Waldron: It’s great. And it’s great because I’m a comedy writer at heart and I’m never more comfortable than I am in a room full of psychotic comedy writers, that is my happiest place in the world, a comedy writer’s room. But I also just creatively love the dramatic opportunities that the insane comedy gives you because there’s just less expectation. I love that in episode five when we go to these human places and in episode six, people are like, ‘What? How am I getting this out of Chad Powers?’ I find that delightful. I love doing this show. I’d make it forever.
The Mary Sue: I have two last quick things. One being I know you and Glen have talked about how you would do a season two, you would make more, all this kinda stuff. This season was obviously a man kind of losing his way and trying to figure out like who he is as a person. Have you figured out what the general theme would be moving forward in extra other seasons if you guys get them?
Michael Waldron: Yeah, I mean I think just on a practical plot level, Ricky’s part of the conspiracy, whether she likes it or not and what does that do? Can there be a love story still? And can Russ continue to grow by being Chad and can Chad grow by Russ, by being inhabited by a little more Russ? And can the Catfish win it all? Is Coach gonna die all that, all sorts of stuff and what’s happening with Tricia and Coach Dobbs? Are they hooking up?
The Mary Sue: I vote yes.
Michael Waldron: Heavily implied.
The Mary Sue: You know, I love the show. For my last quick thing, I need to ask for your help and it is, can you also push, I know you pushed the Nova agenda with Glen Powell, but can you push Bruce Wayne for me because I want him to be Bruce Wayne. So can you just shove that agenda?
Michael Waldron: [laughs] That does nothing for me. I’m a Marvel guy.
The Mary Sue: I know but he’d be a perfect Bruce Wayne and I’m like, ‘Everyone needs to get on my side.’
Michael Waldron: If you can get DC to let me direct the Batman movie then maybe.
The Mary Sue: I’ll call up DC we’ll figure it all out. It’ll all be worked perfectly into my plan.
Michael Waldron: Well I think that whatever he does, any role he takes, he’s gonna be remarkable in it.
The Mary Sue: I agree. Thank you so much for talking with me. I love this show. I’m gonna keep pushing so I get more of Chad Powers because it rules.
_____________________________________
The entire first season of Chad Powers is now airing on Hulu!
(featured image: Disney/Daniel Delgado Jr.)
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
