THE SHOWRUNNER Frankie Thomas
ATLENGTHMAG.COM 1 THE SHOWRUNNER Frankie Thomas Roger hates open casting calls, but the network is being a pain in the ass about casting “real kids” in the Life According to Liberty pilot. “Viewers should look at these kids and see themselves,” says the first in an increas- ingly inane series of memos. “Avoid overly polished child-star types.” They use the words “fresh,” “natural,” “organic,” and “raw” so often, you’d think they really just want to open a restaurant in Silverlake. Roger hates a lot of things—rush hour traffic, the 405 any time of day, people who mispronounce “Hermès,” the smoking ban in restaurants, most of America east of the Harbor Freeway—but he especially resents wast- ing a workday on an open call, because, for the most part, he doesn’t hate his job. He does it damn well, too: if you have kids, they’ve probably clocked half their lives watching his shows. Superpants? That was him. Second String, Friendship Heights, Passing for Paranormal—all Roger Knox productions. It’s thanks to your kids that Roger owns a penthouse in the Hills, drives a black Maserati, wears a different suit every day (Armani, Zegna, Tom Ford, YSL, maybe breaking out the Hugo Boss when he doesn’t mind looking like a slob), and gets his shoes shined once a week even though he doesn’t walk enough to scuff them. He’s been here long enough that he no longer feels like he’s evading when people ask him where he’s from and he answers, “Hollywood.” At the casting call, though, Roger is forced to interact with people who aren’t from Hollywood, people who even smell like the real world—babies, church basements, cafeterias, grocery-store shampoos.
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