If we can go back to "The Exonerated" for a minute... Before you put on that play in 2002, you were both actors,
directors, screenwriters, and Jessica, you had a novel under your belt.
But your lives have really taken off professionally since then. ["The Exonerated" deals with former inmates released from Death
Row.] Hugely successful, it had an 18-month NY run, a national tour,
and a made for Court TV movie.
It's since had sold-out runs in both London and Dublin and has been translated into a number of foreign languages. You also got some unusual awards and accolades - including from the NAACP, Amnesty International, the American Bar Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Court TV, and Death Penalty Focus. That must have been satisfying. Were you expecting it to be such a hit?
Not at all! When we started work on "The Exonerated," we expected that maybe it would wind up running in a 99-seat theater somewhere for a week or two. We never could have dreamed that it would have had the life it did; so many incredible people came in throughout the process of "The Exonerated" and contributed to its life--actors, producers, our director, attorneys, politicians, non-profit organizations, exonerated individuals themselves--and for that we are incredibly grateful.
When we first began work on "The Exonerated," in
2000, both of us actually were not professional writers or directors.
Jessica had graduated college and come to NYC to go to acting school
less than a year before we got the idea for the play; Erik had been
living in NYC for nine years, making a living as an actor. We'd both
tried our hand at writing a bit, but nothing on a professional
scale--basically, we taught ourselves how to write a play--and how to
get a play produced--specifically so that we could create "The
Exonerated," simply because we believed that the stories were so
important that they needed to get out there. "The Exonerated" had an
incredible life, and when it finally started to quiet down, we suddenly
found that as well as being actors, we were both also now writers and
directors---and married!
We wrote a book together about the making of "The Exonerated," Living Justice, which was published in 2005, and Jessica started working on her first novel Almost Home after "The Exonerated" opened Off-Broadway; Almost Home was published in 2007. Last year, it was optioned for feature film by Jon Bon Jovi's production company, and we adapted the screenplay together; our producers are planning to shoot in 2010. Jessica's second novel, Karma for Beginners, was published this summer, and we both continue to act regularly in film and television. Somehow, we both manage to keep ourselves employed in one medium or another at any given time.
After that, we'll return to juggling both our careers equally with parenting. We're incredibly lucky to have a very flexible work schedule, made up of numerous short-term jobs in several mediums, so we're both looking forward to being able to spend time with our daughter, share the parenting 50-50, and balance that with our individual and joint careers as actors, writers and directors. We're used to juggling already, so we're looking forward to continuing that with a new collaborator on board!
Well, you certainly have a lot going on in your lives. And it doesn't sound like you're going to slow down much any time soon, either! Thank you so much for taking time out to speak with me. I really hope that "Aftermath" comes to Chicago so I can see it for myself.
***
Part one of my interview with Jessica and Erik
Aftermath website It's since had sold-out runs in both London and Dublin and has been translated into a number of foreign languages. You also got some unusual awards and accolades - including from the NAACP, Amnesty International, the American Bar Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Court TV, and Death Penalty Focus. That must have been satisfying. Were you expecting it to be such a hit?
Not at all! When we started work on "The Exonerated," we expected that maybe it would wind up running in a 99-seat theater somewhere for a week or two. We never could have dreamed that it would have had the life it did; so many incredible people came in throughout the process of "The Exonerated" and contributed to its life--actors, producers, our director, attorneys, politicians, non-profit organizations, exonerated individuals themselves--and for that we are incredibly grateful.
We wrote a book together about the making of "The Exonerated," Living Justice, which was published in 2005, and Jessica started working on her first novel Almost Home after "The Exonerated" opened Off-Broadway; Almost Home was published in 2007. Last year, it was optioned for feature film by Jon Bon Jovi's production company, and we adapted the screenplay together; our producers are planning to shoot in 2010. Jessica's second novel, Karma for Beginners, was published this summer, and we both continue to act regularly in film and television. Somehow, we both manage to keep ourselves employed in one medium or another at any given time.
As little as possible! I'm looking forward to enjoying our daughter a lot and continuing to work as an actor, writer and director. This summer, I acted in an episode of HBO's "Bored to Death," directed "Aftermath," and my book Karma for Beginners came out. After all that, I'm in my third trimester, so I'm being forced to slow down a little bit, and both of us are planning to take a month or two off after our daughter is born.Your first child is due very soon, Jessica. Will you slow down,take some time off so you can enjoy your new role?
After that, we'll return to juggling both our careers equally with parenting. We're incredibly lucky to have a very flexible work schedule, made up of numerous short-term jobs in several mediums, so we're both looking forward to being able to spend time with our daughter, share the parenting 50-50, and balance that with our individual and joint careers as actors, writers and directors. We're used to juggling already, so we're looking forward to continuing that with a new collaborator on board!
Well, you certainly have a lot going on in your lives. And it doesn't sound like you're going to slow down much any time soon, either! Thank you so much for taking time out to speak with me. I really hope that "Aftermath" comes to Chicago so I can see it for myself.
***
Part one of my interview with Jessica and Erik
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