An Interview with Barry L. Levy, Creator & Showrunner of ‘Me’

Key Art for ‘Me’ Courtesy of Apple.

Barry L. Levy is a highly accomplished writer that’s crafted some memorable stores on the silver and small screen, such as Vantage Point and episodes of StartUp. Currently he serves as the creator and showrunner of the upcoming Apple TV+ series, Me, and we here at NTG had the distinct honor of sitting down with Barry to discuss the genesis of this show and more.
 
John Betancourt: I would like to start by learning what inspired you to create such an ambitious show.
 
Barry L. Levy: I have identical twin daughters with my wife, and two years later, we had a son who was tall right out of the gate, and therefore always looked like a triplet, and couldn't quite be a triplet, despite his desire to be one. And so, for him, the question became a bedtime story, and it became, then the story of the show, which is a boy named Ben. Who do you want to be, if you could be anyone in the world? And so that became the sort of impetus and the starting point, and the writing just came from there. And, you know, for us, you know, in our house, anyways, I talk about this as a love letter to them, and to being able to sort of capture their relationships. You know, for posterity, forever. So, this has been… truly a dream come true.
 
John Betancourt: Well, how lovely of an answer is that? Your kids get to say, “Yeah, my dad wrote this about me.” That's pretty amazing. Well, with that in mind, you said the writing came pretty quick. But were there any challenges that came into crafting this? I mean, because it's such a complex and emotional story.
 
Barry L. Levy: No. (Laughter from Barry and John.)
 
John Betancourt: All right, easy enough.
 
Barry L. Levy: Just kidding. You know, the challenges were never in the writing. It was also in the producing of what was being written. Because we designed the show to be written, to be shot as a, essentially a, what a five-hour movie, and then we had to sort of recognize that from a production point of view, that's a brutal way to shoot. How do we organize these scenes? How do we sort of tailor what we're writing so that it makes more sense from a production point of view? That was the biggest hurdle. And I mean, I think we, you know, I feel thrilled to have great collaborators where it worked out, but those were the questions that we were asking ourselves from the start.
 
John Betancourt: I will say that I'm noticing more and more. Especially, seems like in the last year or so, we're seeing a lot of family stories that go deeper into topics like this, stuff that I know that when I was kid, no TV shows went into. Like there was “a very special episode,” and that was pretty much it. I'm curious, why do you think now is the right time to see these kinds of shows on the air?
 
Barry L. Levy: Oh, wow. You know, I'm, I'm not sure. I will say that one of the key lessons of show running was being authentic about when you don't know the answer, telling you I don't know the answer. I do think that we have trended for decades, though, towards authenticity and grounded-ness and realism. If you think back to those old black and white movies where performances were always broad and you know, they're sort of shouted at you, and then by the 70s, it was sort of real and grounded. And now it makes sense that it trickles down to even the performers of all ages. I mean, I think those are trends.
 
John Betancourt: Wow. Well, that is quite the insightful answer.
 
Barry L. Levy: Top of my head!
 
John Betancourt: So, let's talk about some of those themes. Because the show covers so many and it is so authentic in doing so, and I’m curious how you brought forth that authenticity.
 
Barry L. Levy: So that started with the casting, and it started with the hiring of a director. I knew from the start that I sort of had a leadership philosophy of going… I want to bring in people, and I want them to elevate what we've done so that I'm not the pinnacle. I'm the bottom of the heap, of the pyramid. And in that regard, Michael really brought a real cinematic style to it. Michael Dowse, and I brought in Joshua Einsohn, who I'd known forever, who cast, This is Us and Love, Victor, and a lot of other sort of awards-y shows. And I wanted to find kids who could really reach the levels that we wanted in terms of performance, that it was going to feel real, that it wasn't going to feel like anything else that I had seen on television, and so that we could hit those marks. And when we saw river Lucien-River (Chauhan), but we call him Riv, he, he just, he nailed it with his eyes. He could do a lot of things that we didn't have to put on the page.
 
In terms of dialogue, you felt it with him. You know, casting Abby (Pniowsky) meant we needed someone, because the role always demanded that she was every bit his equal and then some, but also that she could be a sister to him, and so who played best off of him, and those two, the minute that we saw them at a camera read, the first time, it was so obvious that those two were siblings, and it just was like, “Yes, please.” Um. And from moving off from there, Josh had seen Amanda Reid, had met her in Dallas at some place, and seen her perform. And he was like, months before we ever saw her. He's like, “I know who Carter is. I know who Carter is.” And he kept saying it and saying it. And then it just took me a minute to get my head around and go. I think Josh might be right. And so, you know, that's how we that's how we got them.
 
John Betancourt: I couldn't help but notice too, that there's a very, cinematic spark to the story, and a superhero feel, which I also like. Were there any influences that you wanted intentionally in this show from that genre or in general?
 
Barry L. Levy: So, when I first met Michael Dowse, I brought one, and he brought one, and it was so clear, you know, that there was touchstones for us. Stand By Me, was a touchstone which was about children, but it wasn't for children. It was for everyone. E.T., that there were layers to the sort of the culture of knowing that if you were a parent watching it, you would find different things. Like I didn't know until I showed it to my kids that Elliot's father had run off with a flight attendant to Mexico. And it was so, so specific. And it was like, I just somehow it never passed -- it just passed right over me. But then Michael also brought, I guess, with him, Super 8 was a touchstone for him, which was sort of paid homage to those other ones, you know. And I think those films really sort of set us up of going, this is what we are aspiring to. It'll feel cinematic, but it'll feel real, and you'll almost forget the fact that in, you know, five years’ time, we should be so fortunate as to be looking at the superheroes of this show, because today, we're just telling the story of a someday superhero.
 
John Betancourt: Obviously the show is loaded with all kinds of amazing messaging and stuff that parents and kids can talk about after watching the show. If there's one particular message that you hope really everybody carries with them as they walk away from this first season, what would that message be?
 
Barry L. Levy: Oh, wow. I mean, I do think it's challenging to find the just one, for me personally, the finding who you are and accepting who you are. You know, those are sort of part and parcel of becoming yourself. You know, when we talked about season one with Apple from the start, it was always, this is a boy who can be anyone in the world. Who does he want to be? Well, by the end of season one, he knows the answer. It's our title. I want to be, me. And that idea was always there from the start.
 
John Betancourt: Since you talked some of the personal aspects of what the show has meant, what does it mean to you now to know that you're just so close to having this important project come to life on the screen.
 
Barry L. Levy: I mean, I will say having been here with movies as well as TV, it always is sort of a powerless feeling of going “it's there.” And I don't know how the world will accept it, but I will say that versus any other experience in my life, I'm sort of, I'm excited to share it, and I'm so proud of what we did, and I know that the people in this family are, so the audience of three, I've already got that seal of approval, you know, I'm good. I'm playing with house money at this point.
 
John Betancourt: The last question that I have for you, speaking of that pride, what are you most proud of when it comes to this project?
 
Barry L. Levy: Oh, my God, I think it's those the performances that are captured on film. Because I think that that's actually a deeper issue than simply a performer, because the way it's shot, is so much a credit to Mike and Bella Gonzalez, our DP, the way that those scenes are cut together. I don't know who's seen how much of the series, but Episode Seven with Abby, with Max in the dressing room is a scene that I will always hold on to as being so special, the birthday dinner of Episode Five. I mean, those are real moments of such emotional depth that, you know, Episode Eight, in the exploring of Carter and her father's relationship. I mean, we went to places that I was so proud of going, I know we're doing, we're hitting above our, our weight. We're punching above our weight in this regard. And I just, I was so thrilled that the performers, that the crew and the cast, you know, delivered, and then some. And, of course, the writers as well.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
 

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