Spoiler Alert: The article below includes spoilers for the first episode of ‘The Morning Show’ season 3.
In the first episode of the new season of the hit Apple TV+ series The Morning Show, viewers are introduced to a brand-new character: Jon Hamm‘s Paul Marks. And while the show has an incredible star-studded cast already, including Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon as the on-and-off frenemies Alex and Bradley, Hamm’s character brought something different to the show.
After all, within the UBA world (the show’s TV network) of TV stars, writers, producers and executives, having a billionaire burst into the scene makes for quite a change of pace. For viewers, however, the character might be more familiar than we thought.
As viewers will learn, Marks is a billionaire, one capable of buying just about anything with the snap of his fingers. And, just like the Tesla and X founder Elon Musk, Marks built Hyperion (the show’s SpaceX) to, among other things, send celebrities up into space. Sound familiar? Yeah, we thought so too.
So, noticing these striking similarities between Musk and Marks (even the names are similar!), we asked Executive Producers of the show Lauren Neustadter and Kristin Hahn about their inspiration.
Is The Morning Show’s Paul Marks based on Elon Musk?
When asked about the similarities between Hamm’s character and Musk, the executive producers told us that much of the show’s inspiration comes from things happening in the media. And although they didn’t directly discuss Musk, they definitely hinted to it.
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“I really love the exploration of what’s going on in the media right now,” Neustadter tells SheKnows. “I think that it’s a constantly evolving and changing landscape. And as a person who feels very privileged to get to be behind the scenes, telling stories, making shows and movies that feel like they are creating a dialogue with the audience who is investing in them, we’re just constantly sort of observing and evolving with our industry.”
Neustadter continued: “I think [my inspiration is] just the exploration of what’s going on with UBA, and what Paul Marks represents, but also this moment of sort of existential crisis for the network and for the streaming platform.”
For Hahn, she adds that a big part of the inspiration behind season three for her wasn’t Musk, but journalistic integrity instead. “Something that I love about this season and how [journalistic integrity] is woven in into the theme of truth,” she says. “What is truth? Where are we getting our news? Who’s behind who’s sitting in the chair delivering the news? And what’s their filter on it?”
According to Hahn, that’s seen in an even closer look this season given the changing dynamic between Aniston’s Alex and Witherspoon’s Bradley. “I love seeing both Alex and Bradley in different ways, their passion and veracity around truth and the pursuit of it,” she says, adding that Bradley in many ways is the “quintessential truth teller.”
Also in the first episode of the long-awaited new season, Marks is joined by two other characters in a quick flight into space. The scene, which was beyond impressive as a viewer, was equally as challenging for the producers.
“Of course, our first thought maybe as producers is also can we afford this? Right? How are we going to do this?” Hahn remembers.
Luckily for their EP team, which includes Aniston and Witherspoon, they managed to pull it off. “We figured out a way because we’re very crafty,” Hahn adds. “And we have an amazing production designer, and also many other people on our team that helped us figure it out.”
According to Neustadter, production designer Nelson Coates and executive producer Mimi Leder “had a vision” for the scene and “were in lockstep” to make it happen. The result, of course, is as magical as it seems. “I really cried when I saw that scene,” Hahn admits. Curious enough?
The first two episodes of The Morning Show season three premiere on Apple TV+ on September 13.
Before you go, click here to see all the best TV shows and movies to watch on AppleTV+.
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