‘Mrs. Davis’ editor Philip Fowler on the opportunity to cut a show that’s ‘like nothing I’ve ever read’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

Ray Richmond
·5 min read

There is nothing simple about editing “Mrs. Davis,” the new Peacock comedic drama that’s really several tones and genres in one. It stars Betty Gilpin as Sister Simone, a nun who is reluctantly commissioned to save the world from an omniscient artificial intelligence force that now controls humanity. And if that sounds eccentric and offbeat, it’s even wackier to watch. This was the challenge facing the show’s editor Philip Fowler when he signed on to be the show’s editor after reading the pilot script written by co-creator Tara Hernandez and deeming it “one of the funniest things I’ve ever read. So much of the humor is written in the subtext, in the descriptions, and it’s hilarious. It’s also just very unique. By the end of the pilot, (the star is) sent on a quest for the Holy Grail. I mean, it was catnip for an editor because you got to cover so many different genres. It was just like nothing I’ve ever read.” Fowler spoke to Gold Derby as part of our “Meet the Experts” editors roundtable. Watch our exclusive video interview above.

Indeed, “Mrs. Davis” is somewhat indescribably outlandish. At one point, our nun heroine jumps through a giant doughnut on a motorcycle. “Just from a production standpoint, I was curious how they were going to pull this off – how a car with a giant magnifying glass was going to explode a truck full of jam, for instance. And also the challenges as an editor. How do I help that story and sell it with the cuts?”

More from GoldDerby

SEEBetty Gilpin on ‘Mrs. Davis’: ‘It was my favorite experience I’ve ever had’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

In the end, it was too delicious an opportunity for Fowler to pass up, even as he scratched his head wondering what his role in the storytelling would be and the obstacles in making it all work in the edit. “A lot of my early conversations with Tara and (co-creator) Damon (Lindelof) were about the tone of the show,” Fowler recalls, “because it’s straddling a lot of different tones and genres. It’s on one hand a live action Looney Tunes. On the other hand, it’s Indiana Jones, and a sci-fi show about AI that’s also dealing with religion. So we had a lot of discussion about keeping it light but also rounding it with heart and making sure that the performances still felt grounded. We spent a lot of time on the music, too, trying different songs in different spots – choral, strings, orchestral. That’s my favorite part as an editor, cutting picture to music. There’s nothing more satisfying than when you lay in the perfect piece of music and the edits are all just hitting right in sync.”

Considering the number of elements Fowler was tasked with weaving together seamlessly in “Mrs. Davis,” it could have been either a creative dream or a frightening nightmare for an editor. Fortunately, he had a secret weapon in lead Gilpin, whom he called “an editor’s dream. I’ve been a fan of hers since I saw her on ‘Nurse Jackie,’ and every take she gives is different. And every take is good. That’s a blessing. They’re all amazing and very, very different takes. She’s a brave actor who really goes for it. As an editor, that can also be a challenge because sometimes what you personally find the most entertaining and the wackiest and the biggest isn’t almost going to serve the story. So it’s a constant honing in on what the tone needs to be.”

SEETV directors roundtable: ‘Accused,’ ‘Atlanta,’ ‘Late Night with Seth Meyers,’ ‘Mrs. Davis’

As an example of what he’s talking about, Fowler cited the final scene in the pilot where Gilpin, as Sister Simone, could have played it completely comedically but winds up putting a lot of dramatic flair into the idea of going on a quest for the Holy Grail at the best of Mrs. Davis (the name given to the AI program). “Damon and I really worked on that a lot together to create this arc with her character in that scene where she goes from disbelieving, to skeptical, to hatred, and finally by the end to acceptance that this is a worthy quest and the stakes are high for her,” Fowler explains. “It was just a great experience because every episode I edited had a different genre, which made ‘Mrs. Davis’ the best of all worlds.”

All eight “Mrs. Davis” episodes stream on Peacock.

PREDICT the 2023 Emmy nominees through July 12

Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?

SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions

Best of GoldDerby

Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.