United States of Tara
Today marks the first day of production for The United States of Tara. I’m so excited for this series. Not just because it’s about a mother trying to cope with a dissociative disorder and raise her child (which is an awesome premise for a show) but also because they’ve asked me to work with them over at Dreamworks and who wouldn’t be excited about that?
My job is basically to answer questions as they come up for the actors or writers on how to keep the show authentic and real. This I can do. Nothing like having a job where you just get to be yourself. And I even get my name in the credits. That kind of blew me away.
Toni Collette is playing the woman with the dissociative disorder which is all kinds of awesome. I’ve loved her ever since seeing Muriel’s Wedding, still one of my favorite movies. The pilot is being created first, of course, and there is no guarantee that the series will even get made unless the public wants it. But Steven Spielberg and Diablo Cody are behind it so it feels like it’s got the backing it needs to really fly. Only time will tell. Look for the pilot in a few months time coming to Showtime. You can get updates from Diablo Cody’s MySpace and I’ll do what updating I can here as well.
This entry was posted
on Monday, April 14th, 2008 at 10:45 am and is filed under United States of Tara, tv.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0
feed.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:52 am
That is all kinds of awesome Leah! Congratulations and I hope you’ll keep us updated on Twitter! xo
April 14th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Leah, that’s so wonderful!!! Congratulations. Now I’m wishing for cable.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Congratulations, Leah! You so very much deserve this.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Wow, Leah, that’s fantastic! Congratulations!! I could not be more excited for you.
(P.S. I am also a giant fan of Muriel’s Wedding. :-)
April 14th, 2008 at 10:54 am
AWESOME
April 14th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Leah my darling remember when you thought I was nuts for saying you are an Anne Lamott type of writer? Well I guess I”m not the only one. What a HUGE thing…. and to have an on-air credit is the ultimate in cool. My mom took a picture of my first one and it’s in my album — and it was a VERY long time ago… (actually I should scan it and… but I digress) Your articulate openness is more than worthy of this honor but I”m so glad for you that these folks recognized it. Hooray for the good guys (girls!!)
April 14th, 2008 at 11:03 am
That is really awesome! I love Toni, too, especially in Little Miss Sunshine.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Wow, how cool is that? How cool are YOU? :)
April 14th, 2008 at 11:07 am
I’m close to crying. This is so wonderful and well deserved, dearest Leah. What a great project and may you get many more.
I love you! Yes I do!
April 14th, 2008 at 11:38 am
How wonderful, Leah!
April 14th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
That is so flippin’ awesome! You go, Leahpeah!
I am just so proud of you and so very happy for you!
April 14th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Congrats! I love when PERFECT opportunities like this come up for people. Yay you!
April 14th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
I am soooo happy for you! Yeah for Leah!
April 14th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
So, so amazing, lady. For real. For really real. So excited to hear more!
April 14th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
That’s both cool and awesome. Congratulations!!
April 14th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Wow. Wow. Wow. Woo-hoo!!!
April 14th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
That’s so cool. Congratulations! If it gets picked up, I’d totally watch it.
April 14th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Very cool. It definitely sounds like an interesting show.
April 14th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Way cool! How fun!
April 14th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
thats awesome. Have you met toni collette, or Diablo Cody yet? How did this all come about? A blog entry of the story would be great.
April 14th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
That’s incredibly cool!
Hope you enjoy this experience! Diablo Cody and Spielberg, doesn’t get much better than that.
On top of that, the movie sounds great.
April 14th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
This is so fantastic. I can not WAIT.
April 14th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Holy crap, that’s amazing! Congrats! If you meet Diablo, tell her that I almost took a knifing on her behalf from her stalker.
April 14th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Holy crap! I have been following this through Diablo’s blog (I have a gigantic girl crush on her and love Juno with all my heart). That is so freakin’ exciting and I’m very happy for you.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Oh wow. How wonderfully perfect. And with such great talents. Toni Colette is one of the best actors around. I am so pleased for you.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
yeah!!!!!!!!
April 15th, 2008 at 8:14 am
very awesome leah, what a great person for them to use as a consultant on this movie.
it’s as if the universe hand-picked this just for you. according to the feng shui astrology, this is your year and it’s about time me thinks.
xo
April 15th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
I’m so exciterized for you!
April 15th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Also interesting to note that Herschel Walker is publishing a book to help people with dissociative identity disorder. http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/04/15/herschel.walker.did/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
Hopefully you and some of this other media will help people have a better understanding of how this illness works.
April 15th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Interesting to note that Herschel Walker is coming out with a book on understanding dissociative identity disorder. http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/04/15/herschel.walker.did/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
Maybe with your help and this new media, people will begin to have a greater understanding of the illness . . .
April 16th, 2008 at 5:10 am
I can’t think of anyone better qualified to translate to people on the outside what mental illness is like on the inside. Even though it makes me sound like I wear dream-catcher earrings and glitter scarves to say it, I sincerely believe that our hardships can shape us into channels for healing if we are willing. You’ve been living proof of it long before this.
xo
April 16th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Yer gonna be famous! “I knew you when…”
*sigh*
as close as I’ll ever be with someone famous.
congrats pal.
April 17th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
oh i can’t wait to watch it
April 17th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Amazing. I wanted to see it before and now I’ll be obnoxious when watching it because I KNOW HER. THE LADY HELPING OUT AND WORKING ON THE SHOW.
People will want to slap me. I’ll tell them that YOU wouldn’t slap me. That YOU would hug and squeeze me.
You’re ten shades of Incredible right now.
April 21st, 2008 at 6:31 pm
That’s so amazing! I’m so happy for you, Leah. I love all the work you do to promote understanding of and familiarity with mental disorders. It’s incredibly inspiring. (No, really. It is.)
Anyway, congrats again! I look forward to seeing the show. :)
April 24th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Congrats, I’ll watch for the show.
And PS, I was seriously laughing about that extra P in Ripa!
May 4th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
I am so proud of you! I can’t wait to see the pilot.