Earlier this year, Turner Networks held a party for the Television Critics Association with all the talent from their various drama series. While there, I spotted Frank Darabont, creator of the new series “Mob City.”
Back then it was still tentatively titled “Lost Angels” as they were not able to use the title of the book on which it is based, L.A. Noir. The series stars Jon Bernthal as Joe Teague, a fictional cop going after the L.A. mob, including Bugsy Siegel (Ed Burns) and Mickey Cohen (Jeremy Luke). We got some one-on-one time with Darabont poolside to preview the new show, which premieres Wednesday, Dec. 4 on TNT.
CraveOnline: How was the development process at Turner compared to previous shows you developed?
Frank Darabont: Brilliant, brilliant. I told this to Michael Wright, I told this to Steve Koonin, working for them really reminds me of working for Castle Rock back in the day. It’s a very, very supportive and filmmaker friendly place. So I couldn’t be happier.
After the pilot, what is the main story of “Mob City?”
Well, I can’t give you spoilers. We’re tracking the rise of Mickey Cohen as head of the L.A. mob. We’re tracking the rise of William Parker as head of the LAPD. The conflicts that arise along the way, mob against cop and also in house, cop against cop, mob against mob. So it’s a really rich stew. Reality gives us a lot of great stuff to springboard from.
I learned from watching DVD extras on Gangster Squad that Mickey Cohen hired a personal publicist.
Oh yeah.
Is that in the show?
It might be in the second season. We’re going to get a lot more into Mickey’s world in season two.
Is he a boxer on your show?
Well, he was once because that was also real. That was in his younger days. By 1947, the year of our show, he’s an ex-boxer.
That must’ve been artistic license in the movie to have Sean Penn practicing in the ring. Were you aware of Gangster Squad as you were developing “Mob City?”
I was, yeah, and I avoided watching it for the very reason that I didn’t want to be influenced in any of my thinking. As we were developing our show, I didn’t want anything, good or bad, or anything in between to affect how we developed our show. We want to keep ours completely separate.
What did you learn from developing a first season of “Walking Dead” in terms of what backed you into a corner, what might leave you more open for future seasons, that you could use in this different genre?
Oh God, I’m honestly not sure how to answer that one. Each show is very unique. The commonality is you’re always looking for the human story. You’re always looking for the human conflict, whatever the venue is. Whatever the context of the show is, whatever the genre is, you’re always looking for the great conflicts, the great interpersonal journeys. In that sense, they’re similar. In every other way, they couldn’t be more different.
Is there a point where you have to stop researching because you’re just getting buried in information?
Oh yeah, and we did indeed. We did indeed early on because we realized we wanted to deliver a great noir show, and I had to give myself permission to depart from the source material and not just be true to John Buntin’s book, which is a great book, a great nonfiction book, but for us it’s a point of reference. It’s something to come back to. In many ways it’s a point of departure. We wanted to just free our imaginations to tell the best noir story we could. That meant inventing a lot of characters, inventing a lot of situations that aren’t in the book, that have nothing to do with the book. I think of it as our bible and in a way our guide but we really did give ourselves a lot of license here to bring our own thing to it, make up our own stories.
Were you glad Jon Bernthal became available?
Oh yeah, absolutely. I love Jon.
Did you know he was going to be?
I was definitely developing this with an eye towards his being the lead.
Now that Laurie Holden is available, could there be room for her on “Mob City?”
Well, you got me. Let’s wait until season two to figure that out.
I hope it’s okay to ask, was your plan for season two of “The Walking Dead” still going to involve a lot of debating whether or not to keep looking for Sophia?
Listen, my point of departure with AMC was ugly, painful and bloody. Once that departure happened I completely disassociated myself from the show. I didn’t follow what they did any more than you would want to keep up with your ex-wife after she left you for the Pilates instructor. So I have no idea.
I’ll end with something better. You see “Under the Dome” is going on. Are you a little disappointed you didn’t get in on some Stephen King?
Oh, I always love Stephen. Actually, we talked about that project very early on. We pretty much talk about every book he has that comes out, but I wish them well. It looks like a really good show. Listen, I’m glad it’s not my responsibility.
