For ‘Fleishman Is in Trouble,’ Claire Danes and Jesse Eisenberg Say I Do - The New York Times

Marriage, the histrion Claire Danes insisted, means sacrificing definite freedoms.

“That’s 1 of the large gifts of it,” she said. “But sometimes that footwear feels a small snug. There are moments erstwhile you’re like, ‘Actually, I would spell successful a antithetic absorption here.’”

“For me, I’m conscionable truthful blessed to person a footwear on,” said Jesse Eisenberg, her enactment husband.

In “Fleishman Is successful Trouble,” FX’s constricted bid adaptation of Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s 2019 novel, Danes, 43, and Eisenberg, 39, prima arsenic Rachel and Toby Fleishman. Long joined and precocious separated, the Fleishmans — she’s a high-powered endowment agent; he’s a hepatologist — inhabit the precocious echelons of Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The archetypal 2 episodes get connected Hulu connected Nov. 17, with a caller occurrence each Thursday for six much weeks. (Brodesser-Akner, who wrote 7 of the 8 episodes, is simply a unit writer for The New York Times Magazine.)

On a caller afternoon, Danes (“Homeland,” “The Essex Serpent”) and Eisenberg (“The Social Network,” “When You Finish Saving the World”) met successful an bureau astatine FX’s Manhattan office with a “Fleishman”-like presumption of mid-rises and h2o towers. Danes is joined to the histrion Hugh Dancy, Eisenberg to the pedagogue Anna Strout. But for astir six months — contempt having met lone erstwhile much than a decennary before, erstwhile Eisenberg was highly precocious — they had to unreal to beryllium joined to each different successful a amusement that shadows 1 national from aboriginal courtship to eventual implosion and beyond, tracing its breakdown with granular specificity and occasional treble vision.

The caller argues that “beyond your constituent of presumption lies an abyss with a bubbling cauldron of fire, and that conscionable beyond that abyss lies your spouse’s constituent of view.” And truthful the amusement stages immoderate scenes from Rachel’s constituent of presumption and immoderate from Toby’s. (The aviator was directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, enforcement producers who are themselves married.)

How was it playing a mates locked successful a rhythm of neglect, reproach and retaliation? “Very comfy actually,” Danes said, kicking disconnected her Jimmy Choos. Eisenberg, connected the other extremity of the sofa, agreed: “She’s the greatest.”

They had a terrific enactment marriage, Danes confirmed, portion “depicting a precise bad, unhealthy, unnatural one.”

In an hour’s chat, arsenic the autumn airy extracurricular the model turned the metropolis golden, the 2 actors discussed marriage, divorcement and dodgeball. These are excerpts from the conversation.

Did you cognize each different earlier this?

JESSE EISENBERG We did.

CLAIRE DANES I didn’t remember.

EISENBERG It’s a comic story.

DANES Tell the story.

EISENBERG My [future] woman took maine to immoderate payment happening successful Brooklyn, astir apt 15 years ago. I was the astir stoned I’ve ever been. I was conscionable talking to this woman, and I’m like, “I’ve met my psyche mate.” I ran implicit to Anna. I was like, “That pistillate is amazing.” She was like, “That’s Claire Danes, bully luck.”

So you met once. Then abruptly present you are, married. This amusement is specified an intimate appraisal of a marriage. Can anyone connected the extracurricular ever recognize what goes connected wrong a marriage?

DANES I deliberation the radical successful it hardly understand, and it changes implicit time. It is an astonishing invention. It’s imperfect. But I personally don’t person a amended model. I americium attracted to it and fascinated by it and find it a precise worthwhile pursuit. It’s a mode to proceed exploring who you are and wherever you are.

EISENBERG It’s besides an charismatic imaginable for me. The alternate is not absorbing oregon desirable. My woman and I person had astir apt the aforesaid dynamic for the many, galore years we’ve been together, the aforesaid arguments and the aforesaid joys. The TV amusement presents that. Except that this is simply a doomed marriage.

DANES In my existent relationship, erstwhile we were met with a definite level of accent that we were sick equipped to header with, we had to make techniques and strategies and skills to go a amended functioning couple. Our characters were not capable to bash that. They got swallowed by points connected their continuum that were conscionable excessively hard. And they didn’t person the self-awareness oregon the self-possession oregon the guts to beryllium honorable with each other. They conscionable retreated further and further.

DANES Not really. We had a fewer dinners with Taffy and the cast, which were valuable. And we had rehearsals, abbreviated but dense, which were truly effectual due to the fact that of these exercises that Jon and Val offered us. Writing exercises, primarily, which was precise annoying, due to the fact that Jesse is an existent writer and an fantabulous one. I was like, this isn’t fair.

EISENBERG I thought iambic pentameter was appropriate!

DANES But it did supply a batch of insight. Then we played dodgeball. I was wearing clogs, which I don’t recommend.

What bash you deliberation Rachel and Toby saw successful each different successful the archetypal place?

DANES They do, actually, truly similar each other. They person easy, blessed chemistry. They astir apt stock a consciousness of humor. And they did person akin values erstwhile upon a time. He was her archetypal existent person ever. I don’t deliberation she would person near him had helium not insisted connected it.

EISENBERG The happening that attracts you to the idiosyncratic is what’s antithetic astir them. But that’s besides what becomes their undoing, due to the fact that the chasm betwixt my character’s worth strategy and hers is excessively wide.

DANES Are your parents inactive together?

EISENBERG My parents are married.

DANES My parents, too. They’ve been joined for 55 years oregon thing similar that? They met astatine 18. At RISD [Rhode Island School of Design]. And they’re inactive precise successful love.

So however was it being joined to each different for the camera?

DANES Very joyful. I emotion moving with Jesse. He’s precise talented and precise contiguous and profoundly, astir pathologically generous — truly, really. And conscionable an amazingly playful partner. It was truthful overmuch amusive tearing into each other.

EISENBERG That felt right, too. It felt good.

DANES What’s bonzer astir the novel, and present this mentation of it: It’s precise comic, but it’s besides rather earthy and wrenching. Threading that needle is fun, but a challenge. Rachel was pugnacious for me, due to the fact that she was truthful intensely polished successful immoderate ways and truthful profoundly fractured successful others. Figuring retired however to coordinate that was the instrumentality of it. There are episodes wherever we perceive his account, past we get hers. We changeable those scenes, 1 aft the different — that was precise strange. It was similar an acting exercise. It’s a substance of degrees.

EISENBERG Exactly. She would beryllium 10 percent much hateful, much stubborn. Then my quality would beryllium much aloof and unaware of her pain.

So these were tiny changes.

DANES But consequential.

Do you deliberation you could beryllium joined to each different successful existent life?

EISENBERG When I met Claire astatine that benefit, I instantly ran implicit to archer my woman that yes, I could beryllium joined to that person.

DANES And helium was right, successful a way. A small prescient there.

DANES It’s funny: With “Homeland,” the quality was truthful precise other, truthful alien, it was casual to compartmentalize. I got a small cocky astir it. This 1 was a batch closer, a batch much reminiscent. Playing a joined idiosyncratic with kids, I was astatine greater hazard of taking it location than I person been with different projects, which amazed me. I had a mates of fights with Hugh, and I was like, “Whoa, this is not to bash with us.” So that was humbling. And mildly distressing. But erstwhile I became alert of it, it was fine.

EISENBERG I had the nonstop aforesaid thing. I would person these arguments that extremity with, “You’ve ever done this,” which is however Toby accuses Rachel. You walk 12 hours a time having a definite precise circumstantial resentment. You instrumentality that location and the circumstances overlap capable to the constituent wherever you mightiness impeach your loving, saccharine spouse of the aforesaid thing.

DANES But the appreciation for Hugh was besides truthful heightened, due to the fact that I was surviving successful this hell. It was truthful achy and truthful terrifying, profoundly destabilizing. We truly bash request relationships. We can’t truly header successful isolation. It’s conscionable not however we function. There’s thing precise moving astir that.

EISENBERG As actors, you sometimes get to tally these societal experiments, playing a quality that mightiness overlap with you capable to springiness you a consciousness of what you would beryllium similar successful these circumstances. This was a large example, due to the fact that I’m rather akin to Toby.

DANES It’s a existent privilege to beryllium capable to research those peculiarly daunting, intimidating, scary zones, but successful the onshore of make-believe. So comparatively safely.

So did you execute the thought experimentation of what beingness would beryllium similar if you were abruptly single?

DANES Very, precise rarely. I don’t know. Doesn’t look good.

EISENBERG I was conscionable reasoning astir it due to the fact that successful presumption of the show, he’s dating again. And he’s wholly untethered. It didn’t consciousness tantalizing successful immoderate mode — it felt exhausting and unsatisfying. I didn’t acquisition singleness successful the modern era, wherever you’d beryllium utilizing exertion to conscionable people. It increases some the options and paranoia.

DANES I would find that peculiarly intimidating. And unnerving. I don’t deliberation I would bash that precise well.