It was the opportunity to portray a character completely bereft of social conditioning that lassoed in Esme Creed-Miles to star in the latest Amazon Prime series, Hanna . Also that showrunner David Farr chose to collaborate with director Sarah Adina Smith. “There’s a male lens for women [in television and film] and it’s not truthful to our experiences,” says the 19-year-old English actor. “It’s kind of funny that [Hanna] doesn’t understand how to make herself sexy. I think it’s interesting because it’s enabling people to access these ideas with humour when really there’s an important message about femininity and identity.”
Hanna , which dropped yesterday — reviews say it has ‘tremendous lead performances’— is based on the 2011 film of the same name with Saoirse Ronan and Cate Blanchett. Farr, who also wrote the screenplay for the film, developed the show’s eight episodes to explore the story of a young woman who’s raised in a forest by her father Erik (Joel Kinnaman). Hidden away from the real world, Hanna is trained in combat and survival skills for reasons unknown. All she knows is to trust what her father says. “The series is an interrogation of that ‘Trust me, I know, I’m the dad, I’m the man’,” says Farr, whose writing credits include British gems like Outcasts (2011), The Night Manager (2016), and Troy: Fall of a City (2018). “Hanna begins to realise that those truths are not as absolute as he would have her wish them to be and so she goes on this journey of discovering who she really is.”
From her eyes
Excepting the very beginning of the series, both Farr and Creed-Miles insist Hanna is relayed entirely from its young protagonist’s perspective. Adina Smith shot with Hanna, instead of at her. The need to unflinchingly explore a female character extended to the show’s male roles, resulting in myriad gender reversals. For instance, Hanna’s antagonist, CIA agent Marissa’s (Mireille Enos) partner is relegated to a domestic role. And in the series, Hanna chooses to separate from her guardian as opposed to the film. “In the television [show], it’s her agency, her curiosity and her desire to take control of her life from her father,” says Farr.
Along the way, the teenage protagonist is hunted by CIA agents that are out to kill her. While the cat-and-mouse chase comprises a huge chunk of Hanna’s exciting quest, it’s her first encounters with the modern world that make for emotional television. “We’re very keen on emphasising that she’s not just this kickass heroine who goes around beating people up,” clarifies Farr. “She’s also a vulnerable young woman whose certainties are constantly being undermined and eroded.”
Switching screens
When the original Joe Wright ( Pride and Prejudice , 2005; and Darkest Hour , 2017) film released, a part of Farr’s screenplay didn’t make the cut. Wright, instead, focussed on what the 2011 film has gained cult status for: classic fairytale tropes. About five years ago, Farr decided he’d expand the political thriller element left out into an eight-episode arc. “The last five episodes are all new material,” he says, before adding that Hanna’s emotional journey did take precedence over everything else.
Future is female
Between 2011 and 2019, Farr’s own daughters grew up to be his protagonist’s age. It was a guiding factor in amplifying Hanna’s nuances from the framework of the original film. While neither of the show’s primary two characters are like Farr’s children, the drive to create authentic female experiences was essential. “It’s inevitable isn’t it if you have daughters who are that age and going though all those complex and anxious moments of being teenagers and trying to understand the world,” says Farr.
The eight years that passed between the film and show also saw the rise and peak of the #MeToo movement. While it didn’t have any bearing on the show’s driving force, the subsequent period puts a character like Hanna among path-breaking female protagonists. Case in point Fleabag , Orphan Black , Jessica Jones , Killing Eve , etc. “If you’re only seeing representations of your gender in a passive or positive light it does definitely influence the development of one’s own identity,” echoes Creed-Miles. “The idea that Hanna is on her own moral journey and reckoning is very fascinating and unique about this show as compared to others.”
Hanna is currently streaming on Amazon Prime
