:strip_icc()/s03.video.glbimg.com/x720/9858970.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1 "‘Y: The Last Man’ debuts after 14 years of failed attempts to adapt comics: ‘It took as long as it took,’ says actress | Pop & Art")
It took 14 years and countless unsuccessful attempts to adapt Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra’s comics for film or TV, but “Y: The Last Man” finally debuted as a series on Monday (13).
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To tell the story about a post-apocalyptic world in which a mysterious disease killed all living beings with Y chromosomes, with two small exceptions, the project surpassed the change of executive producers and protagonists after carrying out a pilot and postponing the recordings because of the pandemic.
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“What needed to happen was a very specific alignment of a lot of perfect things to make this perfect storm. Because this show feels like a perfect storm,” actress Ashley Romans says in an interview with G1. Watch the video above.
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With passages in series like “NOS4A2”, the American appears in the biggest role of her career as Agent 355, member of a mysterious government organization that receives an unusual mission from the president (Diane Lane) of the United States.
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“It took as long as it took. Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra have been so generous with their assessments, but also with their freedom.”
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With the first three episodes of the season, which will have ten in total, already available at once, the next ones will be released individually on the Star+ video platform every Monday.
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Ben Schnetzer in ‘Y: The Last Man’ scene — Photo: Publicity
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With the dystopian premise and society collapsing, it’s up to the survivors to show themselves the big difference between “Y” and other TV-type stories.
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“I think what differentiates this series in relation to narrative and plot is the specificity of the event that happens. It reaches the planet and eliminates all mammals with the Y chromosome, except for two individuals”, says actor Ben Schnetzer (” Warcraft”).
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At 31, he plays Yorick, the only human survivor with the chromosome responsible for determining the male sex (the other is his monkey, Ampersand).
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“So there’s a very specific set of situations that set fire to this world. And that’s where a large number of complexities and dynamics are explored in the series’ history.”
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Ashley Romans in ‘Y: The Last Man’ — Photo: Publicity
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With the premise very similar to the comic book series launched in the United States between 2001 and 2008, one of the main differences is in how the plot approaches the genre. With smaller appearances in comics, transgender people gain more attention in the plot.
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“Everyone with the Y chromosome dies. That includes women, men, non-binary people and intersex people. And the same goes for the survivors. This was something important that I wanted to update”, says the executive producer, screenwriter and responsible for the Eliza Clark project.
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“Central to my adaptation was the idea that gender and chromosomes are two separate things. And I wanted to expand the gender diversity of the show.”
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With three Eisner Awards, the top American comic book, the comic was one of the most successful in the United States during the years it was published. So much so that in 2007 the first attempt to adapt it appeared.
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New Line Cinema studio bought the rights to the story and even announced a film with director DJ Caruso. After working with Shia LaBeouf on two projects (“Paranoia” and “Absolute Control”), it looked like the actor would take the lead role.
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After disagreements about making a trilogy, the filmmaker’s wish, the studio approached other screenwriters and directors. Dan Trachtenberg (“10 Cloverfield Street”) was even confirmed, but in 2014 the rights were returned to the creators because of the delay.
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Ben Schnetzer in ‘Y: The Last Man’ — Photo: Publicity
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The current project also struggled to get off the ground. Produced by the American channel FX, it was released in 2015. The idea was that Michael Green (“American gods”) and Aida Mashaka Croal (“Luke Cage”) would share the position of showrunners, responsible for the series.
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A pilot was recorded, but creative differences prompted the duo to give Clark a place in 2019. They were joined by key cast members such as early Yorick and Agent 355, Barry Keoghan (“Dunkirk”) and Lashana Lynch (“Captain” Marvel”).
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“I was very lucky that when I was brought in, FX was ready to let go of any previous versions and let me kind of start over. So I didn’t feel like I was getting to something that was kind of done already.” claims Clark.
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As if the arrival with the ball rolling was not enough, with two weeks to go before recording his version of the story in Toronto, production had to be postponed because of the pandemic.
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“I was terrified that the show wasn’t going to happen anymore. And I’ve loved these comics for ten years. I wanted it made,” she recalls.
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“I think Covid made it harder, but I’m also grateful that I got to live with the cast. I mean, we were all stuck in Canada. We didn’t know anyone. Basically we just had each other. So we got incredibly close. most artistically and creatively satisfying year of my life.”
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Diane Lane in ‘Y: The Last Man’ — Photo: Publicity
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