How do you capture Julia Child?
That’s the primary challenge at the center of HBO Max’s new dramedy Julia. Child, herself, burst onto the public television scene in the late 1950s as the most unlikely host of The French Chef. She was neither blonde nor short nor thin. And that voice, at times melodious and sing-songy but given to unexpected bursts of tremulous volume. Her television persona was so very specific, both weirdly off-putting and completely engaging, that she became a legend within a few years. Many have tried to replicate that energy and enthusiasm, the most notable of whom are Dan Ackroyd (Saturday Night Live) and Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia).
So, with Julia, the task falls to acclaimed British actress Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley), and she nails it. Physically, Lancashire looks perfect for the role, and given her illustrious history as a celebrated television actress, she is more than capable of performing the role. But her vocals, so key in an interpretation of Julia Child, are truly special here. At first, I was surprised at how soft she speaks in her everyday life, not the Child persona I’d expected at all. But I realized, Julia Child wasn’t always “Julia Child.” She built that persona on television. Over the course of the series, Lancashire does the same.
She is especially great at Child’s seemingly short supply of breath. Lancashire reads her lines as if she’s just run a marathon. As if her body couldn’t quite capture all the air she needs to project with such gusto. It’s a small feat, but it serves the performance well.
Julia begins in earnest with Julia and her husband Paul (Frasier‘s David Hyde Pierce, brilliantly relying on his inherent snobbishness) returning from Europe to settle outside of Boston. Having already published her famous cookbook “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” Child gets a taste for performance after making an omelet on a book discussion show airing on local public television. That leads to the creation of “The French Chef,” and Julia‘s first season follows the Child’s journey navigating the resistance to and logistics of creating an on-air cooking show. The series excels in its depiction of television’s early days, particularly in the ways that Julia Child and her producer Russ Morash (a great Fran Kranz) develop innovations that are still used today.
Viewers may be surprised with the series’ frequent dip into more dramatic material. While the sequences involving “The French Chef” are indeed very funny, it spends a lot of time in the more dramatic relationship between Paul and Julia. That tonal shift provides Lancashire and Pierce wonderful opportunities to explore their characters and deliver truly accomplished, meaty performances. But their scenes stretch the boundaries of the very definition of a “dramedy,” tipping the series into more a dramatic territory. Cheers alum Bebe Neuwirth provides some comic relief, though, in her role as Child’s foul-mouthed best friend Avis. Subplot involving Fiona Glascott’s Judith Jones, Child’s editor, seem ill-fitted for the series. They’re great, don’t get me wrong, but they do belong in a series of their own as the character becomes increasingly removed from Julia’s orbit. Those scenes contribute, I suspect, to the very slight sense of dissatisfaction I had from the series.
Overall, Julia‘s love of cooking, of adventure, and of good food shine through in the series. I would recommend anyone expecting a laugh-a-minute comedy to adjust those expectations. This series has a great deal on its mind as it depicts a powerful woman pushing back against the social boundaries of the 1950s, eventually dragging millions of women along with her. A late-season sequence illustrating a moral conflict between Child and Betty Friedan (author of “The Feminine Mystique”) provides real food for thought and gives us a sweet moment between Child and a very special guest from the world of PBS.
But Sarah Lancashire’s performance towers above all as she ultimately nails the heart of this cultural icon, a hugely beloved oddity of a woman. Hers is the kind of performance, not unlike Jean Smart’s last year, where the material so perfectly matches the talents of the actor. Julia Child very well may have been the role that Sarah Lancashire was born to play.
Television Academy, bon appétit!
Julia drops three episodes on HBO Max today.
