HBO Comedy Series " Divorce"

Jemaine Clement Joins Sarah Jessica Parker’s HBO Comedy Pilot ‘Divorce’

Look who’s back at HBO! Flight Of The Conchords co-creator/star Jemaine Clement is set for a guest starring/recurring role in HBO’s comedy pilot Divorce, which marks the return to the network of another signature star, Sarah Jessica Parker.

Written by British writer-actress Sharon Horgan and directed by Jesse Peretz, Divorce tells the story of a very, very long divorce. It centers on Frances (Parker), a woman who suddenly begins to reassess her life and her marriage, and finds that making a clean break and a fresh start is harder than she thought. Clement will recur as Julian, Frances’ close friend, a literature professor who lives in Manhattan. The breakdowns for the project indicate that the two are more than friends and are dating. Thomas Haden Church and Molly Shannon co-star. Horgan executive produces alongside Paul Simms, Aaron Kaplan, Parker and Alison Benson.

This is the first U.S. TV gig for New Zealand-born actor, comedian and musician Clement since the end of the Emmy-nominated Flight Of The Conchords. He is in two movies that premiered at Sundance, Don Verdean and People, Places, Things.

blondesnotbombs wrote:There's a teaser trailer out for this now, but I didn't see Jemaine. :#sadno#:

Also premiering on October 9, Sarah Jessica Parker returns to familiar territory as Frances in Divorce: New York, nice dresses, and affairs of the heart. HBO describes the series as more of a half-hour drama than a comedy, as the story of a “very, very long Divorce.” The panel was TBD until the very last second, when Parker, series creator Sharon Horgan, writer Paul Simms, and Thomas Haden Church, who plays the soon-to-be ex-husband, walked onto the stage. Not present (presumably recovering from his recent Flight Of The Conchords tour) was Jemaine Clement, who portrays Frances’ rebound fling. Series producer Parker said that she was adamant about casting “a man, not a boy;
an unexpected person,” and so succeeded in spectacular fashion.

... He makes several appearances during Divorce's first season, which was created by Catastrophe's Sharon Horgan and is due to air on SoHo this year.

First reported in 2015, Clement's role was revealed only during a brief appearance in a trailer before a cast discussion at HBO's Television Critics Association panel in Los Angeles.

Parker later told TimeOut Clement's appearance was brief but "
very important"
to the show.

Clement's role was given to him after the scenes had already been shot with a younger actor.

"
In the pilot, originally, it was a young fellow and I was like, 'I think it would be much more interesting if she was having an affair with a real man ... not a conventional piece of candy',"
she said.

"
I think Jemaine is such an interesting choice because he's such a wonderfully odd actor. He's so earnest ... I thought he was freaking hilarious."


But Parker, who is making her highly anticipated return to TV after ending her six-season run as Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City in 2004, admits their time together wasn't so smooth.

"
Jemaine is very allergic to cats and the apartment we were shooting in had been, within hours of our arrival, home to many cats,"
she said. "
He had a runny nose, he was sneezing, he felt terrible about it. But I had fun."

... Kiwi funnyman Clement plays a Manhattan-based literature professor named Julian in the Divorce pilot episode, which included "
one of the most awkward sex scenes I've ever been involved in,"
he told Stuff in September last year.

"
Usually they're awkward on purpose, but this one just happened to be unintentionally awkward."

Amily wrote:Of course it was awkward Jem! :#lol#: :#jem#: :#blowkiss#:

Zabel wrote:It was awkward because his allergies were acting up?

emira wrote:

Zabel wrote:It was awkward because his allergies were acting up?

I think the way Jemaine plays is awkward, but I guess the allergies added up to it. I'm not a fan of Sarah Jessica Parker, so when I read, "
he felt terrible about it. But I had fun"
I was like :#buttkick#:

Zabel wrote:

emira wrote:

Zabel wrote:It was awkward because his allergies were acting up?

I think the way Jemaine plays is awkward, but I guess the allergies added up to it. I'm not a fan of Sarah Jessica Parker, so when I read, "
he felt terrible about it. But I had fun"
I was like :#buttkick#:

I'm not sure what to think about SJP. Her quote about him sounds complimentary but also a little insulting:

"
I think Jemaine is such an interesting choice because he's such a wonderfully odd actor."

Zabel wrote:Hi girls (and guys if there are any here), this is Jemaine's only scene from the pilot episode of 'Divorce' if you can't wait till Sunday. I also included the scene before it for context.



Sorry, I can't figure out how to embed it here. The youtube tags aren't working for me.

[size=150:1lmcrowe]Divorce Depicts Relatable Fantasy of Having an Affair With Jemaine From Flight of the Conchords
By Anna Silman



[size=150:1lmcrowe]Spoilers for the first episode of Divorce below.

In HBO’s new series Divorce, Sarah Jessica Parker ditches the martinis and the Manolos for a life of school drop-offs and marital malaise in a Westchester suburb. She plays bougie mom Frances, who finds herself consciously uncoupling from her husband Robert (Thomas Haden Church) when — in an 11th-hour twist! — he discovers she is having an affair. As far as I can tell from the first episode, the show gets some stuff right (divorce is unpleasant!) and some stuff less so (even in character, SJP looks out of place in an entirely designer-free wardrobe). But, for me, the most resonant part of the pilot came when Parker’s character opened the door and revealed the man who prompted her to torpedo her marriage … and it was Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords. At which point, I was like: Frances, girl, I feel you.

Am I alone? I suspect I am not alone. I went to the Flight of the Conchords reunion show in Queens recently, and I can confirm that I was far from the only female audience member who appreciated the sight of two middle-aged men in tennis whites performing a Medieval-style recorder duet. (Bret, there is a place in my heart for you, too.) For this, I really have to applaud the Divorce team on their casting. We totally get why Frances may once have been attracted to Robert, a manly contractor with a manly man’s moustache. And we totally get why she’s attracted to Jemaine (whose name on the show is Julian, but who I’m just going to call Jemaine). He’s the ideal romantic foil, the exact thing you want when you’ve got the other thing — a soft-spoken, glasses-wearing Colombia professor who makes his own granola — the quintessential hipster fantasy object.

Look, what red-blooded woman would not consider straying for the man who gave us “Business Time” and “Foux Du Fafa”? Who among us does not go for an uncanny David Bowie impression delivered in a subtle Kiwi lilt? Is there anything more arousing than a sweet, goofy funnyman with a nostalgia quotient evolving into a full-fledged salt-and-pepper Brooklyn DILF?

Once again: I really don’t think I’m alone here. And I recommend his 2015 indie comedy People Places Things as valuable supplemental viewing.