The most talked-about new TV show in the USA is about to land in this part of the world. Just shortly after take-off in its native America, and weeks before it appears on the BBC, Pan Am will be landed in the RTÉ Two schedule tonight. And yes, the aeronautical images are entirely appropriate.
Set in 1963, Pan Am follows the fortunes of cabin staff working for the iconic airline, one of the great names of a bygone age. While air travel is often considered mundane and tedious these days, 50 years ago it was the absolute height of sophistication. And being a pilot or stewardess was a highly enviable occupation.
Taking a similar flight path to Mad Men, the drama set in the advertising world of New York in the years preceding the Swinging Sixties, Pan Am plays on the social mores of the same era. The big difference between Mad Men and Pan Am, however, is that the former is a niche show that attracts a relatively small but devoted audience, while Pan Am is written by the guy behind ER (Jack Orman) and is aimed firmly at a prime-time, largely female audience.
It stars Christina Ricci, who’s been a Hollywood hitter from the moment she first dressed up as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family. Amazingly enough, that was back in 1991 – all of 20 years ago – and, at 31, she’s become the latest movie star to take a lead role in a TV show. No stranger to the small screen, she’s previously guest-starred on the likes of Ally McBeal, Malcolm in the Middle and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and was nominated for an Emmy award for her role as a paramedic in two 2006 episodes of Grey’s Anatomy.
I met Christina three years ago when she was promoting the movie Speed Racer, but this time the interview is by phone rather than in the flesh. Pity, because she’s good fun, looks amazing, and is one of the most down-to-earth people in a business that tends to turn stars’ heads the other way. Still, over the blower she sounds in great form, and is eager to explain what attracted her to the role of Maggie Ryan, the Pan Am purser who’s a bit of a rebel.
“It just seemed like something that would be totally different and new”, she insists. “I also loved this particular period in history. I’ve always been fascinated by it and the idea that we could go back and revisit certain really big historical moments of this era was really exciting to me. “And then, you know, I really, really loved the character that Jack [Orman, Pan Am creator] has written for me. She’s great. She has such a strong voice – and her kind of journey and story is something that I certainly relate to and I think a lot of people can relate to.”
The first episode gives us a flavour of Maggie’s life beyond being a Pan Am hostess – the company had lofty standards and didn’t call them stewardesses, unlike all those ‘other’ airlines – and that’s something viewers will see more of as the show’s opening season progresses.
Make no mistake, Maggie is central to the Pan Am story. Initially, she comes across as the most modern woman in the cast, something that excites Ricci. She feels that Maggie’s is “a very American back story, coming from very little and really making something of herself, being a very self-made person. She’s a dreamer – and really uses those dreams and all the smarts that she has available to really make herself what you see, ultimately. To explore that is something that I’m very excited to show people.”
While talking to friends and fellow TV fans, there is a sense that Pan Am has arrived at a pivotal time in the schedules; Desperate Housewives is coming to an end, and there’s going to be a gap in prime-time TV on both sides of the Atlantic for a show that’s both women-focused and fun. Although there are references to ‘looking for a husband’ and it’s obvious that 1960s’ America was still very much a man’s world, the role of women in Pan Am is, Ricci feels, far from being a tale of exploited trolley dollies desperate for a man and a house in the suburbs.
“Well, I think the misconception would be that whole idea of them being these pretty women that were just there for, you know, that whole ‘coffee, tea or me’ thing – they had to be college-educated”, she explains. “They had to speak two languages.”
As for the other female cast members, Christina is a bit wary of giving her thoughts on them, but after a bit of egging on, she offers a rather succinct rundown, which helps set the scene for the series.
“Karine Vanasse plays Colette, our French stewardess and Colette has been described as the romantic of the group and she is sort of the wisest – I would say she’s the wisest of us – and, you know, been through a lot in her life and is sort of looking quietly for love and connection.
“There is Margot Robbie playing Laura and Kelli Garner playing Kate – they’re sisters and Laura joins her sister at Pan Am; running away from her marriage. It’s her first year and she’s such a beauty that she is photographed for LIFE magazine as the face of Pan Am and all of a sudden, she rises very quickly in the ranks.
“So she’s very new and very wide-eyed and seeing the world for the first time and relying very heavily on her sister. My character, Maggie kind of takes her under her wings too. Kate – Laura’s older sister – has always lived under the shadow of her . . . beauty queen younger sister. But in our story she is actually recruited by the CIA as a spy under the cover of her job, so Pan Am is finally her chance to show her value as an individual and how special she is above and beyond her sister.”
Being yet another movie star to make the transition from the cinema to the small screen, Christina Ricci is in no doubt about why she’s taken a turn towards telly. Without pausing for breath, she says: “Well, I think that right now there’s just a much better variety of material and choice on television, and I think also some of the best writing is on TV, some of the best talent is on TV. There’s just so much more to be found in television, much more material and as I said, just some of the best talent in every department is on television right now.”
The only downside of Pan Am, she concedes, is the fact that period undergarments are worn by female cast members. “Sometimes the clothes are a bit uncomfortable and the long hours in the clothes are difficult but other than that, it’s really great”, she insists.
“The experience so far has been really wonderful and I have to kind of search to find something to complain about. I mean, I have nothing!” In the first few minutes of the show’s opening episode, the word ‘girdle’ is used three times. She’s not a fan. “Well, we have these undergarments that we wear – a girdle and a long-line bra – and the girdle keeps you from being able to do anything boyish like run or jump or take any large flights of stairs.”
So, would Christina Ricci in 2011 fancy landing a job as a Pan Am hostess if she were transported back to 1963? And if so, how would she cope? Answering the second part first, she says: “Funny enough, probably very similarly to my character.” And that means having fun with it. “I probably would have really enjoyed my job”, she adds. “I probably would have done a good job, but I probably would have gotten myself into trouble every once in a while and had some problems with authority and run my mouth when I shouldn’t sometimes. You know, stuff like that.”
And if you missed the show you can catch it on the RTÉ Player.
John Byrne
