Emily Mortimer has been badly disserved by The Newsroom, a show full of female characters who are little more than incompetent dingbats, and whose character MacKenzie’s entire existence revolves around “screw[ing] up and apologiz[ing] to [main character] Will.”
Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that Mortimer has teamed up with comedic actress Dolly Wells to write and star in their own show, Dolly & Em, which will premiere on March 19 on HBO. (Azazel Jacobs, who directed all six episodes, also co-wrote the series.) Childhood friends Mortimer and Wells play versions of themselves as, respectively, a successful film and TV star and her best friend/personal assistant. The character Dolly is also an aspiring actress, and her presence takes an All About Eve turn in Em’s life. Guest stars will include Susan Sarandon, Bradley Cooper, John Cusack, Ben Chaplin and Andy Garcia.
The trailer focuses on the pressures their friendship suffers when it’s subjected to an employer-employee dynamic, as well as the little ways they unintentionally undermine each other as jealousy and too much honesty come into play. In other words, it’s about female friends who may not always get along but cling to each other’s friendship anyway because it’s probably the right thing to do.
Watch the Dolly & Em trailer:
