Summary
The first two episodes ofClippedpremiered exclusively on Hulu on June 4, with new installments dropping weekly on Tuesdays until the finale on July 2. FX’s limited series is based onThe Sterling Affairspodcast and takes viewers behind the scenes of one of the NBA’s most notorious scandals. When Doc Rivers takes over as the Los Angeles Clippers coach, he makes it his mission to bring the team to victory. However, River finds himself in a power struggle with owner Donald Sterling, who is known for his racist remarks and poor treatment of his players.
While Ed O’Neill and Jacki Weaver play Donald and Shelly Sterling, Cleopatra Coleman playsDonald’s assistant, V. Stiviano. Their characters may be based on real people, but O’Neill emphasizes the creative liberty the show must take to tell a story behind closed doors. The stars were drawn to the project for several reasons, including their fascination surrounding the events, and the risks it allows them to take as actors.
Clipped Cast & Real-Life Character Guide
The cast of Clipped is led by the incredible talents of Laurence Fishburne as NBA coach Doc Rivers & Ed O’Neill as the controversial Donald Sterling.
Screen Rantinterviews O’Neill, Weaver, and Coleman about the show’s themes and thecomplicated love trianglebetween theirClippedcharacters.
O’Neill Says That Playing Donald Sterling Isn’t As Hard As One Might Think
Screen Rant: Jackie, if you would like to start, I would love to know what made you all want to get involved withClipped.
Jacki Weaver: I was riveted by this story when it happened. I’m a news junkie. I read about 10 newspapers a day, and this was so fascinating to me being a foreigner and not knowing a lot about basketball, but then seeing this scandal erupt, it was fascinating. And then, years later, meeting Gina Welch, who was the showrunner, and Ed and I both fell in love with her. She’s a brilliant writer. It was a thrill and an honor to be able to play this woman who’s quite complex.
Ed O’Neill: Pretty much the same thing. I got the script. Because of the nature of my role, I was a little hesitant, to be honest with you, at the beginning. I would never have envisioned anybody thinking I would play this part. I was flattered, and I was also hesitant. I had lunch with Gina, and I just said, “Why not?” Actors should take chances, and so I just said, “Let’s do it.”
Cleopatra Coleman: I want to bounce off what Ed said about actors taking chances, because that really resonates for me. V. was a very thrilling character to play. She’s bold, and she’s unapologetic, but she can be vulnerable. She’s so complicated. That’s a giant meal for an actor to eat. It was very exciting for me. That’s what drew me to it, but also the writing in the show, the way the story was told, the way that V. was presented, and the way the complexities and the themes were presented was really thoughtful and nuanced and top-tier, so I had to be part of it.
Ed, going back to what you were saying, what’s it like to portray a real person who’s actually done and said these things as opposed to a character who’s purely fictional?
Ed O’Neill: It’s not as hard as you might think. It’s based on a true story, of course, but we do take literary liberties with telling the story behind closed doors, a fly on the wall sort of thing. Some of it, by that very nature, has to be fictional. I don’t know Donald Sterling. I never met him, so that takes a bit of pressure off you. Once you get into the script, and you’re going scene by scene with your fellow actors, it becomes easier.
Coleman Wants To Portray V. As A Survivor
There’s a very complex dynamic between all three of your characters. Jacki, can you give some insight into Shelly’s headspace when she’s faced with what’s happening between her husband and V.?
Jacki Weaver: Shelly has been putting up with his indiscretions and affairs for years and years. Something that I couldn’t identify with. I’d kill him. [Laughs] They’ve been high school sweethearts. He’s the only man she’s ever had. They have this empire worth billions of real estate in Los Angeles. You drive around Los Angeles, there are so many Sterling buildings.
So there’s the money to keep her there, there’s the loyalty going back, and I think there’s affection there too. She puts up with a lot. I can’t identify with Shelly as a person. She’s totally out of Gina’s head, and my head. It was a leap for me, but we love doing that, all of us, playing people we couldn’t possibly be in real life.
Cleopatra, we learn early on that V. is not one to back down from a challenge. Can you talk about her intentions and who this character is outside of Sterling’s assistant?
Cleopatra Coleman: I was trying to really look at V., not so much through the lens of the scandal or the media, but as a character. What I discovered was that she was a survivor. She’s someone that, perhaps, had come from poverty, and was looking for a place in the world to call her own, and the stakes were quite high for her. That’s what she’s dealing with. She doesn’t have a plan B, she doesn’t have parents that can help her. There’s really no one.
That was my motivation in playing her as a survivor and as someone who absolutely needed to get to where they needed to be. I relish the chance at playing someone that was powerful. Most people would back down when faced with powerful individuals like that, and she absolutely did not. She rose to the occasion. Obviously, we wouldn’t all be here had she not done that. There’s something quite iconic about that, actually.
About Clipped
FX’s Clipped takes you behind the scenes of a notorious NBA owner’s racist remarks, captured on a tape heard around the world. Based on the hit ESPN 30 for 30 podcast The Sterling Affairs, this limited series charts the collision between a dysfunctional basketball organization and even less functional marriage, and the precipitating tape’s impact on an ensemble of characters striving to win against the backdrop of the most cursed team in the league.
Check out our other interviews with theClippedcast and crew:
