The Hello Tomorrow! cast and creators discuss stepping into a retro-futuristic world in this exclusive interview with Mama’s Geeky.
Hello Tomorrow! Cast & Creators Explains The Retro-Futuristic Series
Hello Tomorrow! is a unique new television series that can best be described as retro-futuristic.
Mama’s Geeky caught up with some of the cast (Hank Azaria, Haneefah Wood, and Dewshane Williams), as well as the creators (Amit Bhalla and Lucas Jansen), of this show to discuss the inspiration behind it, the amazing costumes and set design, as well as what they love about it.
What Was The Inspiration Behind Hello Tomorrow!
Amit explains that they were inspired by a lot, when it comes to this unique series. “We were really fascinated with the landscape of the imagination of something that felt familiar to all of us.” For example, we all have the same idea of a jetpack in a utopian future, and that’s weird that we ALL have that same idea. “It’s born out of advertising in the early to mid 20th century and the corporate art or culture that sold the America we all know, today. This is the dream that we’re all living or hoping to live soon.”
Lucas adds that Hello Tomorrow! is “set in a world of the imagination that was sold to us as the lives we deserved, and the lives we could and should have. And whether or not we have them is the question that the show will continue to ask.”
When it comes to the incredible costumes and set designs, which propel audiences into a world that feels as if it comes from both the future and the past, Amit and Lucas reveal that there was a lot of work that went into creating this world.
Lucas says that one of the really fun things about making this show for them has been that everybody had to imagine things from the ground up. “We had references and we looked back at historical record, but nobody knows what a Trime Roaster looks like. And so we’re with the props department and the costume department, and everyone is putting this amazing, imaginative effort in together and it makes a world that’s both, I think, really familiar to all of us. But it’s unlike anything anybody’s ever seen.” He says that is a credit to the amazing crew.
Amit adds that the designers are all amazing. Specifically, the costume designer was sure to have no patterns in the show. It is all solid colors. “Every costume was built from the ground up. And it might look like something you think you could pull off of a rack, but you can’t because it doesn’t exist. And it went down to minimal details like whether the rocket pin on Jack’s tie would point up or down.”
Not only that, the props department had a lot of fun coming up with the design of a machine that would launch newspapers. They would be “outside the studio doing tests. It’s all practical and the robot is puppeted actually launch newspapers out of that thing.” He explains they wanted it to feel as lived in and real as possible and then compliment it with CG elements.
What About Hello Tomorrow! Made You Want To Be A Part Of It?
Dewshane says that from the moment he read the sides for the Hello Tomorrow! audition, he knew he wanted to be a part of it because he felt like he could add value to the story. “I was like, I have ideas that I think can help in this journey of building this world. And then the second thing was, I spoke to my acting coach, and said, we got another one, let’s do what we do. And then he saw who else was attached to it and he was really excited about the writing. And so I just gave it my best shot.”
For Haneefah, it was the writing as well. She thought it was incredible, plus the creators, Amit Bhalla and Lucas Jansen. “The writing for me is pretty extraordinary. I mean, there’s so many one liners that you can just take into your life and live your life with those one liners. So it was the writing from me also the character Shirley Steadman. Not only is she super strong and intelligent, but she’s also heavily flawed. And she’s having an affair with this one over here [Hank Azaria’s character]. And she also dabbles in some non-truths. And I like that about her.”
Hank first mentions how much he loves Billy Crudup, who stars as Jack. He says they play cards once in a while and he has been dying to work with him for years. “So I asked to be in this show, which doesn’t happen too often. And often when you ask, you don’t usually get a yes. So this was one of those happy times.”
Full Hello Tomorrow! Cast & Creators Interview
Be sure to check out the full interview with creators (Amit Bhalla & Lucas Jansen) and cast (Hank Azaria, Haneefah Wood, & Dewshane Williams) of Hello Tomorrow! as we talk all about what this series is, the costumes and set design, what filming was like, and where the inspiration came from.
NEXT: Hello Tomorrow! Review
About Hello Tomorrow!
Set in a retro-future world, “Hello Tomorrow!” centers around a group of traveling salesmen hawking lunar timeshares. Billy Crudup stars as Jack, a salesman of great talent and ambition, whose unshakeable faith in a brighter tomorrow inspires his coworkers, revitalizes his desperate customers, but threatens to leave him dangerously lost in the very dream that sustains him.
Hello Tomorrow! premieres on Apple TV+ February 17th with three episodes.
