Fallout writers Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner discuss the fun they had while writing Fallout, as well as balancing the many tones of the show.
The Fallout video game franchise is popular for a reason. Its open world concept and bonkers feel could be hard to translate to the screen, but thankful the creatives behind the new Prime Video series pulled it off. The show perfectly captures the off the wall essence that is Fallout, while still delivering an intriguing story with a phenomenal cast.
We sat down with Fallout writers and creators Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner to discuss the new series. They reveal just how much fun they had while coming up with Easter eggs, working closely with Bethesda, as well as their favorite moment on set.
Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner Talk Fallout
Tessa Smith: I’m a massive fan of the Fallout video games, and am obsessed with this show.
Graham Wagner: How did we do? Because you’re our target audience.
Tessa Smith: I was so excited for this show but I was cautiously optimistic going in and you guys did a fantastic job. How fun was it putting in this massive amount of Easter eggs?
Graham Wagner: Super fun. But at the same time, I’m wearing a hat because of hair loss. It was a lot of work at the same time.
Geneva Robertson-Dworet: We talked about about how it was super thrilling because what could be more fun than picking and choosing your favorite things from 25 years of amazing games? But it was also really painful. And then we couldn’t fit everything into eight hours. So we’re just praying we get a second season because we feel like there’s so much we didn’t get to do that we like really want to do.
Tessa Smith: Just in the first four episodes, which I saw, I was like, Oh my gosh. Walking by bobbleheads I was like, pick up the bobblehead. You’re gonna get a perk if you pick it up. Little things like that.
Graham Wagner: Yeah. I mean bobblehead placement was a funny moment. We had a James Altman on set from Bethesda for every day of filming and he’d be like, Guys, there can’t be a bobblehead here, we are at The Brotherhood of Steel base, and we’re like, Oh, you’re right. Every little thing was discussed, including where’s the bobbleheads aren’t. Thank you for noticing.
Related: Jonah Nolan & Michael Emerson On Fallout Easter Eggs & Sets
Tessa Smith: One of the things I love about Fallout is that it’s kind of bonkers and you really capture that.
Geneva Robertson-Dworet: No, I’m glad that you get that because some people who we’ve talked to seem a little taken aback by the mix of tones. And we’re like, well, that is fundamental to what Fallout is. Fallout is a mix of weird comedy and drama and violence and incredible moral dilemmas. And it is all of those things at once. And it’s a bit of a pastiche and references to B movies. It’s so many things that we’ve tried to streamline as best as we could, but into something that is understandable for someone who hasn’t played the game, coming only at eight hours of show, but I actually think what’s magical about Fallout is that it’s so bonkers and that’s why it was so exciting and thrilling to work on.
Graham Wagner: I think it would have been crazy if our approach to adapting Fallout was to try to correct it, or something like that. It’s like no, we want to just transport what has worked, not sort of be like tut-tut to the very popular, very successful, video game franchise with loads and loads of fans.
Tessa Smith: Not to give spoilers, but there are some parts of the vault that are abandoned and it reminds me of digging through things in the gamses. Can you talk about make the sets look so right?
Graham Wagner: One of my happiest moments on set was was when Todd Howard came, before we started filming, to our sets, and he was just sort of touching the wall and be like, they got the texture right. And I just felt like we were onto something from that moment on. That was our production designer, Howard Cummings. So many people on the show just had our backs. And it’s thanks to the fact that Fallout exists and is out there in the world. And it’s right there for people to draw from.
Tessa Smith: Well, you guys did an incredible job and I can’t wait for more. But I gotta ask real quick before I go, whose idea was it to name the lead Lucy McLean. I know it’s spelled different but it’s feels like a Die Hard reference.
Graham Wagner: I mean, it’s part of the pastiche if at all. You know what I mean? Cooper Howard is another character. I mean, look what is the saying? It’s a cosmic gumbo.It’s one of those things.
All episodes of Fallout Season 1 arrive April 11 on Prime Video.
NEXT: Ella Purnell & Aaron Moten Talk Fallout: Challenges & Fun On Set
About Fallout
Based on one of the greatest video game series of all time, Fallout is the story of haves and have-nots in a world in which there’s almost nothing left to have. 200 years after the apocalypse, the gentle denizens of luxury fallout shelters are forced to return to the irradiated hellscape their ancestors left behind — and are shocked to discover an incredibly complex, gleefully weird and highly violent universe waiting for them.
From executive producers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, the creators of Westworld, starring Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Walton Goggins and more.
All episodes of Fallout Season 1 arrive April 11 on Prime Video.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. She is also a Freelance Writer. Tessa has been in the Entertainment writing business for ten years and is a member of several Critics Associations including the Critics Choice Association and the Greater Western New York Film Critics Association.