On Screen

November 7 - 13, 2020 —3 The Greeneville Sun, Greeneville, TN The Greeneville Sun, Greeneville, TN November 7 - 13, 2020 — 3 2 x 3.5" ad a) greene cnty farmers b) swango's 2 x 4" ad williams electric 2 x 1.5" ad ymca 2 x 1.5" ad doughty stevens 2 x 1.5" ad midway const. By Jay Bobbin What can happen when an educa- tor crosses the line with a student? Possible answers are supplied by "A Teacher," a limited FX on Hulu drama series that begins streaming Tuesday, Nov. 10. Also an executive producer of the project, Kate Mara has the title role as Claire Wilson, who risks her new job, her family life and everything else by getting romantically involved with Eric Walker (played by Nick Robinson, of the movie "Love, Simon"), a senior in her high school English classes in Texas ... where such a relationship is illegal. Fellow executive producer Hannah Fidell, expanding upon her same-named 2013 independent film, directed the majority of the 10 episodes and wrote or co-wrote many of them. "I was really interested in exploring consent and manipulation and vic - timhood," Fidell explains, "and what that means in a narrative that I think that our culture is fairly obsessed with. What I was really curious about was what happens after. What are the consequences for the student espe - cially, but for both of them? Do they both have to live with a scarlet letter for the rest of their lives? And how does victimhood present itself differ - ently for a male victim as opposed to a female victim?" Mara's youthful look helps make the affair depicted by "A Teacher" that much more plausible. "In high school," the actress recalls, "my favorite teacher was ... at the time, I thought she was way older than me, but she was probably 25 or some - thing, which is much younger than I am now. As a student, that was someone I really looked up to, and who had a lot of control. "And so, when playing Claire, I wanted to make sure that she did seem young. Claire's behavior is what is very interesting to me in this char - acter and in this story. Just because she looks young, and maybe you wouldn't think twice if you saw her with Eric walking down the street, that doesn't justify the fact that she is abusing her power. That was defi - nitely something that Hannah and I talked about a lot." Also featuring Ashley Zukerman ("Succession") as Claire's husband and Rya Kihlstedt ("Love in the Time of Corona") as Eric's mother, "A Teacher" unfolds in very digestible half-hour segments. "What is so exciting for me, being able to do it as a TV show," Fidell says, "is to have that time to really explore the how and the why and the effects and the consequences on both characters. It's incredibly reward - ing to be able to continue to work through this subject matter, and also just to explore different facets of the story that I wasn't able to on an In - die, low-budget scale." Celebrity Scoop Celebrity Scoop Kate Mara is 'A Teacher' in trouble in new FX on Hulu drama Cover Story Cover Story By George Dickie Virginia Madsen appreciates strong acting partners. In an early scene of her Tuesday CW series "Swamp Thing," the Oscar-nom - inated actress ("Sideways") delivers a searing monologue as smalltown Loui - siana grand dame Maria Sunderland, opening up both barrels on govern- ment scientist and former family friend Abby Arcane (Crystal Reed) about how much she blames her for the death of her daughter years earlier. The hatred coming through the screen was palpable but luckily, Madsen notes that Reed was up to taking what she had to dish out. "I'm an actor who prepares ...," Madsen explains. "And Crystal is kind of like that, too, like she's just down for whatever you're going to throw at her. Plus, we're night shooting so it's like you've got to get through it and you've got to get through it fast. And I could just basically walk in, sit down, throw a few punches and she took it. "Afterwards, I was hugging her and I was like, 'I'm so sorry,' " the 59-year- Checking in with Virginia Madsen old Chicago native adds with a laugh. "But she was up for it because I knew that she's strong and she's not going to take that home with her. She trusted me and I trusted her to be able to go to those painful places together, I knew that she could do it and I wouldn't really be hurting her. So that made it sort of fun for us to be all dramatic and play together." Also fun for Madsen was the indoor swamp built on the Wilmington, N.C., set of the series, one that included crickets, birds and 60-foot trees that could be moved around to create differ - ent locations. "It was so enormous that they could actually run motorboats on it," Madsen says. "And when you're in it, they had divers under the water for safety and it was very humid and warm so after a while is was like a real swamp. .... It was really kind of haunting when you went in." Full name: Virginia Gayle Madsen Birth date: Sept. 11, 1961 Birthplace: Chicago Family ties: Divorced; has a 26-year-old son, Jack; brother is actor Michael Madsen; mother is Emmy-winning writer, poet and producer Elaine Madsen Other TV credits include: "Moon- lighting," "Star Trek: Voyager," "Frasier," "The Practice," "Ameri- can Dreams," "Dawson's Creek," "Spider-Man," "CSI: Miami," "Boomtown," "Smith," "Monk," "Scoundrels," "The Event," "Jan," "Hell on Wheels," "Witches of East End," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "American Gothic," "Designated Survivor," "Elemen- tary" Movie credits include: "Class" (1983), "Electric Dreams" (1984), "Dune" (1984), "Modern Girls" (1986), "Long Gone" (TV, 1987), "Heart of Dixie" (1989), "Can- dyman" (1992), "Caroline at Midnight" (1994), "Ghosts of Mis- sissippi" (1996), "The Rainmaker" (1997), "The Haunting" (1999), "After Sex" (2000), "American Gun" (2002), "Sideways" (2004), "A Prairie Home Companion" (2006), "The Astronaut Farmer" (2006), "The Haunting in Connect- icut" (2009), "The Magic of Belle Isle" (2012), "Burning Bodhi" (2015), "Spare Room" (2018) ❅ ❉ ❆ ❄ ❅ ❉ ❆ ❄ ❅ ❉ ❆ ❄ Portable And Wall Heaters Available in both 110 and 240 volt "Serving Your Complete Lighting Needs Since 1960" 3195 East Andrew Johnson Hwy. • (423)638-2241 Williams Electric Supply ❅ ❉ ❆ ❄ 240v Portable Heaters Portable, Fan-Forced 4,000 Watt Portable Heaters Williams Electric Supply Be - Ready - for COLD - Weather HEATER SALE! One Y. One Community. Greene County YMCA 423-639-6107 www.greenecounty-ymca.org Doughty-Stevens Funeral Home 423-638-4141 www.doughty-stevens.com 1125 Tusculum Blvd. Greeneville, Tennessee Established 1892 Serving the community for 127 years! 921 W. Main St. Office - 423-638-3652 www.gcfarmersmutual.com Get the Protection You Need • Fire • Wind • Lightning • Hail Liability Insurance • Farm Machinery • Barn • Residence • Modular Home

• Cover