You have questions. I have some answers.
Q: We thoroughly enjoyed the HBO Max series “Julia” and thought Sarah Lancashire was outstanding in the title role. Did the producers of “Julia” see her as a potential for this role possibly based on other work, or did she just go to a casting call and win the role?
A: Lancashire has such an impressive resume on stage and screen that Vanity Fair recently called her “the British acting treasure.” (Readers here may know her from the productions “Last Tango in Halifax” and “Happy Valley,” among others.) The makers of “Julia” had a long list of possible actors to play Julia Child — at one point Joan Cusack was planned — and Lancashire was on the list, sent the show’s pilot script and asked to audition. As Vanity Fair put it, she hadn’t auditioned in decades because as a young actor “I was so hopeless in auditioning.” But this part was interesting enough to get her to fly to Los Angeles for an audition. And she was so good, the show and the network concluded “It was Sarah or nothing," showrunner Chris Keyser said. But it was Sarah, the show is really something, and a second season has been ordered.
