Showtime is taking viewers behind the scenes of the creation of Uber with the first season of a new anthology series called Super Pumped. The premier season has a fitting subtitle, “The Battle for Uber,” and it comes from the creative team behind the mega-hit Billions. “We are the same people working on both shows,” writer and executive producer Brian Koppelman explained during a TCA press conference regarding any similarities audiences may notice. “The one thing that's some common ground between the two worlds is even though these characters in both of these shows are quite wealthy, especially compared to the rest of us, the thing that we've recognized is that what they are doing in their business life really matters to them, and it's almost like a life-and-death situation.”
(Robert Ascroft/SHOWTIME)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick. “It's sort of an Icarus story of someone who is really well meaning kind of throughout, but especially at the beginning and, as he meets with such extreme success, is surrounding himself with people that won't push back on him,” the actor shared of the 7-episode arc. “I'm not a journalist, I'm an actor. My job is not just to relay what happened, my job is to relay how it felt and who is the whole human being making these things happen, and I'm of the opinion that all human beings are complicated.” The series is based on the book by Mike Isaac, which Joseph Gordon-Levitt read, but he also interviewed people who worked with and for him to get to the essence of the character. “People actually had a lot of positive things to say about him: that he was so energetic, that he was so inspiring, that he would get everybody on their side, that he made everybody feel like what they were doing was incredibly important… I heard about a certain level of intensity that could be intimidating, and I heard about some of the toxic behavior that he was not focused enough on addressing within the company. So, all of the things that you see in the show, from the book side, they are things that really happened. But then, from the human side, at least from what I was playing, those are things that I heard about from talking to people that were there.”
“After reading the book, I knew immediately I wanted to be part of this show,” Kyle Chandler revealed, who plays venture capitalist Bill Gurley, who was on Uber’s board of directors. “The book does indeed set out fantastic story, and it delineates these characters in a very fascinating way. And I was quite surprised that I didn't know the story, that probably a lot of people don't know this story, and I think that that's what will bring it to a great success, among other things.” Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber also presented a new career challenge for Kyle Chandler, playing a real person who is alive and potentially going to watch his performance. “I don't really care what Mr. Gurley thinks about it, but I really don't think Mr. Gurley cares about what the performance is as long as I do my job as earnestly as possible. The only thing I am concerned of is that he is from Texas, and we might pass each other in the street. And if he really doesn't like it, he's about eight foot four. So I don't even think I could outrun the guy.”
Uma Thurman had one advantage for her performance as Ariana Huffington that Joseph and Kyle didn’t. “I've met her, and I like her,” the actress confessed. “She's a wall-breaker, she's very bold, and she's incredibly brilliant. And I dug into her past and her history and found my own opinion of how I imagined she sees things, which is probably a little bit differently than she is seen. So, with my imagination and by listening to her and also by knowing women like her, who achieved great success in an environment where there was no quota to have a woman in the room, you had to achieve that somehow against all rulings. Nobody wanted to see you. So, she's very, very bold. I'm sure she's a boss. I don't think I hid that in the performance, and I'm quite sure she had to be in her own way.” As for how Ariana Huffington may react to Uma Thurman’s performance, the actress said that she couldn’t be too concerned about it. “I can't imagine that anyone would be happy with a portrayal of themselves, per say. Like, how could anything possibly feel real or right to you that is interpreted by other people who are projecting, in a way, onto you? So you just have to make the script work in the end, make the point of the writing come across and for the people to feel real. And they are real people, so I'm sure none of us are right. I think it's an interpretation of interpretations, and, certainly, the subjects of this piece would be very aware of that.”
As for casting the show, Brain Koppelman had no problems getting exactly who he wanted for each part. “We just got our first choice,” the executive producer revealed. “David [Levien] and I finished the script on a Friday, the first episode, and Joe [Gordon-Levitt] signed on that Sunday, a day and a half later. And Kyle [Chandler] was clearly our first choice. And Uma [Thurman], that was the only person who read the part for Arianna Huffington was Uma… The ability to project decency and to be compelling interpersonally is something that all of these people use in real life, the actual people that the show is about. They have to have the ability to galvanize. Bill Gurley certainly does, and Arianna Huffington certainly does, and Travis Kalanick certainly does. And so you want people who have the ability when they are portraying a part to project all of that stuff. And if you can work with good people too, it's always better. And so, in every way, these were the people that we wanted for the roles, and they've really come through just amazingly for us.”
Don’t miss the premiere of Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber tonight at 10/9c on Showtime.