That Tense Arrested Development Roundtable Deeply Disappointed Alia Shawkat
Alia Shawkat is opening up about the uncomfortable Arrested Development roundtable that quickly drew..
Alia Shawkat is opening up about the uncomfortable Arrested Development roundtable that quickly drew ire last month, revealing that she, too, found herself disappointed by what some of her co-stars said about how their colleague Jessica Walter was treated by their other colleague, Jeffrey Tambor. Shawkat was also upset, she said, that she didnt feel she was able to stand her ground more during the sit-down.
During the roundtable with The New York Times, arranged to promote the Netflix comedys recently debuted fifth season, the conversation turned tense as the group discussed an on-set incident in which Tambor blew up at Walter, yelling to the extent that Walter characterized his behavior as verbal abuse. (Tambor had mentioned the incident during another interview days before.) Most of the male stars present at the Times interview defended Tambor while downplaying what had happened to Walter, even as she started to cry. Multiple cast members, including Jason Bateman and Tony Hale, have since apologized for their comments during the interview, and on Thursday, Shawkat explained at length what happened.
As Shawkat noted, the cast had been doing interviews all day—and so when their conversation with the Times turned toward Tambors behavior, she expected that the topic would be explored only briefly, as it had been before. Her male co-stars, however, were more vocal this time around, defending Tambor to an extent that began to feel excessive. “It just kept going and I, all of a sudden, started to feel hot inside,” Shawkat told Broadly. “Because I was like, O.K., if they say all this, then I now have to say, But, this is a bigger issue.”
Shawkat tried to find an opportunity to offer her own opinion, but her co-stars were talking over one another throughout the sit-down, which made speaking up difficult, she said. When she did finally speak, that was when Shawkat said Walter began to cry. “Once that happened, I realized we were having a public and private conversation at the same time, which is very unnatural,” the actress said. “All of a sudden, were having this intense moment as a group of people whove known each other for 15 years—and its being recorded.” The result? A strange, hybrid conversation in which the shows male stars tried to offer candid opinions, but also avoid compromising themselves or Tambor. As Shawkat noted, the group had not strategized ahead of time about how to discuss the Tambor situation to the press. “Looking back,” she said, “I really wish we had.”
As soon as Walter began to cry, Shawkat said her instinct was to shut the interview down. “Afterwards, I was scared that I didnt say enough and was kind of upset with myself that I wasnt able to stand my ground more,” Shawkat said. “But once Jessica was upset, that was my main concern. I didnt even want to necessarily talk about the issues any more. I just wanted to make sure she was O.K.”
“I hope that the guys on the show—and now all these men of all different ages—start to communicate with the women in their lives, the women they work with,” Shawkat added. “And just ask openly with no shame, What can I do to be better?”
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