Girls’ Allison Williams Talks ‘Peter Pan Live!’Posted by Wilson Morales
December 4, 2014
Tonight at 8/7c and preparing to sprinkle fairy dust across America, NBC presents a bold new LIVE television production of the classic Broadway musical that will gather friends, families and anyone who refuses to ever grow up. Following in the footsteps of the phenomenally successful The Sound of Music LIVE! – which drew over 44 million viewers – comes this musical masterpiece that tells the beloved story of Peter Pan, the mischievous little boy who ran away to Neverland. Get ready for show-stopping stars, stunning costumes, extravagant sets and delightful music that will have everyone in your home singing along. From Executive Producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron comes a soaring LIVE three-hour holiday event guaranteed to take viewers on a magical and musical journey to the second star to the right.
Playing the role of Peter Pan is “Girls” star and classically trained singer Allison Williams, who is also the daughter of NBC’s news anchor Brian Williams.
Since graduating from Yale University in 2010, she has starred as Marnie Michaels on the twice Emmy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning “Girls.” In a few of the episodes, you can see Williams sing in a few scenes.
Blackfilm.com recently spoke with Williams during a breakfast Q & A where she talked about playing this iconic live on TV.
Are you ready to do this live?
Allison Williams: I wanted to let the words, the songs, the attitude, and the costume just do their thing, and just trust that if I stayed focused emotionally on being an adventurer, and the excitement of the journey and what Peter goes through, it would carry me through.
What were you feeling when you got offered the role?
AW: The minute it came in the only hesitation I had was to get too excited before it was all tied up with a bow and fully official, and I could talk about it out loud on the street without feeling like I was going to get tackled by some outside forces if people were like, “No, no, no, it’s a secret!” she reveals. “I have found in my very short life thus far that the most important decisions are the ones that are not decisions at all. They are completely gut based. They happen without your knowledge or input. They just sort of occur to you. And this was absolutely one of them. I didn’t think about it for a second.
Can Peter Pan live in today’s world?
AW: I think today is a very scary world. And if I had a little kid, or if I were a little kid, I’d feel very small and very little and powerless compared to these big and scary things I didn’t understand,” she said. “In this world, being little is the only way to win; innocence trumps experience and innocence trumps evil. So I think that’s a really good thing to remind little kids of right now, which is that it’s okay to be little and to forget about all the scary things that are happening for a second.
How’s working with Christopher Walken?
AW: I can’t even begin to express what it feels like to walk down a hallway and see Chris and be like, “Hey, Chris.” Or to be in a scene with him and we’re like hook to knife, just staring into each other’s eyes. It’s unbelievable. He’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever worked with. He cracks me up. I love watching him rehearse. I love watching him, seeing the questions he asks,” she says. “The things he tries, the different takes on everything. I think his Hook is perfect.
