Damages: Cast & Creators Live at PALEYFEST

This William S. Paley Television Festival live event honors “Damages,” the drama series about ruthless and compelling lawyer Patty Hewes (played by Glenn Close) and the law firm she runs in New York City. Barbara Dixon (director, The Paley Center for Media/Los Angeles) welcomes Stuart Levine (managing editor, Variety) to the stage. Levine moderates the following panelists: series co-creators/executive producers/writers Daniel Zelman, Glenn Kessler, and Todd A. Kessler; and cast members Glenn Close (Patty Hewes), Ted Danson (Arthur Frobisher), Tate Donovan (Tom Shayes), Zeljko Ivanek (Ray Fiske), Noah Bean (David Connor), and Anastasia Griffith (Katie Connor). The panelists touch on such topics as: what makes this “lawyer show” different from others; whether Danson had trepidations about returning to a television series; and why the writers refuse to think of Patty Hewes as a villainess. Questions from the audience then lead to a discussion of the following topics among others: whether all of the plot’s intricacies were figured out before shooting began; why audiences sympathize more with tough-minded characters if they’re male; and how Close ensures that the psychotic character she played in “Fatal Attraction” won’t be too similar to Patty.