With few exceptions there are two types of moderators in entertainment programming on television. The first type is who starts from journalism training and becomes well-known entertainer personalities. The second type is who started as performers and then because of their reputations and career change, joins/creates a show and learns to have a more journalistic approach; which I will go more into in the upcoming Section 103.
One of the exceptions to these types is Hilarie Burton. From 2000 to 2003 (with frequent appearances until the show’s cancellation in 2008) she was an MTV co-VJ on Total Request Live (aka TRL) mostly hosted by Carson Daly (who was there from 1998 to 2003). And from 2003 to 2009 she starred as Peyton Sawyer on The WB turned CW’s teen drama One Tree Hill. Throughout her career Hilarie has balanced doing both self-appearances being the moderator and the guest in interviews as well as performing as an actor in narrative fictional projects. In 2020 alone she co-hosted with husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan their interview show, Friday Night in With the Morgans that featured conversations with friends and colleagues about their pandemic quarantine lives, was seen in a handful of Christmas themed movies, did an episode of The Walking Dead, as well as had a supporting character arc in Council of Dads – all projects which she was interviewed as a guest for.
(*She’s also written an auto-biographical book called The Rural Diaries that was published in 2020 and she gave interviews about that!)
I initially wanted this post to start with examining Hilarie’s developing interview style from her time as an MTV VJ on TRL. I was going to watch her earliest clips available on YouTube. But, pages and pages of results didn’t have what I was looking for on this subject. There are only two relevant videos I could find.
The first is a clip from when Hilarie won the contest to be a red-carpet interviewer at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. The camera centers on her with the other two contestants next to her but out of frame. There is a woman on the phone (I don’t know who) announcing the winner with very foreshadowing descriptive words for why she won. “Well, I’d have to say, because she was very good with her questions, unlike any regular reporters, and had really good fun, I’d have to say, Hilarie!” Carson’s immediate reaction was “Hilarie! The little country girl!” Granted that was back in 2000, that “country girl” refers to her growing up and accent from small-town Virginia, but today the “little” wouldn’t fly and Carson would need to immediately apologize. He continues on describing the job Hilarie will need to be doing, “Everybody who’s anybody will come right by you, stand right in front of your face, and you will have to interview them. On behalf of our show you will work for TRL. And then you’re gonna have to come back on the show and play your interviews down. Can you handle that?...You’re not gonna get too nervous?” Hilarie was shocked and excited to have won! She was sincerely “freaking out” but she was also able to “totally handle that!”. And she did! In a video clip of her on that red-carpet, all of the nominees were thrilled to meet her! *NSYNC, Mandy Moore, and she even impressed Bono so much he gave her a friendly hug.
The second video is from 2004, when Hilarie and co-VJ Quddus interviewed guests Angelina Jolie and Olivier Martinez for their upcoming movie release of Taking Lives. The video quality is terrible but at least the audio is discernable. Once Angelina and Olivier had walked out on the stage, waved to the fans on the street, and returned to their marks, it was a quick greeting ‘Hello’ as the audience of fans collected themselves from screaming and clapping. They immediately did their “Pass the Mic” bit and cut to the previous day’s recording of Snoop Dog getting to ask Angelina a question – but there were technical difficulties and the video stopped. Hilarie saves the day by remembering Snoop’s question; that if “he can be Angelina’s romantic lead in a movie?” And she emphasized how “sincere” he was in order to make the bold ask less bold. After the bit, they had to play a fan-requested music video. And upon returning to the interview, Quddus and Hilarie took turns asking questions. Quddus asked Olivier what he’d say in French to his Montreal Canadian fans. Hilarie asked Angelina about the creepy night shoots they did, “if got nightmares?” Quddus asked them both what identities they’d each want to “life-jack” for a week. And then Hilarie asked Angelina about her working with Brad Pitt and Colin Farrell.
What we can see here is that Hilarie had already been a VJ for 4 years. She was not only already comfortable with the pressure of live interviews but also knew how to make an unexpected awkward moment less awkward by recalling Snoop’s question and could keep the bit going. When it comes to what questions she asked though, that’s the interesting part. Quddus and Hilarie each asked a unique question of their guests – his about identity switching and hers about what filming was like. But, for the last question, about Angelina working with two of the hottest male Hollywood actors in that time, she again needed to frame the question as something she’s doing as a favor for the audience, what MTV as the umbrella company/employer would want her to do, and not necessarily phrased as representative of her own curiosity: “A lot of girls are very jealous that you worked with Olivier here, but you’re also working with very handsome men in upcoming films. How is it working with such desirable men?” Isn’t that the most obnoxious thing to have to ask? I don’t blame Hilarie. At least not until someone confirms it was her idea to ask it. LOL.
When One Tree Hill premiered in 2003 it was an immediate phenomenal hit! Hilarie may have only been in the entertainment industry for 3 years but she’d long been acting since her childhood. What also makes her stand out is that she was acting in OTH while still working as a VJ on TRL. Her weeks were split between filming in North Carolina and hosting in NYC. Eventually she left MTV to focus on OTH. The show was based around Lucas Scott’s challenging high school years playing basketball on the same team as his half-brother Nathan Scott (both sons of dad, Dan Scott) and also in a romantic triangle with best friends Peyton Sawyer and Brooke Davis. And relationships only getting more intertwined when Lucas’ best friend Haley started dating (then marrying) Nathan, plus that his mom Karen was slowly getting involved with Dan’s brother Keith (after his own decades long crush on her). Hilarie played Peyton for 130 episodes until 2009, and the show ended in 2012. Hilarie was nominated for various awards numerous times over the years for her role and beloved character arc. (All the while still being called-upon to host events.)
Her worlds collided on a regular basis when she appeared on TRL with her OTH castmates.
January 2004 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN38W_Exmi4
Hilarie is still very much a VJ on TRL when her castmates come to the show for an interview. They are lined up from left to right with the VJ Damien Fahey, then Hilarie, then Chad Michael Murray, Sophia Bush, Bethany Joy, and James Lafferty. Damien asks Hilarie what is currently going on in the show, and she gives them the storyline’s rundown. But then similarly to how Hilarie had to ask Angelina about Brad and Collin, Damien asks, “James I gotta ask you a question that’s gonna cater to all the ladies in the audience, and ladies across America, you’re the youngest guy in the cast (without much entertainment industry experience beforehand)” – paraphrasing, “what was it like kissing on camera versus kissing in real life?”. He nervously answers that “it’s a job you gotta do it”, and Chad interrupts with a story about James’ actual reaction on set from when filming the pilot. Then the topic changes and Hilarie takes the lead.
“We all hang out down on the set of One Tree Hill but you guys are on my turf right now and it’s totally different being an actor and being a VJ so I’m gonna put a couple of you to the test…do you guys wanna try to be VJs?...Not easy…It’s live TV so anything can happen, just mentally prepare yourselves.” And then she proceeds to introduce the next video in the countdown – and might I say – seamlessly!
November 2004 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HM77V5pVQc
and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sTUUzzQobo
Damien had Hilarie on stage first, then he introduced the cast as an MTV/TRL step-family because of her being the mutual connection. On stage as everyone gathered, Hilarie stood between the girl-castmates and Damien. She’s answering Damien’s questions. And he calls her by a nickname, Hil. After playing a music video, they stand on a different side of the stage and in a different order but Hilarie still stands between Sophia Bush and Damien. He leads the questions but Hilarie can roll-off (again) exactly what each character is up to in the story’s current episode. When they come back from a commercial break, two additional OTH newer castmates have joined them, and they play “Battle-of-the-Sexes” which Hilarie hosts instead of playing along-side them. In the final round, the questions are about her; one being, “Who was the first celebrity I interviewed as an MTV employee?” Answer, “Hanson”. (In the midst of the game, Hilarie introduces the Destiny Child’s video.)
Maybe in 2005 - In a fan-made video of the OTH cast on TRL highlight clips show Hilarie and Damien have Chad Michael Murray on stage with them. Hilarie says to Chad, “Now baby you’re on my turf now. And I’m not gonna let you off easy…So, since you’re such a pro and I learn so much from you every day on set, I just want to ask you, how do you get into character for something just like this?” – and there’s a scene of Lucas trying to make it through the hallway holding a basketball covering his privates. “Were you wearing anything in that?” All the while screaming fan girls were in the audience. In another segment, Hilarie says they first met on the set of Dawson’s Creek, and he “always plays like the misunderstood guy, is that your dream role or is there something else you’re shootin’ for someday, action hero someday?”
Throughout her time on TRL, even when interviewing her OTH castmates, Hilarie shows a natural aptitude for moderating interviews with enthusiasm and intellect. She was able to so easily move between different kinds of guests and kinds of questions. Getting an in-studio audience and those at home watching excited for the appearing guests as well as for watching the day’s countdown of top music videos, to talk about the latest projects and gossip, doing bits, and keeping everything moving all on live television is an incredible talent!
Skipping ahead 15 years, let’s examine her interview style from Friday Night in With The Morgans.
As their show takes place over Zoom, you can see Hilarie sitting with Jeff on their living room couch in one quadrant, with the three other guest quadrants. Over 12 episodes that aired on AMC from April to July 2020, with it being currently unknown if the show will get a second season. For the time being this interview show will be part of the covid-cinema time capsule.
There are 15 official clips from their episodes on YouTube, as part of a playlist via The Walking Dead video channel. With each having a running time between 7 minutes to 15 minutes, you get a good sense of their full episodes’ tone. The best way I can describe them is they’re everything you can imagine of Hilarie being able to do the TRL job her way: comfortable at home, co-hosting with a close partner, interviewing her friends and colleagues in entertainment as well as the non-performer locals in her Upstate NY township. She is a mature Hilarie we know and love from the last 20 years. She asks interesting questions, lets her guests answer at their own pace, and can still seamlessly transition between topics.
The double-goal heart of this show seems to be (1) showing what’s going and what people are thinking about during quarantine because of a pandemic, bringing people together virtually, and (2) also giving voice and awareness to some topics that are not normally or as well discussed on major daytime or primetime talk shows or even on news programs. There’s also a great balance between Hilarie and Jeffrey’s dynamic in how they co-host the show with their guests. As fun and friendly as Hilarie and Damien were together, watching this married couple’s genuine affection and appreciation, with some banter make for a great relatable on-screen duo. You are literally getting a window into the entertainment industry but also combined with everyday people. There is a moment when Hilarie and Bethany Joy Lenz answer a fan question that they are reuniting with Sophia Bush to do a podcast, and their guest town doctor’s face lit up hearing this news! There is a moment when Paul Rudd and his wife are giving parenting advice to the candy store manager the Rudds and Morgans co-own. It’s so sweet to see these normal extended conversations, as if the audience is getting to watch a privately recorded dinner party! And the best part is there’s no crowd of screaming strangers in the background you have to keep hyped. Hilarie and Jeffrey get to talk to their guests in the most natural way but because of Hilarie’s specific background as an interviewer, she keeps the flow of the conversations moving. She can also of course easily introduce her son’s homemade movies of their Mischief Farm, and their day’s work with the animals as if it were a music video.
Surely, it’s to be expected that when Hilarie and Jeffrey
are interviewing castmates from One Tree Hill, The Walking Dead, Supernatural,
etc. audiences are most intrigued by on-set and behind-the-scenes stories.
But another aspect of their show is their expression of encouragement, support, and affirmation. Hilarie and Jeffrey show genuine interest in the projects their guests work on, what’s happening in their guests’ homes, how guests are finding ways to help their communities through work and donations, allowing the professionals outside the entertainment industry to discuss what they’re witnessing and feeling from covid-19 medical care, the Black Lives Matter movement, online teaching, as well as in the restaurants and hospitality industries.
*I can’t help noticing that while watching Hilarie read Twitter fan questions from her phone, it’s like watching her read the cue cards from when on TRL!
Given Hilarie’s professional natural ability to ask questions, let’s discuss how she answers, and how those interviews differ between moderators, venues, and purposes. (*Admittedly these are not in chronological order.)
The Kelly Clarkson Show – August 3, 2020 – approx. 8 minutes – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j1e_FK4zc0
Kelly Clarkson interviewed Hilarie over Zoom in August 2020 to discuss her book, trading “the Hollywood spotlight for a simpler life”, and all of the good deeds she’s doing during the pandemic. Kelly’s tone comes off as super enthusiastic and a tad hyper not only to speak with Hilarie but also to share their common qualities (since she’d spent quarantine on a farm in Montana, as well as having experienced fame in the early 00’s music and television industry). It was a mutual spontaneous decision to bring Jeffrey on for a quick hello and comments. There wasn’t much to this interview except a simple promo with mutual appreciation.
Entertainment Tonight – October 26, 2019 – approx. 10 mins - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1MAf94XDpg
Katie Krause and Hilarie sit across from each other, and start talking about Hilarie’s annual Christmas themed movies; but instead of just talking about the story, the conversation included Lifetime’s progression towards diversity, representation, and feminism. As the Christmas movie was the latest reunion between One Tree Hill castmates, Hilarie exclaimed how happy she was to work with her friends in a healthier more collaborative environment, and how much they enjoyed each other’s company. Hilarie was looking forward to doing more in the industry with an upcoming 2020 opportunity to direct. There was a minor callback to her TRL hosting when she would turn from speaking with Katie to looking directly at the camera to address the at-home-audience, specially about her organizing philanthropy for her own Park View High School’s art programs. The topics covered also of course included Hilarie’s recent secret small wedding to Jeffrey and how much they adore each other and their children. There’s a lot covered here in such a short time. It’s a good quick conversational interview!
CBS This Morning – August 15, 2020 – approx. 8 mins – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1f_xrzwkho
Unlike the above two examples, this interview is still meant to be a pleasant Saturday morning segment, but Dana Jacobson is an actual news show correspondent who has previously worked on ESPN as well as received the Edward R. Murrow award. Her tone is trained to be more serious than Kelly’s or Katie’s. The focus of her interview with Hilarie was on her working with the town of Rhinebeck New York, where her farm is and where the candy shop she co-owns is, on various humanitarian projects. Whether in quarantine at home making masks, asking fans to buy her book from the local bookstore, or doing a renovation for a residential treatment home for kids, Hilarie “walks-the-walk”. Unlike the other one-on-one interviews, this segment includes scenes of the town she’s talking about, and mini-interviews with those she personally knows, like John from Samuels’s. Of course this interview is better not just for the succession of topics discussed in a truly journalistic line of thought, but also because of Hilarie’s willingness to talk openly about her experiences in the entertainment industry as well as not being afraid to address the more difficult questions, like the harassment from being on One Tree Hill, her miscarriages, and the Black Lives Matter movement.
SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations at Home – May 11, 2020 – approx. 22 mins - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOIeDAY20MA
Diving deeper into Hilarie’s career and personal life is Lynette Rice on behalf of Entertainment Weekly. This is also an interview meant to promote Hilarie’s book The Rural Diaries, but as I’ve said before with The Foundation conversations videos, the moderator has the running time and preparedness to talk about other aspects in more detail. Hiliarie firmly stands by her statement that if she has an opportunity to help those who need it, she will. They pivot slightly to Hilarie’s initial start in social media, feeling so overwhelmed by the images and stories being shown that emphasize influencers’ glamorous lives, as unattainable and perfect. By adding her perspective (not taking away from others), she wanted to show her life as an alternative idea of success, and to “honor the quiet noble lives, heroes in my life, the farmer, schoolteachers, doctors, their loves every bit as interesting and valuable as those with getting ‘Likes’.” She also wanted to show the hard work that goes into an achievement, not something glossed over. She started the story of her published book with moving to Upstate New York because that’s where she really felt her life take shape and have worth, in a way unlike experienced before. She’s long been showing how frequently she’s in touch with her OTH and even TRL colleagues, so there’s no offense there for keeping them out of the book. And she even mentions how grateful she is for not being exposed to whatever debauchery may have happened during those MTV days. They protected her, but also “championed me with responsibility at a young age…”. When she mentions her transition from being a VJ to an actor, it was more about getting other people to see her as one not having to convince herself. And it was as a VJ she was able to better understand the business “behind the curtain”. Hilarie continues with a great anecdote that “now been an actor so long that hosting on a show on AMC, everyone is asking ‘is it weird hosting?” Hilarie and Lynette both laugh hard at that one. I laughed to.
And, she more examines her own work in Christmas themed movies, saying that it’s “a safe space to be Hilarie Burton the actor again”. When Lynette asks her how she’d feel if social media was around back during those days, Hilarie was thrilled that it wasn’t because she wasn’t doing anything inappropriate, just that it’d be mortifying for the world to watch her “dance” but has much respect for those currently in that OTH-like world, doing social media, such as the cast of Riverdale, “they’ve got it own pat”.
Turning the conversation to include her relationship with Jeffrey, Lynette asks if she was already familiar with or a fan of his character Denny on Grey’s Anatomy. She had to admit it wasn’t something she knew of him when they first met. Her first time watching his character arc was while he was away sick with Swine Flu and she was pregnant, so her emotions were not prepared for his death scene (or Izzy’s acclaimed reaction in the dress). They spoke more about her miscarriages experience and the wedding being a happier experience celebrating with gratitude for the guests rather than just focused on her.
Hilarie spoke to Lynette about her transition from Hollywood to Rhinebeck, as part of her growing-up in that “LA doesn’t suck, it’s just not right” for her. And lastly, she gives her recipe for dandelion wine.
In Conclusion:
Hilarie Burton Morgan is someone you can tell is the definition of self-actualized! Granted it took a long time to get there but it seems all worth the struggle. She’s accomplished so much from a young age in the entertainment industry, starting as a 20-year-old interviewer having to professionally interact with the most famous performers on a daily basis and also is generous with those interviewing her. She’s proven she can handle whatever comes her way with grace. But most significantly, despite hardships she pays it forward.
I wish there were more YouTube clips readily available showing her interviews on TRL, so we can see more of the types of questions she asked over those years comparable to those she asked on her own Friday Night show. But the great thing about having her own show is seeing her hold greater agency over the more intellectual topics spoken about rather than having to focus on the “desirable men” of Hollywood on behalf of MTV. How would Hilarie interview Angelina Jolie today?
Epilogue:
Also, because of the now revealed difficulties she, Sophia,
and the other female castmates experienced on OTH, her promotional videos
can’t be seen in the same light (from the pressure she may have been under). There
is one video from then hinting at their ongoing sexual harassment. It featured
Hilarie giving a tour of their set, and Sophia says “…since they try to get us
naked a lot, umm, I have a good friend with this cute little company Under
Glam, who makes things that are not so exposing I figured I would take over
some pajamas so that the next time they try to put us in our underwear, we can
be a little more covered-up.” (Side note – Sophia Bush and her character Brooke
Davis are millennial era icons, and I will one day repost my previous article
featuring Lauren Conrad as the real-life Brooke Davis, but that will be updated with how passionate
and active Sophia is about certain causes.)
No comments:
Post a Comment