The Apple TV+ series about Benjamin Franklin does a great job of showing political maneuvering and bargaining that shaped history.
The series also warns that democratic systems, like the one Franklin helped create, are under attack worldwide.
Michael Douglas, who plays the titular role, sees it that way.
Douglas brings his acting prowess to the role of the nimble-witted inventor, author, publisher, and founding father, focusing on Franklin's role in convincing France to join the Colonies’ fight for independence against the British.
The award-winning actor and producer believes the series demonstrates the fragility of democracy and the need to protect and nourish it.
The series highlights how fragile democracy is and how it needs to be protected, especially in contemporary times when autocracies are on the rise.
The final episode particularly focuses on this theme, coalescing around the fragility of democracy.
The series was adapted from the 2005 nonfiction book “The Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America,” by Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff.
Tim Van Patten directed all eight episodes, and the 79-year-old Douglas served as an executive producer along with Schiff and others.
Douglas admits he was unaware of the critical role that Franklin played in securing France’s help for the United States’ freedom.
Douglas was surprised to learn that, at 70 years old, Franklin played a crucial role in securing France's support for America during its war with the British.
While in France, Franklin avoided spies while receiving a warm welcome from famous people — partly because of his experiments with electricity — and charmed women all around him, as he was known to do.
Douglas was joined in this interview by co-star Noah Jupe (“A Quiet Place” and its sequel) who plays Franklin’s ambitious grandson Temple in the miniseries. He knew nothing about Franklin.
“I’m from the U.K.,” the 19-year-old actor explains. “In my high school history class, we didn’t even discuss the American Revolution. So for me, I had a big learning curve in terms of learning about the entire history of America.”
Temple gets caught up in his grandfather’s mission and while in France served as his secretary. His father was a British loyalist, and estranged from Benjamin Franklin.
Jupe hopes “Franklin” motivates more people to get involved in working for the common good.
“As a society today, I think we’re all very comfortable in our lives and it’s very difficult to change the way things are. I think that this (series) really shows how much work and bravery you have to put in to make things change and to stand for what you believe in and make your country or the world a better place … . That’s important and rare in today’s world.”
Jupe was impressed by Temple’s youth and how he participated in something monumental.
“You’re getting on a ship for 60 days sailing across the sea to a world where everyone speaks a different language (and) everyone is dressing in a different way. Temple’s there for the purpose of America and that’s the priority. But also he’s trying to grow up.”
Douglas grew up as the son of the late Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas. The actor turned heads and won hearts — especially in the Bay Area — as homicide inspector Steve Keller in the hit 1972-77 series “The Streets of San Francisco.” His career caught fire from there. But it was as producer on 1975’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” with Jack Nicholson and the late Louise Fletcher, that nabbed him his first of two Oscars — as a producer.
He also won the best actor Oscar for his unscrupulous moneymaker Gordon Gekko in 1987’s “Wall Street.” Many other iconic roles have marked his long career, which have included even appearing in Marvel superhero films. In addition to his Oscars, he’s won five Golden Globes, an Emmy and has received the Cecil B. DeMille Award and the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award.
“Franklin” marks a bit of a change for Douglas — an historical period piece. He enjoyed this new direction.
“I think there’s been a big shift to historical pieces,” Douglas said. “I think a lot of it had to do with ‘Bridgerton’ quite honestly.”
To research his role, Douglas plunged into Schiff’s biography as well as Walter Isaacson’s 2003 “Benjamin Franklin: An American Life.”
Both Jupe and Douglas appreciate how this story is told in a series and not a stand-alone film.
“It’s available all over the world on this platform,” Jupe said.
Douglas sees the length as being beneficial to the intricacies of the material.
“It’s a story to be told in eight hours, not just two hours,” he said, adding he’s proud of the production design and Van Patten’s direction.
He said it lasts for eight years and it requires that duration of time.
