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The nominated writers will break down select pages that were essential to the stories they were telling.
ALLISON SCHROEDER:We didn’t haveMargot Lee Shetterly’s bookyet when we started writing this.
We just had her book proposal.
THEODORE MELFI:We had 55 pages.
AS:It was just a true story.
Mary actually had to petition this judge.
We knew the judge said, “Yes.”
One of the things that we started with was that even the courtroom was segregated.
TM:We had one version where she appealed to his sense of fear about the Russians.
AS:Right, as a military man.
We thought, “No, it should all be able Mary.
She did it all on her own.
Does it appeal the need to get over the Russians?”
But then that ultimately ended up being the opening scene of the film.
We didn’t want to hit that beat twice.
Then it became, “What would convince the judge?”
She uses this to appeal to his first and her first and how they could do it together.
AS:Courtroom scenes tend to focus on the judge or the lawyer.
This is Mary’s scene.
She’s not screaming.
She’s not on a huge preaching monologue to the jury.
She looked him in the eye, pled her case and won.
It’s based on human emotions.
That was very important.
Janelle Monae played that adorably.
You scream with her.
