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They had one thing in common: each actor was very enthusiastic. We headed out of the hotel early this morning. We drove to the outskirts of the city and upon arriving I got my headphones and was shown to my seat where I could observe the place. It was a glaring hot day. Nobody took my phone, but the amount on the signed document effectively discouraged me from pulling it out of my pocket and taking souvenir photos. After a moment, Lee Pace appeared in the distance, where a woman ran with a suitcase full of sunglasses.. The actor, towering over everyone around, could choose how his character would appear in one of the last scenes. Around him, 30 people were busy. Everyone knew exactly what they was doing - someone was pitching a microphone, someone else was scattering autumn leaves, Lee Pace was talking in a sports car. The whole crew was like a well oiled machine. In its 4th season Halt and Catch Fire jumped to the 90s, and it can be seen at a glance. During the visit I visited several different stages where various scenes from the series were filmed. The spirit of the 90s floated in the air, so Halt and Catch Fire is getting closer to me like never before. The previous series showed events historically placed before my birth, and season 4 is the time I can recall in my memories. As soon as the crew finished shooting Lee Pace and the car scene, we were invited to the next building where we  waited for the callers. On the table in the hall where I conducted interviews, the organizers scattered themed decorations. They gave the context for the conversation and reminded us of what America was like in the days of Halt and Catch Fire.

After a while, Toby Huss appeared at the door. The character of John Bosworth is, in fact, exactly like his character. Characteristic accent and intonation are not forged. "[Bosworth] is not restless, but he can not be called seduced. He is looking for a business that he could take care of in the next phase of his life, "Toby Huss [...] admits his character is not looking at the past with bitterness. Although people who have been protected from being sent off have failed in their personal and professional lives, it does not regret saving them in the first season. John can and is retired, but he can not sit still, it's not his nature. The actor believes that his hero was not about to end, as he finished. Such a person would not have allowed his business to be taken over and then go to jail for Joe and Cameron to realize their dream. "He was preparing for retirement and going off to the sunset with his wife and children," he explains. Toby Huss noted that if Joe MacMillan had not crushed Cardiff Electric, the world would not have opened up for John. Connect with Cameron and his decisions made him change. The Texan understood that women too could run a business and somehow came to terms with the fact that they had taken over the baton. "What a great hero, what a wonderful journey he is going through," comments Huss. He asked if it was initially assumed that John would join the dream team and become a member of the cast. Toby Huss admitted that the story of his character could have ended much earlier. The creators of the series, however, decided that it would be useful for the character to look at everything from the side. Taking advantage of the occasion, I asked about one fascinating issue. In the first season Bosworth led Joe MacMillan's beating by the police to show him his place. The characters never came back to this and ... will not come back. In the 4th season, however, they will have a small common scene in which they will recall the past. Of course the actor did not betray the end, but he admitted that all the scenes with him had already been filmed. Asked about how he liked the ending of his character's history, he said that the last scene was "moving".

The next person I talked with was Kerry Bishé. Her character Donna’s story is no less bumpy than Bosworth’s. At first, she was in her husband’s shadow. Although she was treading in a different direction to the other characters  - she cannot look at her like a one-dimensional villain. However, it is impossible to hide that Donna came out as the black character of Halt and Catch Fire. Kerry Bishe herself twice calls her character "a real monster." Looking back, she realized that her character made a terrible decision, but it couldn’t be helped. "It's the best and the worst. Such deep, multi-dimensional characters are rare and playing such a character for four years has been a dream come true", commented Kerry Bishé. [...] she called him [Scoot McNairy] "her husband from work". She said that when shooting Halt and Catch Fire, they used photos taken during their previous joint performance at Argo. I was very curious if Kerry Bishé had any influence on her character. She replied that the role of Donna has played a big part in her life and for the first three seasons she tried to beg the writers to change some scenes. In the case of the final season she changed her approach. "I was aware that I could not be objective and the changes that I would probably like to introduce should not happen. I could not trust myself that the changes I would ask would improve the series, not just my mood. I promised myself that for the 4th season I would not ask for anything,” declared the actress. The question immediately came from my question about whether this promise was kept and Kerry Bishé said with a smile that it was. She recognized that she trusts people who write the character - which, as she adds later, she has played the longest in her career - but whether it was a good decision, remains to be seen. I asked the interlocutor whether or not she gave the character something in spite of herself. "A story of bad, awkward jokes," she replied. After a moment of reflection, the actress, with a smile on her face, added, "But it's humiliating." Kerry Bishé confessed that she regretted she could not work so much with other cast members. This does not mean she did not work with them at all. She said she had spent a lot of time with Mackenzie Davis in recent weeks, and both had a lot of fun together. We can also expect a new chapter in Donna and Gordon's relationship after the divorce, which the actress describes as "one of the most moving, personal, beautiful things this season." I also laughed at her reply to the question of the reaction that the characters in the previous series had split up. "Thank God. Thank God. What more can you tell these two people to go? Apparently a lot of things, " recalls Bishé. She also admits she envied some of the actors, especially Lee Pace. His passionate character was able to inspire people, and her character, though responsible and wise, could not pull the crowds. "[Donna] finds her way in the last episode, in her own way [...] I feel happy to have reached this place. It's a beautiful, comfortable place to end up, " she concludes on the end of the story for her character. During our interview, it was too early to talk about further career plans for the actress because she had yet to shoot 6 more days. We talked a while back about the third Narcos series, in which my interviewee played a woman from the United States, wife of one of the members of the cartel. I suggested to her that there is a similarity between these series: in both cases we know what will be the end. We know that Donna is not going to create Google. This is probably the only point of contact between the two series. You have to focus on the journey itself, because you know how it ends. We know Joe MacMillan is not Steve Jobs. We focus on what's going on between the beginning and its effect we know, "commented Kerry Bishé. She also joked that she always wanted the Halt and Catch Fire heroes to invent things we did not yet have such as teleportation or time travel, but she was disappointed. Although she thinks that going sci-fi could go down well, she likes the fact that the series is pretty good at the true story of computers.

The third actor to enter the room is Lee Pace, the lead actor I saw earlier when filming one of the scenes outside. In real life he appears even taller than on the TV screen. It seems that the actor dominates every room which he enters. Also, the character he plays is dry and annoying, but talking to him it was obvious that it was just acting. Actually Lee Pace is a nice and enthusiastic man. Like Kerry Bishé, he mentioned that the best part of his participation in Halt and Catch Fire was working with the rest of the cast. "Usually we prepared some dinner and had a few bottles of wine and read the script, including the actors who were not with us. Toby Huss always read the stage instructions, and if Annabeth [Gish] was not at hand, then Mackenzie [Davis] was reading Diane's questions. I read Joanie if she was not there, "recalls Lee Pace, who shared the same talk about the characters and the world they live in. This allowed him to understand why heroes are constantly falling over - they simply do not have to wear masks in their company. "They do not necessarily get along. They are not very good at what they do because they are constantly failing; Maybe they are good at what they do, but they just do not have the luck. But they can be their weird selves, "explains the actor. The actor also notes that Halt and Catch Fire is not conventional television, it is not a story of winners. "I love how Joe is crushed each season. He loses everything and always comes back, always finds the way. He still has optimism. After the end of the previous season, after Ryan's death, he was thought he was tired with technology. But these people [Gordon and Cameron] are constantly dragging him into this world. The prospect of returning to the sandbox with them fills him with optimism and hope, "concludes Lee Pace. What's complicated about Joe? The actor was asked how he sees Joe MacMillan today, 20 years after the events of the show. He replied that he believes Joe now "thinks he is worthy of the love he is looking for". Lee Pace calls the search for acceptance and self esteem the key to understanding this character. "He is battered, tortured, and does not think that he is worth loving. It is sad that there are people in the world without self-esteem. They think that they have to get it, create value, they have to create jobs and make money, they have to do something to deserve the love that comes easily to other people.” It is conceivable that Joe MacMillan is a very distinctive (and characteristic) hero. I wondered if it was a writers’ work, or if Lee Pace added something to him. He briefly remarked that it was not his job to correct the scenes, but to interpret them. Interpreting this character was very interesting. "The screenwriters could have modeled it [Joe MacMillan] on Steve Jobs, but it was not interesting to me. It was intriguing that he was modeling himself on Steve Jobs. He is aware of what he does. Joe does not know who he is. He does not know who he is. At the beginning of this story, people are looking for people who can pretend - just like Steve Jobs or Mickey Michelson, the 80s winners - that's the idea of ​​the winner, because Joe wants to be the winner, "explains Lee Pace. As spectators, however, we know that Joe is losing all over again and changing. The actor is convinced that the character does not want to win at all costs. They start to draw shades of gray, and this season probably finally know who he is. The actor also admitted [...] he did not always fully understand his motives. But he has a weakness for this hero. "I could make friends with him. He is a fascinating and complicated person, and I'm interested in complicated people, " he confesses.

Toby Huss admitted that he likes computers and social networking sites. He noted, however, that as humanity we have come to a strange point in relation to social media. He’s noticed that on the one hand it was a great place, but social networking sites could be full of hate. "People used to talk and everybody smoked. So we smoked those cigarettes, and we talked. Today everyone pulls the phone out of their pocket and does not talk to others, "remembers Toby Huss." We've lost something in the social media world, but we do not know if the change is for the better or for the worse. " Lee Pace, in turn, admitted that he has phases when he enjoys social media, and then stops paying attention to it for weeks. "I recently installed Instagram [...] and I can spend hours watching some silly photos of 15-year-olds dancing, but I found some great photographers there," admitted Lee Pace. Still, he does not know exactly how computers work, but he knows the basics of the machines Joe and Gordon built. He was most fascinated by the development of the internet and the genesis of the global network.

Kerry Bishé called herself a freak, an opponent of technical progress. "I am going on big expeditions and I travel without a phone. It is very important for me to break free from all technology. We do not have a TV at home. This is a specific way of life, "commented Kerry Bishé. But she noted that although she does not like technology in the form of phones, she loves learning [...] promote computer science education among women and minorities. The actress, who plays in the personal computer start-up series, pulled her iPhone's out of her pocket just to show that she had a phone - because she admitted that she did not know how to use it. Asked about the coolest gadgets of the 80s and 90s, she said she would like to have a Game Boy.

[...] Kathryn Newton [...] said that after finishing her work, she brought Joanie home with her, and now she is trying to dress like her character. The coolest element of the 90s for Kathryn Newton was the clothes that are now fashionable again. "Joanie's style is so great - she's cooler than me. Joanie is much cooler than me. We had a lot of fun creating Joanie and her style. Even Joanie's walking style is different from mine, my way of speaking has changed and it starts with her clothes. This is definitely one of the things l liked best, "says Kathryn Newton. As for the impact on her character, Newton admits that much of her work comes about organically. What she wanted to show in her was a certain susceptibility, fragility. Not only is she pissed off, but also lost and lonely. "You can not just be angry and keep rubbing. There must be a reason for this, you have to get the reason for the anger, " explains the actress. However, even if she prepares and repeats the scene hundreds of times in her head, on the set it all changes. I saw this from the director - the sequences of the same scene at times were very different from each other. We met with the young actress a little later. On the day I arrived on set, Newton was shooting her last scene on the show. Asked about the hardest part of the work on the set, she acknowledged that the work was intense and Joanie was not easy to play in the new season. "My character has changed a lot. I joined the show in Season 3 and I was thrown there as a rebellious teenage daughter. But the characters in this series are deep enough, rooted and connected that [Joanie] quickly became a very multi-layered person. She’s not just a girl, a teenager, "she recounts. “Is the actress happy with the ending of her heroine's story?" She admitted yes because Joanie travels and has no fear in her. Newton stated that she would not have the courage to do something similar, but the heroine "has a purpose, and realizing it, she discovers who she is."