There’s nothing else quite likeDickinsonon television.
Watching the show, you could’t help but wonder who came up with this?
“The thing is I was always writer because I wrote poetry [as a child].
‘Dickinson’ creator Alena Smith.Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
In third grade I had notebooks full of poems.
I’m digging for material as I’m living through my days.
It’s always just been who I am.”
Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson and Ella Hunt as Sue on ‘Dickinson’.Apple TV+
On the power of non-fiction
Smith often finds non-fiction more inspiring than fictional works.
“Reading a book of theory, a book of ideas, it often triggers a lot.
“I find ideas themselves to be dramatic.
Mark Seliger/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images; AMC
I think there’s a drama to ideas.”
In fact, she has an example fromDickinsonthat illustrates what she means.
That’s just a straight, very dry academic take.
Puffin Press
I wanted to find ways of dramatizing that.”
“I readCharlotte’s Webout loud to my kids and was crying by the end.
And I’m convinced that it’s the greatest book ever written.
Gallery Books
So I don’t know, that’s definitely another place I go to.
That one I’m proud to put on the shelf of really important ones.”
or ‘a Tween Hobo,'" she says.
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage and ‘Dickinson’ pilot director David Gordon Green.Jenny Anderson/Getty Images; Daniele Venturelli/WireImage
Television is a medium caught up inside of the internet right now.
And I think that that’s amazing."
Even though they aren’t too far apart in age, Smith also looks up toDickinsonpilot directorDavid Gordon Green.
Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson on ‘Dickinson’.Zach Dilgard/Apple TV+
“One thing that I just love about David is he just never stops having fun.
“Honestly, I was scared to do it,” she says.
I’ll let the directors do that,’ because I was the one overseeing it anyway.
‘Dickinson’ creator Alena Smith and star Hailee Steinfeld.Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images
It’s like giving myself the permission to take up that little extra space.”
She continues: “Once I did, it felt so natural and healthy.
It was really wonderful.
Overall, Smith is excited about what the future holds for her career.
“TV has changed a lot from what it used to be.
Because ultimately, what I want to is execute my own artistic vision within this given medium.
But I don’t know that I’m thinking so much in terms of that kind of scale.
I think of myself as a filmmaker at this point.
That’s what I want to do.
That’s how I feel fulfilled.”
The series finale ofDickinsonairs Friday on Apple TV+.
