Netflix’s limited series The Queen’s Gambit has became an immense hit among audiences. The Queen’s Gambit tells the story of a chess prodigy who faces loss, grief and substance abuse. Protagonist Beth Harmon has engendered sympathy not just among millions of viewers, but also among the cast of the Netflix limited series. On March 30, in a conversation with moderator Stacey Wilson Hunt at PaleyFest LA 2021, the cast of “The Queen’s Gambit,” William Horberg, Anya Taylor-Joy, Marielle Heller, Moses Ingram, Thomas Brodie Sangster, Harry Melling and Bill Camp discussed their involvement in the show, including their connection with the characters they portrayed so vividly on screen.
William Horberg, an Executive Producer on the show, said they initially struggled to get the idea approved as a movie. The story, based on a 1983 novel by Walter Tevis, was rejected by filmmakers, who thought there was not enough commercial potential in a story about a female chess player.
“There’s a delicious irony that a story that took 30 years to get made somehow came into the world at the perfect time,” Horberg said.
Horberg added that tackling the show in its limited series format, rather than as a film, provided greater opportunity to explore the complex protagonist.
Anya Taylor-Joy, who plays Beth Harmon, said that she signed onto the project having only read the book and not the script. She said she felt a deep kinship with the character from her reading of the book.
“For Beth, I was very aware immediately that I was going to have to show more of myself in order to tell the story right, and that inherently was a wonderful filming experience,” Taylor-Joy said. “But at the same time, it’s exposing. You feel exposed. You feel vulnerable.”
Marielle Heller also resonated deeply with the character she played, Beth’s adopted mother Alma Wheatley.
“[Alma] was somebody who could’ve had a very different life but because of the era that she was born in, she couldn’t,” Heller said. “Somebody who had a talent and was never able to really pursue it, who wanted more from her life and couldn’t follow through with that. It made me feel very lucky for the time that I live in and for my own life, but I also felt like I could immediately imagine what that felt like, and that pain of being an artist, of being a musician who can’t fulfill that dream.”
Bill Camp, who portrays Mr. Shaibel, the janitor who teaches Beth the game of chess, said he receives many questions from fans about Mr. Shaibel’s relationship with Beth. Camp said, “[Shaibel] saw her as someone that was going to be open to what he had to offer. It was just purely unconditional.”
Moses Ingram portrayed Jolene, who also had a close friendship with The Queen’s Gambit protagonist Beth. Ingram said that growing up in an orphanage together and having a similar history brought the two characters together.
“I think they could both identify with each other as being outsiders,” Ingram said. “I think that was the thing that drew them together and I think once Beth got to the orphanage, I think Jolene saw herself in some ways – being new, being alone, and having no one – and wanting to be a buffer for this person, this little person to this other little person. I think they saw each other.”
Anya Taylor-Joy added the show provides a new take on addiction. The show follows Beth’s addiction from a young age, linked with other themes of grief, fear and depression. Taylor-Joy said she appreciated the way the show focused on these serious themes. Taylor-Joy said, “That respect for the quiet sadness and the quiet despair, I think potentially people hadn’t seen that much of that and it shone a light in a different way.”
Thomas Brodie Sangster, Harry Melling and Anya Taylor-Joy also shared how they developed an interest in playing chess after working on the series. Like fans of the show who caused increased sales of chess boards, the actors also gained an affinity for the game.
The PaleyFest LA conversation with the cast and team of The Queen’s Gambit demonstrated how the team’s ability to resonate with their characters helped them bring their stories to life. The stories and themes shared within The Queen’s Gambit also resound with the millions of viewers who have engaged with the show.