Copyright Deadline
SPOILER ALERT: This piece contains light spoilers for Episode 407 of The Morning Show. Though William Jackson Harper’s Ben may be the first Head of News at the newly-merged UBN network, he’s not the first person to come into the position from a completely different background. Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup) swooped into the position with an entertainment background, and his successor Stella Bak (Greta Lee) had a tech background. Ben was the sports guy at NBN, and he started out Season 4 of The Morning Show as Head of Sports working tirelessly on UBN’s Olympics strategy before Board President Celine (Marion Cotillard) set him on a new trajectory by backing him for the position that Mia (Karen Pittman) has been after for years. “I think that he’s a realist. I think he looks at any organization as being, probably, on some level, inherently corrupt, because in order to want to wield some kind of power, I think that something fundamentally has to be wrong with you,” Harper told Deadline. “And [Ben]’s no exception either — he probably wants a little bit of power, and I think he’s willing to play the game in order to get what he wants. I think he looks at everyone else as willing to do the same thing.” Though the promotion may have been unexpected for Ben, he takes it in stride, as seen in Episode 407, titled “Person of Interest.” His openness to feedback leads to two big conversations with Mia and Chris Hunter (Nicole Beharie) in his early days in the new gig. “The level to which the gamesmanship in this particular situation is manifesting is something he’s not prepared for, and it probably puts him on his heels a bit,” Harper added. “Being an ambitious person, and a person who’s really trying to climb the ladder in some way, he’s willing to do whatever he has to do in order to get where he wants to go, which is, honestly, I think, probably just [to] the very, very top of the organization in some capacity.” In the below interview the Midsommar and The Good Place alum unpacks those two aforementioned conversations, how he was approached for the role of Ben, how he navigated the role and more. DEADLINE: What made you want to take on this role in Season 4? How much did you know about it going in? WILLIAM JACKSON HARPER: It’s sort of a backdoor way. I didn’t audition for it, actually. It was an offer, which was super fortunate and really cool. I think one of the producers had seen a play that I was doing in New York. And based on that, was like, ‘Hey, I think he might be an interesting fit for this role coming up in this season.’ I had a meeting with the creators, producers and showrunner, and they pitched the season to me and pitched who this guy is. It was very skeletal. I was just kind of taking a leap. I didn’t really know a ton about the character. This is one of those things where everybody knows more about what’s going to happen with the character than the actor, and the actor doesn’t really know until the day they get the script. I didn’t have a whole lot to go on, so I was just like, ‘Well, it’s a show I’m a fan now, so it should be fun to play for a while.’ DEADLINE: Do you feel like your character knew what he was getting into when he gets Head of News? HARPER: Well, this is one of those things where, for my character, everything happens off screen. I found out that he was Head of News the same way that the audience did, where it’s just like, ‘Oh, he’s Head of News in the script now. Didn’t know that.’ I didn’t see him getting the job. I’m ambitious, and I think that he’s ambitious, and whatever way he can fulfill that need, he’s willing to do that. At the same time, he’s not at all prepared for the chaos that is the merger of these two networks. I think everyone in this show winds up in over their head in some way, and there’s no exception. DEADLINE: Is Ben aware that Mia lost Head of News to him when he has that conversation with her? Did you want that backstory to come across in their conversation when he has his open door and he’s still getting used to it and everything? HARPER: I think that he knows that Mia was up for the job, but he won the job, and that’s just the way it is. This is how these things go. He’s not intentionally trying to undermine anybody or hurt anybody. If you’re in his way, I don’t think that [he’s] gonna step on somebody or try to do things in an underhanded way to get what [he] want[s], but I think if me getting what I want is in conflict with you getting what you want, I’m going to choose me. I think he knows that [Mia]’s upset about it. He can feel that the company and the staff is not necessarily pleased with him being that guy just because Mia has been on the ground with them, and he’s new. He’s new energy. I think that he also gets put in a tricky position because of Celine. She’s the one that’s pulling the strings, and he’s a pawn in this way that he gets moved around, not that he doesn’t have any agency, but I think that a lot of stuff puts him at odds and introduces chaos to the newsroom. Those are things that I think Celine is orchestrating knowing that this isn’t necessarily his forte. Mia is the the choice, and even if he knows that, the Head of News is a bigger, better job, and he wants it, and he’ll take it, even if it means that someone who’s more qualified gets shut out. DEADLINE: Watching the position get filled through the seasons — Corey came to Head of News with his entertainment background — it’s almost cursed. HARPER: Yeah, no, everybody who gets that chair gets cooked. So, we’ll see. DEADLINE: You had a line talking to Chris after Nicole says, “I want to feel like I won and I deserve it all, but I don’t, and I’m trying to shake that,” and then your character says, “I get it.” What does that conversation illuminate for him, despite the whole pain point with her and Mia trying to negotiate her deal? HARPER: I feel a kinship with Chris. I think I feel a kind of protection. I feel protective of her. I didn’t want her doing that interview with Bro. I want her to be front and center, and I want her to succeed, and I want her to succeed and flourish on my watch. There’s a certain kinship with, like, ‘I got the big job,’ and I’ve come through all these things, and things are working out, but it feels like everyone’s still rooting against me and mad at me, and I don’t know why. I feel like that’s happening with her as well. People are taking shots at her, and it’s not fair. Watching that from afar, it’s like, ‘Man, c’mon.’ She’s swept her side of the street, and she’s really good at her job. And for some reason, there’s still some punishment that needs to be meted out [to her]. And I think that Ben feels similarly because Mia didn’t get the job. Everyone wanted her to have the job, but he won the job, fair and square, as far as he knows, and still everyone’s mad at him. ‘Give me a chance. Let’s all try to work together, but for some reason, you all seem more invested in trying to hurt me and get me out of the chair.’ I think he felt like he was doing things the right way, but somehow it’s putting him in opposition and at odds with so many people that he has to work with. DEADLINE: What are your hopes for Ben in the future and in Season 5? HARPER: So here’s the thing. We shot this a year ago. So my memory is fo-ho-gyy about what happened when. I’m just sort of vaguely remembering some of this stuff. Going forward, I would hope that fewer things are kept from him so he can make better decisions and make decisions based on real facts, and take a more front-footed position when it comes to dealing with certain things. Often, Ben [is] on the back foot in a silent, reactive space because there was so much happening that he wasn’t present for and wasn’t privy to. It would be my hope that, going forward, in order to protect his job and protect his reputation, that he’s a little bit more engaged with some of the dealings of some of the higher-ups, so he doesn’t just get caught up in a whirlwind, which I think is what’s happened here. A lot of things are happening that he has no idea what they are, and then he’s scrambling to catch up and deal with it in real time. So it would be my hope that gets to be a little bit more master of his own fate going forward. DEADLINE: Is there anyone you would want to have more scenes with in the future that maybe you didn’t get to for Season 4? HARPER: I loved all my scene partners in Season 4. Most of my stuff was with Karen and Nicole, and I had some stuff with Jen [Aniston] and Marion. That was great. I also would love to make my way around more of this cast because everyone’s so good. I’m open to working with everybody, but I had a great set of scene partners this season. So, if it continues down that path, that’s awesome too.
