Stacey Gross is a feisty meteorologist who uses a thermos of prosecco and a cheerful mediocrity as a crutch, and has been taking audiences on an emotional rollercoaster since Weathering With You premiered at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The show deftly moves between comedy and tragedy, using breakdowns of major local news stories to issue dire warnings about consumerism and global warming.
“These subjects have to be interesting and fun, or you might want to proselytize or editorialize,” says Brian Watkins, the play’s author. “That’s what I was really looking for: How can I smile in the darkness here? I love this quote from Harold Clurman, who used to run group theater: ‘Make them laugh, and pour out the truth while their mouths are open.’ That was a great compass for me.” ”
Written and performed for Watkins’ partner, Julia McDermott, this one-man show, which sold out during recent performances at St. Anne’s Warehouse in Brooklyn and during an acclaimed run in London, revealed many painful truths, but audiences on both sides of the Atlantic also embraced the play’s manic absurdity. The work has been likened to “Network,” and feels like something Paddy Chayefsky might have written had he discovered TikTok.
Naturally, Hollywood is also speaking out. After a fierce bidding war, Netflix acquired the rights to the play and asked director Watkins to turn the fast-paced feature into a limited series. (The streamer did something similar with Baby Reindeer, which began as a one-man show in Edinburgh.) Netflix’s version of Weathering With You will expand the scope of Stacey’s action, including Stacey’s dates, family, and co-workers from Fresno. The California television station where she works.
“We’re building this world of Weathering with You’s life and what she’s going through,” says Watkins, who wrote the pilot and is working on other episodes. “It’s really fun to write new characters that are only briefly mentioned or don’t even exist in the show. I’ve been itching to make this a love letter to California. This is one of the things that the television format has really opened up for me to explore how California is a true character in this work.”
McDermott will reprise her role as Stacy and will serve as a producer on the film alongside executive producers A24, Amanda Burrell, and Team Downey’s Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey. Watkins will direct the first episode of the series. The Downeys had previously worked with A24 on an adaptation of HBO’s “The Sympathizers,” and came on board after seeing the show in London.
“When it starts, you think, ‘OK, McDermott is really, really good,’ but then you think, ‘Watkins created this whole world,'” says Robert Downey Jr. “And I think this is the best-case scenario. It’s like a trifecta of having a great playwright, a great director, and a great performer. This is all about bringing the acting and the characters to the fore in front of you to convey that the play is alive and vital.”
Susan Downey said Watkins’ early drafts were impressive. “He knows exactly how to expand the world and give Julia more to do. He explores deeper themes and characters that he hasn’t had time to explore on stage. I’ve seen him open things up in really promising ways.”
On a recent Friday morning in Brooklyn, Watkins seems surprised that “Weathering with You” has been so widely embraced that the show may soon be in front of millions of Netflix subscribers. He and McDermott have collaborated before, and “Weathering With You” was initially just an attempt to make her laugh.
“I was writing for Julia,” he says. “I wanted to do something that showed her range, from artificial contrivance to a primal version of Cassandra telling the truth. And, of course, I hoped she would be amused by it all. But this piece really takes on a life of its own.”
The program has also evolved, from just under an hour in Edinburgh to more than 70 minutes in the United States, as Watkins has added material. Weathering With You is set during a series of devastating fires in Fresno. The book was written before wildfires ripped through Southern California last January, killing dozens, prompting mass evacuations, and causing billions of dollars in property damage.
“When the fire happened, theater took on a completely different tone and it felt more urgent that we had to do this,” Watkins says.
“Weathering With You” may not have had a final curtain call. Watkins hopes to stage at least one more production in New York and has offers in Australia, the UK and elsewhere.
“We want to bring this work to as wide an audience as possible,” he says. “I hope to bring it to Los Angeles someday.”
For now, Watkins is spending much of his time and energy exploring ways to transfer the play’s energy and immediacy to another medium.
“If you just try to copy it, you lose the essence of what made it work,” Watkins says. “We’re trying to take Weathering with You in a different direction and lean into creating something original.”
Mr. McDermott is represented by CAA, D2 Management and Johnson, Shapiro, Slewett & Cole. Watkins is repped by CAA, Heroes & Villains Entertainment, Hersh Wallerstein Hayum Matloff and Fishman.
