Naomi becomes TV power with the help of Atwood
Jewish Telegraph, March 2023
IT won’t be surprising if the television adaptation of Naomi Alderman’s novel The Power has vibes of The Handmaid’s Tale.
For Naomi wrote the novel under the mentorship of Margaret Atwood — author of The Handmaid’s Tale.
The Power, of which the first three episodes will be available to watch from next Friday on Prime Video, is about teenage girls suddenly developing the ability to generate electrical charges from their bodies — allowing them to electrocute men.
The show explores the complex power dynamics that arise as a result.
Naomi, daughter of former Jewish Telegraph columnist Prof Geoffrey Alderman, tweeted last week: “It’s a funny year. I’ve been working on the TV show of The Power and on my new novel The Future concurrently for basically six years now. and they both come out this year.
“Like knowing someone’s about to knock a window into my brain so everyone can see what’s in there.”
The Power stars Toni Collette as Mayor Margot Cleary-Lopez, alongside John Leguizamo as Rob Lopez, Auli’i Cravalho as Jos Cleary-Lopez, Eddie Marsan as Bernie Monke, and Halle Bush as Allie Montgomery.
Filming took place before the pandemic. Leslie Mann, married to Jewish film director Judd Apatow, was set to play the mayor of Seattle, but Covid interruptions saw Collette take over the role.
In 2017, Naomi told the Jewish Telegraph that she hoped The Power would run for a number of seasons.
Naomi also revealed how she only kept 2,000 words of the original draft of 200,000 words for The Power, changing the number of protagonists from one to four. She credits Atwood’s mentorship with opening doors for her.
“She’s taught me how to live as a writer in many ways — practical, useful advice. And obviously being associated with her has made an enormous difference; people prick up their ears when they hear her name, and that’s given me a new kind of credibility and interest.”
As well as writing novels including Disobedience, The Lessons and The Liars’ Gospel, Naomi also co-created computer game Zombies, Run!
The Power is a co-production of Amazon Studios and Sister, the company behind the award-winning drama Chernobyl, whose chief operating officer is Manchester-born Daniel Isaacs.
New episodes will be available each Friday, leading up to the season finale on May 12.
