Hello, friend! Mr. Robot’s creator and two leading men logged in at New York Comic Con to reminisce about this acclaimed series. Moderated by HappySadConfused’s Josh Horowitz, stars Rami Malek, Christian Slater and creator Sam Esmail enthralled fans with their perspective on the show’s impact on television.
The panel opens with a clip show that highlighted all the awards won by this four season show. Esmail laughed that the show he created to obviously be “apocalyptic” and “fictional” is now more real than it ever was ten years ago. Despite the show’s prescience, the two leading men never hear “Hello, Friend” from a fan while they are doing their everyday errands. Leading man Malek confessed that even though he acknowledges all the brilliance of the show, he remembers questioning the title.
The panel then cuts to a clip of Slater’s “Kingdom of Bullsh*t” speech, arguably one of the acclaimed series’ best scenes. The clip is a good reminder of how much New York City is ingrained into the show’s DNA.
The final portion of the panel was definitely the funniest as behind-the-scenes annoyances were revealed. Horowitz triggered a playful trauma response in Malek by bringing up the subject of Elliot’s infamous hoodie. According to Malek, the wardrobe department had him try on up to 20 identical hoodies. However, he revealed there was salvation when he brought a cheap hoodie from home and that became the hoodie Elliot wore.
Additional highlights were Slater acknowledging NYCC’s role in making him realize the show had captured “zeitgeist” while on a panel. Malek knew the show wouldn’t be what he expected when Esmail talked to him for hours about storylines, and did that with all the actors.
With ten years to contemplate the show’s characters and themes, it’s impossible not to see its importance in mental health representation and shedding a light on economic disparity. However, Esmail said the show’s dystopia is “Pleasantville” compared to where America is now.
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