Diksha Sundriyal
Directed by James L. Brooks, ‘Ella McKay’ is a political comedy-drama film that follows the titular character during some of the most chaotic days in her life. Ella is a dedicated public servant who wants to do her best by the people. Things take a drastic turn when her boss, the governor, suddenly takes another job, which means that she, as the lieutenant governor, has to step up and take the reins. While this presents her with a great opportunity to bring the changes she’d always wanted to make people’s lives better, it also invites more trouble in her life. As the events unravel, Ella’s struggles present a realistic portrayal of what it means to fight one’s own family while trying to reach one’s fullest potential. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Ella McKay’s Fictional Story was Conceived from a Real Conversation
‘Ella McKay’ is a fictional story written by James L. Brooks, who came up with the idea for the story following a conversation with a two-time governor. The writer-director had been having breakfast with the ex-governor and their friend, and the conversation turned towards a moment that was still a sensitive topic for the duo. It turned out that the former governor had forgotten to thank their friend during their inauguration speech, which had hurt the friend’s sentiments. Brooks noted that while this had happened 15 years ago, it was still a difficult point for them. His mind was stuck on this detail, and as he thought about it, the idea of a character formed in his mind, and it eventually turned into Ella McKay.
While Brooks created Ella as a lieutenant governor who is unexpectedly promoted to governor, his main focus was on her personal struggles, rather than the political aspect of the story. At the heart of it, he wanted it to be the story of a person who is dealing with “one errant parent and getting over the loss of a parent.” In the movie, Ella has a difficult relationship with her father, Eddie. To portray their dynamic, Brooks drew from his own experience of having a “lifelong beef with [his] errant father,” who reportedly left the family before Brooks was born. As the writer-director worked on the movie, he revealed that it helped him process his feelings for his father and reconsider the dynamics between them.
At the end of the day, Brooks wanted it to be the story about a person who wants to do their best at a highly demanding job. He created Ella as a person who is deeply defined by her morals and actually believes that she can do some good in the world. To highlight this feeling of hope, he decided to set the story in 2008, which, according to him, was still a time when people could come together despite their political differences. What he wanted most out of the story was for it to reflect real people, their struggles, and an accurate representation of what it feels like to wade through life.
Emma Mackey Relied on Research to Play Ella Authentically
When Emma Mackey took over the role of Ella McKay, she idealised the character, especially in the context of her desire to do good from a political standpoint. However, over the course of filming, she discovered more layers to Ella, which made her see her as “a whole person, broken parts and all.” She noted that the challenge lay in presenting Ella as someone fearless but also someone who can make a mess of their life, and yet “always have wit and always have sharpness and clarity.”
This was made more challenging by the fact that she had to present different years of Ella’s life, from being a teenager, to a young person in love, to a politician who sees their whole world falling apart in front of their eyes. However, going through all these important phases of Ella’s life helped her learn a lot. The actress also delved into research to better understand the character. Apart from adopting an American accent for the role, she also met with public servants and officials close to Ella in the office to better understand what her day-to-day looks like and the challenges unique to her job.
She also had long discussions with director James L. Brooks about the character’s origins and the people who influenced him as he created the story. The actress revealed that she and Brooks also discussed the coincidence of how similar Ella McCay’s name sounds to Emma Mackey’s. In the end, she found Ella’s cornerstone to be her desire to do good for her people and to be true to her morals and her sense of duty. All these things allowed her to create a deeply layered portrayal of the character, which makes her feel more real.
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