"Rachel Weisz is the nicest, most talented human in the world."

TV Producer Erica Kay talks making Dead Ringers, walking Darren Star's dog, and a Fosse/Verdon anthology.

Rachel Weisz (x2) in Dead Ringers.

Erica Kay has come a long way since walking Darren Star’s dog around New York as a production intern for Central Park West, a late 1990s soap opera starring Mädchen Amick that I didn’t know existed until Erica mentioned it to me in our chat over Zoom. At the time, she was making around $75/week to intern on CPW after college. Little did she know she would go on to work on now-iconic film projects like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Julie & Julia, Synecdoche, New York, The Dictator, and The Normal Heart.

Luckily for us telephiles, she climbed the production ranks to work on path-breaking shows like Mr. Robot, Pose, Fosse/Verdon, Up Here, and most recently, Dead Ringers as an executive producer. She has confirmed Dead Ringers will submit as a limited series to the Emmys after the show’s future being initially undecided (in my opinion, it works perfectly as a closed-loop story and it would have been tough to follow up that finale).

In our conversation below, Erica chronicles her path in the television industry, gives us a crash-course to what an executive producer actually does on a day-to-day, praises Sam Esmail for being the smartest person she’s ever met (Battlestar Galactica reboot when?), and shares how she keeps pitching Fosse/Verdon’s creators to continue the series as an anthology (she has some great ideas).

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Congratulations on Dead Ringers! It seems to be doing really well.

Congratulations on quitting your job! Yeah it looks like it’s flipping between number one and two on Prime Video with The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. I mean, Dead Ringers is a very strange show, let’s be honest, it’s not for everyone. But I think people are watching and appreciating it.

I would be very surprised if Rachel didn’t get nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series at the 2023 Emmys. I was thinking the show will do really well in that category, especially since the limited series landscape is a bit thinner this year.

I think we’ll get nominated, fingers crossed! Rachel definitely will. She’s unreal. I worked on the show for almost two years and I’ve watched it a thousand times in every different version that ever existed and still, every time I watch it, I can’t believe that’s one human being. I still feel like I’m watching two completely different actors. She’s the nicest, most talented human in the world, it’s really unfair.

“There was nobody who worked longer hours than she did.” - Erica Kay on working with Rachel Weisz on Dead Ringers

[Laughs] Totally agree. Rachel is unbelievable. I have so many friends texting me while watching the show in disbelief at her performance. It reminds me of the first time I watched Orphan Black.