The ladies in HBO’s Task are creating order out of dysfunction, no matter which side of the pendulum they are on.

From the creator of the Mare of Easttown, Brad Ingelsby, the show is set in the suburbs of Philadelphia, specifically in Delaware County. It is yet another nod to his affinity for family, which is central to Task, whether that family is biological, chosen, fractured, criminal, or more.

“I always have to make an emotional connection to the characters,” Ingelsby told Blavity’s Shadow and Act in our recent Task cast interview. “There is a father, a son, a mother, and I also feel like that really helps an audience get into a story. I feel like audience members can connect to a family dynamic. We all have a mom, a dad, you know, it gives people access points. While I am interested in doing a thriller that has procedural elements, I ultimately want to tell a character story, and in order to tell a character story, I think that involves what they’re going through at home.”

He added, “We invest in Robbie’s (Tom Pelphrey) home life as much as we invest in Tom’s (Mark Ruffalo) home life. And I think it is a chase movie or show in some way, but it’s also a character drama, and that, to me, is what I like to write about. I like to write about characters going through some crisis, or who have arrived at an impasse in their life, and how are they getting through it? In this case, it’s through the gauntlet of the case that Tom’s able to offer forgiveness at the end.”

Exploring complex characters

Silvia Dionicio credited her portrayal of Emily Brandis, a character struggling with grief and rebellion in the wake of her mother’s death, to Ingelsby’s writing.

“I feel like it all starts from Brad’s writing,” Dionicio said. “His writing is so complex, grounded and nuanced. That, as an actor, is an absolute joy. I feel like I was 100% spoiled that I had such an amazing collaborator giving us such incredible material, and then we just get to go on set and have fun. To be honest, I feel like his writing also inspires a lot of collaboration and a beautiful, open line of communication. When I had a question, suggestion, when something didn’t feel right, or — I was able to talk to Brad and be like, ‘What do you think about this? What do you think about that?’”

Of her character, Dionicio added, “With everything from her dad’s drinking to her brother’s illness and her mom’s passing, I think she’s in a really tough position — and while also being young and trying to figure out who she is. But obviously, I had incredible scene partners that were holding hands with me and allowing me to go through that journey with ease. I hope that people feel that, and I hope that people feel the nuances of it and the love that we’ve really put into it.”

As Maeve, Emilia Jones jumped at the chance to connect with people who may empathize with her character.

“Maeve is super stuck, and she is losing a sense of identity,” Jones said. “And looking after these kids, she’s put her life on pause, and there’s a lot of anger there and resentment but also a lot of love. She wouldn’t have it any other way. She wants to raise these children. She doesn’t want to abandon them like their mother did, and I think she’s such a complex character and such a layered character. I felt like it was really interesting to play someone that would kind of internalize a lot of her emotions because she hasn’t been given the time or space to really explore or process her loss and pain.”

She added, “She’s also really cool — she’s got a mullet and big earrings and loads of piercings and tattoos to show people who she is — and super strong. I think to play a character as strong and resilient as Maeve was a real draw for me.”

Assembling an unlikely task force

On the opposite end, but similarly, the woman in charge of orchestrating Tom’s task force exhibits the power of creating order out of dysfunction.

“What Kathleen is trying to do, I guess, is on some level what every sort of FBI person in that position who’s made it that far in the organization, in charge of a field office. That’s sort of what their job is — to find the order,” Martha Plimpton said.

“In a funny way, I think what appealed to me was Kathleen’s desire to get Tom out of his sort of emotional rut and, in the process, have a good way of going out. ‘We’ll solve this crime. Tom will get out of his head,’” she continued. “‘He’s experienced this horrible tragedy. I’ll give him this team. I know they’re not the best, but it’ll be fun for him, and he’ll solve the crime, and we’ll all be happy, and I’ll retire and go to Ireland.’ You know what I mean? But it doesn’t turn out that way.”

Thuso Mbedu’s Aleah, a federal agent who has perfected the art of carrying a haunted past with the most stoic nature, was built off of a lot of research.

“It was all on the page, so, a giant kudos to Brad. For me, it was then just trying to find the detail that could help elevate that,” Mbedu told us. “I had to do a lot of research and building the psychology around what she had been through. I spent a lot of time just watching interviews of domestic violence survivors, starting with your everyday woman, different people actually, because I wanted to see how it is that they carry themselves within the space.”

She added, “The one I connected to the most was an officer who, I think she was like a police chief, even from the U.K. And for her, she seemed like she was in control, just as Aleah appears to be in control. It was the detail of just the tension around her vocal cords when she spoke. It’s the rhythm of certain things, like when she would blink. It’s in that detail, without necessarily playing the distraught victim or playing the ‘I’m super strong’ in this thing. It’s in the script. Brad describes how, in her moments of anxiety, she has to lie down in order to regain control.”

Task, starring Mark Ruffalo, Tom Pelphrey, Emilia Jones, Jamie McShane, Sam Keeley, Thuso Mbedu, Fabien Frankel, Alison Oliver, Raúl Castillo, Silvia Dionicio, Phoebe Fox and Martha Plimpton, airs Sundays on HBO at 9 p.m.

Brad Inglesby

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