An eerie scene from the 1978 “Coma” film. (
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Ellen Burstyn plays the mysterious Mrs. Emerson. (
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Lauren Ambrose stars in the new production. (
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Few people would call “Coma,” the 1978 film that starred Genevieve Bujold as a young doctor who uncovers a plot to put people into comas, a classic. But the film, based on a best-selling 1977 novel by Robin Cook, did produce one iconic image: human bodies, horizontally stored and helplessly suspended by wires.
In updating the project for a four-hour miniseries, premiering on A&E Monday night at 9 and concluding the following evening, director, co-screenwriter, and co-executive producer Mikael Salomon found that recreating a decades-old image for a different medium presented a unique problem.
“The hanging bodies was a key moment [in the original],” says Salomon, “but in the movie, they’re naked — the women had exposed breasts. That won’t fly on basic cable.”
Instead, Salomon gave his patients a shiny artificial skin, courtesy of a tight, one-piece suit that appears painted-on. The patients have rotisserie-style poles running through their bodies, as opposed to wires in the original film, giving them a futuristic vibe.
The original story also required some modernizing to make it relevant for contemporary audiences.
While the purpose of the comas was, Salomon felt, originally left vague, he created a more specific rationale that explores the ethics of medical experimentation.
“Coma” stars Lauren Ambrose in the Bujold role, Steven Pasquale (“Rescue Me”) as the doctor/romantic interest who comes to her aid; and an all-star cast including Geena Davis, James Woods, Richard Dreyfuss and Ellen Burstyn.
As Ambrose tries to determine the cause of the comas, she at one point hallucinates that Pasquale is one of the hanging bodies. For the scene, the actor had to slip into the shiny suit, an experience he recounts as remarkably silly.
“The crazy Lycra Teletubby onesie is a good look for me. I even took it into my own life, ’cause I like to rock it on the streets,” jokes Pasquale. “No, they looked ridiculous. I mean, they look great in the movie, but it felt weird. You ever have a onesie on? It’s the strangest feeling ever. If there were feeties attached to it, it would be feetie pajamas.”
The project, filmed in Atlanta over 40 days between November and January, was greenlit after A&E’s 2008 success with a remake of the 1971 film “The Andromeda Strain,” also directed by Salomon, and produced by a team that also included veteran director/producers Ridley and Tony Scott.
(Tony Scott committed suicide on Aug. 19. Salomon said that Scott served as more of a “cheerleader” than a hands-on producer on this project.)
“Coma”’s biggest attraction might be its collection of Oscar winners, who were occasionally intimidated by each other.
“I’d been working a few days, and had [usually] gotten picked up by myself,” says Davis, who plays the hospital’s head of psychiatry. “One day I was running late, thinking the only person I’m making wait is the driver. I go down, and the van is full of cast members. I felt really sheepish about it. Richard Dreyfuss pretended he was put out. I was like, ‘Oh, gosh, I’m so sorry, guys,’ and he goes, ‘Fine. Fine for you.’”
In a scene where Dreyfuss’ medical lecturer meets with Woods, who plays the hospital’s superstar surgeon, this gravitas is not only palpable on screen, but was the same on set.
“These guys have known each other forever,” says Salomon, “and James looks up and says to Richard, ‘Do you realize this is the first time we’ve ever worked together?’ I think they were surprised. I certainly was. I just set up the cameras, got out of the way, and let them do what they do.”
This depth of experience is most completely felt in Burstyn’s haunting performance as Mrs. Emerson, the mysterious figure running the facility where the coma victims are housed.
“When I first talked to her on the phone, I was trying to be respectful [about her character], like, ‘Well, she’s a little off,’” says Salomon. “[And Ellen said], ‘You mean she’s crazy. Is that what you’re saying?’ You could be completely open with her.”
Mrs. Emerson was always intended to be threatening, but Burstyn added an intensity beyond what was suggested in the script.
“We worked a lot on how polite she should be,” says Salomon. “She said, ‘Well, I should be kind of polite at all times,’ and that made it creepier than if she had tried to be more menacing. She’s always smiling, and the smile is such a sick smile that it makes it creepy.”
A&E hopes the story’s pervasive dread and the cast of distinguished actors will keep viewers glued to their screens. If nothing else, the horror seems to have worked its magic on the cast.
“One of the best ways to get enjoyment out of a horror movie is if it makes you question what’s safe and what isn’t,” says Davis. “In making this seemingly normal situation actually scary and spooky, I think it affects you that way. So I hope people get really absorbed in the story, and get a visceral thrill out of the horrifying goings-on.”
COMA
Monday & Tuesday, 9 p.m., A&E