Zazie Beetz on 'Full Circle' and Playing in Steven Soderbergh's Sandbox (2024)

From director Steven Soderbergh and writer Ed Solomon, the six-episode Max series Full Circle follows an investigation into a botched kidnapping, the individuals connected to it, and the secrets that have long been hidden. As the puzzle pieces come together, revelations make the three seemingly unrelated storylines take shape as a more intertwined crime drama that runs as deep as the ties that bind family.

During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, Zazie Beetz (who plays Mel Harmony, a U.S. Postal fraud inspector investigating this kidnapping) talked about the challenge of shooting all the episodes at once, the character of New York City, finding her character through the personal side of her, the oddly toxic dynamic between boss and subordinate, making a true ensemble piece, the sandbox that Soderbergh presents his actors to play in, and the importance of diversifying the projects that she’s involved with.

This interview was conducted prior to the start of the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Collider: This is such a fascinating character study. It’s one of those projects where, as the audience, we start not knowing what’s going on or how any of the pieces, which really are these characters, fit with each other. How much did you know? How did you sort this out for yourself? Do you just trust that Steven Soderbergh knows what he’s doing?

ZAZIE BEETZ: Yeah. We were all able to read all the scripts beforehand and parse out the story that way. And we always had Ed Solomon, our writer, on set and Steven, who both were masters of the plot and the story. It wasn’t that hard to keep track, largely because we were shooting all six episodes at once. On one day, you might be shooting a scene from episode one, and then episode five, and then episode six, so you’d have to always be tracking, “Okay, where am I in my arc? Where am I in the story?” Steven and Ed were both really good resources for that. We would talk and I’d be like, “So, where are we again?,” and they would invariably know and be able to chat it out with you. It’s truly such an ensemble piece. It’s really about the characters and certainly about the actions, but also the interplay of personalities and worlds colliding. That’s what’s very interesting about this show.

As the audience, it drops us directly into these characters lives. We’re not learning all this backstory about them before we just see them start living in these moments, so we really do learn about them through the interactions that they have with each other.

BEETZ: It’s true. It also shows the extremes of New York City, which I think is a character in itself, as well of this wealthy family, and then this crime syndicate, and these teenagers who are coming to New York for opportunities, and then they get trapped in this thing that they have no real control over. This spectrum affected that, or this circle affected this circle, and it’s on this wide spectrum of this one place. It’s a colliding of worlds, which is what’s interesting to watch.

Where did you start with your character? What was your process for figuring out who she is? Before this, I didn’t even know what it meant to work for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, so do you start there? Do you tend to start with the personal, or do you start with the professional?

BEETZ: I started with the personal and just her emotional motivations of ambition and career, and wanting to be validated, and her own romantic life, and how all of that informs how she operates in a scene or with other people. The professional research around the U.S. Postal Inspection Service came secondary to all the emotional stuff, especially since my character is very emotive. I didn’t know about it either. After we finished and wrapped, I saw a United States Postal Inspection Service truck on the street, and I was like, “Oh, they are real.” I think that’s part of the joke. There was this running joke of, “Yes, we are a real thing.” I always thought that was pretty funny. Yes, mail fraud is a thing.

The relationship between her and her boss is so weird and toxic. It’s such an interesting dynamic to watch because it’s almost uncomfortable in how weird it is. What was it like to figure that out with Jeff Gaffigan and to play those moments?

BEETZ: It was very fun to do with Jim Gaffigan. Ed wrote some really fun banter, and we improvised and leaned into that, as well. We really wanted to track their arc and how that relationship shifts, as we learn more about his character. She might come across as pushy and ambitious, and she’s asking for things that are perhaps inappropriate, in terms of where she’s at with her work and within the bureaucratic structure. We talked about his character maybe coming across as more collected and calm, and he’s the one who has moral high ground. But then, the switch flips, as you learn about his general involvement and everything that’s gone on, and how Mel maybe actually is in the right to also be pushing, and to be pushing him, and to be pushing anyone, really, who has the moral say in anything. She’s this brusque woman who comes in and says what she feels, but that doesn’t mean that she’s in the wrong. That’s the interplay that we were toying with, as we were doing the scenes.

All these characters have secrets, so you never know what their true motivations are with each other, or with what they’re doing.

BEETZ: Yeah, that’s true.

Your character is one that we feel like we should be rooting for, but then we learn about the secrets she has going on in her own relationship and her own life. That was a really interesting layer to her, as well.

BEETZ: Yeah, I agree. It really is this true ensemble piece. There’s an element of solving the crime, but you also have this very strong family dynamic, you have these teens trying to figure out their life. And then, there’s the layer above them, with a family love and family feel, even within this crime/mob group, which I think is interesting. And then, there’s my character in the middle of it all. Like any person, we all have our motivations. While I think Mel is motivated to do the right thing, in terms of wanting to solve a crime because she thinks it’s impactful to perhaps bring people to justice, I also think she’s self-serving, in terms of wanting to further her career. Both can be true. It’s like being a reporter, where a reporter wants to break a great story because it’s a great story, but it also helps your career. Both things are real.

How does a Steven Soderbergh project work? What’s it like to get on set and to get into the work with him? He seems like a filmmaker who really likes to be in the middle of what is happening.

BEETZ: Yeah, I think that’s actually a really good description. I would agree with that. He presents a sandbox for the actors and really lets them play, and he follows you. Everybody has different styles and there’s different value to each. You can’t get a beautiful Wes Anderson shot without curating that and timing that out. I think what is very special about Steven’s work is the very organic, raw experience you have, where the camera is a character and you’re following actors who are leading you to different rooms. The camera plays a role in the storytelling, and he just follows you and you can improvise. There’s some blocking, but there’s a lot of liberation and freedom in knowing like Steven will catch you and get you, and to not worry so much about, “Am I hitting these marks?” That’s really cool. There’s a lot of trust with that, from both performer to director, and director to performer, as well.

Your work seems to really encompass everything. You do film and TV, you do animated projects, you do these one-off episodes like with Black Mirror, you work in a variety of genres, and even within a project like Atlanta, you’re work in multiple genres in the same project. Do you feel like there’s any rhyme or reason to the projects that you do, or is it just how you feel you connect to something, on an emotional level?

BEETZ: For me, my throughline is various things. It’s what I’m drawn to, story wise. I also look for opportunities to stretch myself and try new things. I also wanna have fun. The reason I started acting was because I enjoyed it, and I wanna play and do different things. I also don’t wanna just be seen as one thing. I wanna be able to have an expansive career that I can do for decades. I don’t wanna get stuck and pigeonholed into one vibe or look, or whatever. I wanna be able to do stuff when I’m 80. That, to me, means diversifying early, so that people can perhaps see me in different lights. I’m also just always interested in exploring different creators. Even if a story isn’t perfect to me, I find it interesting to explore different brains and minds. I’m just in a place of exploration. I really do try to engage in stories that, in that moment in my life, are interesting to me, but there’s also a lot of stuff that I haven’t done, that I wanna do. I wouldn’t necessarily say my career is a perfect picture of my taste, of what I like, or of what I consume and watch. It’s a mix. And there’s a lot more that I want to do.

Full Circle is available to stream at Max.