“It’s an absolute horror show”: why HBO drama ‘The Plot Against America’ feels so timely

Star Anthony Boyle on why you need to see his disturbingly on-the-nose wartime thriller

There’s something about an America-set drama featuring a xenophobic Republican on the election trail, threatening to lead the country to disarray, that feels disturbingly on the nose.

But this is HBO’s latest (fictional) blockbuster miniseries, and it’s set during World War Two. Out now on Sky and NOW TV, alternate history thriller The Plot Against America asks the question: what if a fascist-friendly politician had become president instead of Franklin D. Roosevelt during wartime America? What if, instead of joining the war as a British ally, the US actually stayed out of the fight and sided with Hitler?

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The series tells that what-if story from the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in New Jersey, weaving real-life figures into its alternate history – these actual politicians could have run, had history diverted – for a terrifyingly plausible chain of events leading to the persecution of Jewish people in America.

The concept is cemented by stellar performances from Winona Ryder and Zoe Kazan. One other such performance comes from Anthony Boyle, who plays Alvin Levin – a hot-headed orphan living with his dad’s brother’s family. He wants to defy the government and join up with the Allies. “Philip Roth describes him as emotionally, the rawest of the raw,” explains Boyle, referring to the author of the 2004 novel from which the series is adapted. “He’s got a really strong moral compass… even if the law says you can’t go and fight, he will.”

We caught up with Anthony Boyle to hear why the acclaimed new series should be at the top of your watch list.

The Plot Against America
Anthony Boyle in ‘The Plot Against America’. Credit: Sky

The plot isn’t too far from historical events

Lindbergh, the fascist politician in the show, was a real figure in wartime America. “He had real backing within the Republican party, and was thinking about running,” says Boyle, on where the alternate history of the series splinters from real life, “and where we diverted from is that he actually does run.” In the series, he does more than run – he beats real-life wartime president Roosevelt. “Carnage ensues.”

It comes from the people who brought you The Wire

“It’s written by David Simon and Ed Burns, who are the poets of our time, using the medium of our time, to tell the story of our time,” Boyle says. “The Wire had such forensic detail, and it felt so real. At times you felt like you were watching a documentary… And seeing the level of detail that went into Ed and David’s writing for our show, it’s just astounding. Like, what sort of cigarette someone might smoke if they grew up in this part of Newark, New Jersey, as opposed to a different part of New Jersey.”

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The Plot Against America
‘The Plot Against America’ depicts an alternative history in which wartime America is run by fascists. Credit: Sky

The show is extremely relevant today

Though many would argue that the current president isn’t too far from a fascist (if at all), TPAA has become even more timely since the show first aired in the US. “Look at what’s happening in America right now, it just seems like an absolute horror show,” Boyle says. “When this aired in the US in March, some of the things in it felt like they may never happen. But now, it just feels unfortunately all too relevant.

“It’s crazy watching what has happened in America unfold since March,” he adds, comparing the events of the show to America’s recent Black Lives Matter protests. “I think it begins with language. Lines like, ‘We Americans can’t fault the Jews for their own interest.’ Divisive language is such a powerful tool. And when you see the President of the United States saying that Mexicans are rapists, this is the power of words. They are just so dangerous.

“The idea didn’t shock me. I know people are anti-Semitic, I know people are racist. We see it every day. You just have to log on Twitter, and you see the abuse that any Black public figure in the UK gets,” says Boyle. “David said, ‘You’re not gonna win, you’re fighting a battle which is constantly being raised against, but the honor is in the fight.”

The Plot Against America
Zoe Kazan in ‘The Plot Against America’. Credit: HBO

Great care went into depicting the Jewish experience in the show

Boyle, who is not Jewish, “hung out with some Rabbis and Jewish professors,” to research his character. “There was a guy I was chatting to who spoke about collective grief, and how a whole people could hold trauma in the body,” Boyle says, “it gave me such an appreciation and insight into the Jewish experience.”

This is a seriously huge production

For the production to seem authentic, 1940s Newark, New Jersey, needed to be recreated in fine detail. “There was one day where there were all these period cars and 200 supporting artists [just for one scene],” Boyle says. “It’s a small thing, but it was just to film me walking across the street to get a newspaper, and I said two lines.”

The scale was awe-inspiring, says Boyle: “The production was so massive, and it felt like I was on the set of one of the 1940s gangster films that I’ve grown up loving. It was a real moment of, ‘Holy shit man, I’m doing this!”

‘The Plot Against America’ is available on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV, with all episodes available on demand

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