Elle Fanning Explains What It Took For Her To Dive Into Her First Comedic Role As Catherine ‘The Great’

Usually, when examining the life of a historical figure, the narrative is conveyed in a dramatic fashion, to emphasize the important societal contributions of said individual. 

But, recently, a new twist in storytelling has inspired a rash of these tales to be told with some comedic flair.

In this vein, along comes The Great, which is described as, “a genre-bending anti-historical romp through 18th century Russia following the wildly comic rise of Catherine the Nothing to Catherine the Great.”

The Great stars Elle Fanning in the title role with Nicolas Hoult playing Peter, her nemesis slash love interest. Tony McNamara is the creator as well as writer and executive producer. Marian Macgowan serves as executive producer as well. 

For Fanning,  this project was uncharted territory. “This is the first comedy that I’ve done, soI had to learn not to feel embarrassed. [I told myself], ‘Like alright, don’t be embarrassed. Be Brave. Be Catherine. Pull a face, go for it, try this wacky thing. Do things that you would never do on a regular film set.’”

As far as whether the comedic element changes the factual story of Catherine the Great, Fanning says, “We pride ourselves on not being historically accurate.”

McNamara is quick to add, “It seems like it is more important to tell a great story about a young woman and her rise than it is to go [into] the details of it. It isn’t a perfectly historically accurate document. That’s not what we’re trying to do. Other shows have done that, and that’s not what we’re trying to do.”

Explaining the tone a bit more, MacGowan says, “It’s not a joke-based comedy.  It’s very much comedy that comes out of the observation of human frailty, or human mendacity, or whatever it might be.” 

The true guiding force in telling this story, says McNamara, was to look more closely at the essence of Catherine’s story. 

But, he admits that the project started because of a rumor about Catherine. “Well,  I think when I started, the reason I wanted to do it was because basically, I knew one thing about Catherine the Great, which was maybe she fornicated with a horse,” something that McNamara says they actually allude to in the narrative. 

“Because we’re that show,” responds Fanning with a chuckle. 

McNamara says that his thoughts about Catherine shifted when he found out more about her. “You know, she went to a country she didn’t even know. She took it over, she started female education, she kept the Enlightenment alive, she invented the roller coaster. I was like, ‘well that’s the story.’”

MacGowan added, “In a thematic sense, it’s a story about a woman who positively affects the world around her, and I think that’s a very contemporary idea.”

Amidst the comedy are some very serious, graphic moments. Blending these emotions in a manner that works for viewers wasn’t as difficult as it might seem, says McNamara. “I think television’s so different now. I think audiences accept shifting tones — something that has a comic edge, but it also has a dark edge at the same time and can move between the two.  That’s what’s exciting about making the show – is that it is a tone that really stretches both ends, but is always true in its essence to the characters and what they’re all trying to do.”

‘The Great’ is available for streaming on Hulu.