Created by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Apple TV+'s Mr. Corman follows a musician-turned-fifth-grade teacher. Feeling adrift in his late 30s, Josh Corman seeks to find deeper meaning in his life through unsuccessful hookups, advice from his roommate/best friend Victor and music. Exploring themes of mental illness and the power of creating art to overcome emotionally tough times, Mr. Corman is a meditative, 10-episode long series that blends experimental musical sequences with heartfelt dramedy.
Gordon-Levitt wrote and directed the majority of the episodes within the upcoming Apple TV+; he also stars as its lead and serves as the show's executive producer. In an exclusive interview with CBR, Gordon-Levitt broke down the inspiration behind creating Mr. Corman, what he hopes audiences will take away from Josh's complicated outlook and how he imagines that one day teachers will be seen with as much reverence as actors.
CBR: Mr. Corman starts off by asking whether hard work or luck generates success. It seems as the journey goes on, it becomes more about Mr. Corman questioning if he is living up to his values and exactly what those values are. What drew you to explore those themes?
Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Wow, I like how you articulated that. I always love hearing what different people say when they see something I've been involved with and I'll tell you what was on my mind. But, it's worth noting, I think that watching a show is a creative process in itself. Whatever I put into it is no more right than whatever you take out of it.
But when I started writing it, it started as me writing down a bunch of stuff I was grateful for in my life. I wasn't even necessarily trying to make something. I just like to write stuff like that sometimes. I'm so grateful for so many things. I have a wonderful partner that I love. We have our kids. I have two parents that are really healthy and supportive. I have work that I get to do that is meaningful to me. I'm healthy and safe. When I read back all these things that I'm grateful for a lot of where my mind went was, "Man, I got so lucky. How did I get this lucky?"
I worked for some of this stuff, but I also think I got a lot of lucky breaks. That led me to ask myself, "Well, what if some things had gone differently? Things that are totally out of my control?" You don't pick your parents. What if my parents weren't so supportive and healthy and nourishing? What if I had one great parent and one parent was more of a problem? Debra Winger in the show plays like this one great parent who was sort of an amalgamation of my mom and dad -- in certain ways. And then there's this other parent, the father character who you find out more and more about as the show goes on who struggled with addiction, and [that] led to a bit of a chaotic childhood for Josh. And is a bit of a demon in Josh's mind and it cascades throughout his whole life and personality. And changing little things like that, and seeing what that would do? That's kind of where the character came from. And those kinds of questions were the questions I was asking myself as I was coming up with the show.
In Episode 4, there's an amazing arc all about Victor (Arturo Castro). Without spoiling it -- it made me cry. I loved it so much. In a way, it felt like a backdoor pilot. I was curious if that'd be something that you would ever explore in the future as its own kind of spin-off?
I'd love to do that. I definitely had the same thought in my fantasy. And Arturo [Castro] just deserves it as much as anybody that I know. He's such a talent and such a sweetheart. I would. He should absolutely have a show --100%. Write to your congressman.
Similar to your feature film debut with Don Jon, the series is also about a flawed character who is realizing that the things society valued changed the way he sees himself. Is there anything with Mr. Corman that you'd love for people to take away as a different way to think about themselves or their world?
Sure. Well, one thing, Josh is a teacher. And he's an artist at heart. He is a musician and he pursued music professionally. And that didn't work out as a way to make money. And now he's a teacher. And there's a line in the first episode where one character who's sort of trying to make Josh feel bad, says, "The only people that teach are people who want to do something else and gave up." I feel like that is a stigma with teachers. There are various sayings like that and I just wish that would go away.
I think teachers are heroes. Teachers should be celebrated and valorized way more than entertainers. If I could wave a magic wand, teachers would be what everyone is talking about, like the coolest teacher around, and be like, "Did you see their new curriculum?" So, I would hope that maybe, in some small way, Mr. Corman can alleviate some of that stigma.
By the way, he's a musician, but he loves teaching and he says it several times throughout the season. I hope you can see it, especially towards the end of the season. He really cares about his students. And he really wants to do a good job. I would hope... I just think, what's a better thing for anybody to do than spend their time teaching young people? What's better than that?
Mr. Corman premieres Friday, Aug. 6 on Apple TV+, with new episodes debuting each Friday.