"Sweet Tooth": From a challenge to a great opportunity

The Netflix series, produced by Susan Downey and her husband Robert Downey Jr., creates a new world with beings that are hybrids between humans and animals. The production company talks about the creative process of this exciting story and the obstacles they had to overcome.

Sweet Tooth is not a conventional series. Based on the DC comic written and illustrated by Jeff Lemire , this story will not feature iconic superheroes, nor will it address heinous crimes perpetrated by the franchise’s most hated villains. This time the narrative changes and Netflix will include in its original productions the story of Gus, a hybrid boy who is half deer and half human.

The series, produced by Robert Downey Jr. and his wife Susan Downey, tells how a pandemic wreaked havoc on Earth and caused the mysterious appearance of hybrid babies who, like Gus, the main character in the story, are born being animals and humans at the same time … but everything gets complicated when humans they start hunting hybrids out of fear.

Gus, played by Christian Convery, was one of the few of his kind who managed to stay safe for a decade, hidden in the woods. In search of answers about her nature and origins, she befriends a lonely man named Jepperd. Together they will undertake a journey to what is left of the United States to establish explanations for all their questions, but they will meet several enemies who will be stones in the way.

It is difficult to think of the proper way to bring a story like this into real life and create a completely different world from the one we know, but that is precisely what attracted Susan and Robert to this project. “When one of our executives brought me this comic with a kind of hybrid child on the cover, I thought ‘what is this?’ I started reading it to soak up a bit more of what was going on and what captivated me the most was the beautiful adventure that the main character goes through, it’s very unusual, it completely caught us, ”says Susan, adding that conversations with the comic’s creator, Jeff Lemire, began almost immediately.

Sweet tooth has several elements that make it a rather peculiar story, even a bit prophetic, considering that it was written in 2009 with the initial idea that a pandemic would destroy the world, and although the consequences are different in fiction and In reality, the storyline was a major factor in showrunners Jim Mickle and Beth Schwartz’s decision to make the series.

“When we started adapting Sweet Tooth into a Netflix series in 2016 and filming the pilot in 2019, it wasn’t easy to imagine an event that could be so disruptive to our lives. Of course, that changed in March 2020. We had started working only two months ago when, suddenly, we had to get together for Zoom to write a fiction series that was getting closer and closer to reality, ”the showrunners confess.

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Sweet tooth recounts difficult moments, but at the same time talks about family and the importance of teamwork, it is a story that Susan Downey defines as “hopeful”, but at the same time challenging to carry out. “The show allowed us to create a whole world, which Robert and I love to do. That was incredible, also because this series has several elements such as intrigue and mystery. She has a great character, a great visual, a good story … so we worked hard to find the right team to make it happen, “adds Susan Downey.

Although the producer assures that she likes to see challenges as great opportunities, from the beginning she was aware of the two important tasks that she, Robert Downey and his team had to reach the final result. The first was to create the whole world and find the perfect location. The second was the process of creating the hybrids … “that is the most authentic element of the entire series, and understanding how to make them visually was a challenge,” he says.

The pandemic was the reason why hundreds of productions had to take a forced pause, but in the case of the Sweet tooth filming, the recess was not too long.

Fortunately, having recorded the series in New Zealand gave them a bit of an advantage compared to other projects, which stopped for several months. “We were very lucky, because many productions were delayed due to the pandemic, but New Zealand was one of the first countries to normalize everything again, so we were not so affected by the contingency. In addition, we managed to do post-production remotely, ”says Susan Downey.

The cast of this series is made up of Christian Convery as Gus, Nonso Anozie playing Tommy Jepperd, Adeel Akhtar as Doctor Aditya Singh, Aliza Vellani as Rani Singh and other actors, such as Stefania LaVie, Dania Ramírez, Neil Sandilands, Will Forte and James Brolin. For the choice of the actor who would play the main character, the production and casting team did not have to think about it so much, because since they saw the audition of Christian Convery they were convinced that he was perfect to bring Gus to life.

“Christian is very talented and has been in various productions, and when he appeared to audition, it was incredible, because he always had that curiosity and emotion, but at the same time that vulnerability that is so characteristic of the character. When we saw him, we knew we had our Gus, ”says Susan. “In general, I feel like we managed to bring together a cast that represents everything we wanted to show in the series, it was a great opportunity to do something that would give us a look at different aspects of the people in the world that we are creating,” he says.

What is really shocking about Sweet tooth , beyond the visual part and the creation of the hybrids, is what it makes you feel… an exciting, emotional, dramatic story, with a touch of hope that comes in handy in these difficult moments. those that cross the world, and in the opinion of Robert Downey Jr., this is what makes, beyond being a series, it becomes an experience. “We heard that there was a great series of graphic novels with incredible emotional breadth in the narrative. When I saw the daily filming, it seemed perfect to me, as if the novel continued … and I hope that, like us, people can meet their children, sit on the sofa and watch it together as a family ”, commented the producer, also recognized worldwide by his role as Iron Man in the Marvel Universe.

More than husbands, Susan and Robert Downey Jr. have been a team for several years with their production company Team Downey, which has released films such as The Judge (2014), and Dolittle (2020). “It is always exciting to work together and find a project where we witness the entire process, from the initial idea to the finished project. Bringing such unique stories to life is just incredible and, for us, one of the funniest things, “he concludes.