They just went a different direction.
The character in the books is half Mexican-American.
His mother was Mexican, a kind of B-actress who later in life married Mickeys father.
Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Mickey Haller in ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’; Co-Showrunner/Co-Creator Ted HumphreyLara Solanki/Netflix/Courtesy
There was a big age difference between the two of them.
Then he returned to L.A. We looked at a lot of people and then we saw Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and said,thats him.
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DEADLINE You really show off the best of L.A. in this drama.
HUMPHREYIts very much by design.
Michaels books take place in L.A. Michaels obviously an LA.
icon at this point.
is like shooting on the greatest back lot in the world.
You have all these incredible locations to choose from.
And at one point, Mickey and Lisa walk down from her restaurant to the L.A. River.
We just give a shot to highlight real L.A. neighborhoods that you dont see as much on TV.
DEADLINE Where is Mickeys house?
HUMPREYThat is actually in Baldwin Hills where you get this incredible view.
It plays as the Hollywood Hills in the books.
He lives in Laurel Canyon in the books.
Then we found this house in Baldwin Hills.
L.A. natives know that is not the view from the Hollywood Hills.
You might not quite know where the view from.
But it really works for the show and its a really cool mid-century house.
HUMPHREYI thought it was a good idea.
But its just, like, gone in a flash.
This is a way to stay in the conversation longer and give people something to look forward to.
I thought it was a good idea.
DEADLINE So you definitely had to write a mid-season finale.
It just kind of worked out organically.
We were able to tailor that to the five-episode break without any problem.
HUMPREYMichaels books dont really do that.
The main thing were doing is being organic to what the books are.
Secondly, it was also very much in concert with Netflix.
Netflix has been really smart all along, helping us to mold the show for their platform.
They had an idea that this was a broad show that parents could watch with their teenagers.
Its not quite family fare.
DEADLINE How big is your writers room?
Is it a significant size?
We had one in season one and then we have one again in season two.
We have everyone we need.
Not everyone does, but we do.
DEADLINE One of the negotiating points for the WGA is having minimum staffing levels.
As a showrunner, do you want to be told how many writers to hire?
Im not involved in a leadership capacity in the Writers Guild, but other people on our show are.
Dailyn Rodriguez is on the Board of Directors of the Guild.
One of our writers is a strike captain.
So weve got people who are very much involved in this.
The way were going to solve that is by getting back and negotiating a solution.
Hopefully we can do that as quickly as possible.
As far as the writers room issue itself, Ive been fortunate.
Its not one that Ive experienced [having to decide how many people to staff].
We have a nice, full-sized writers room on our show.
I do know other people who havent had the same good fortune.
Im also not a showrunner whos looking to write 10 or 12 episodes myself.
Thats an awful lot of work.
So I enjoy very much having a strong group of people to collaborate with.
DEADLINE What is David E. Kelleys involvement in the drama today?
HUMPHREYHe is not involved day-to-day at this point.
He was involved with the pilot episode and he co-created the show.
It works phenomenally because of him.
He has been such a champion of the show.
DEADLINE So the five episodes dropping in August are all in the can?
HUMPHREYYes, everythings all done.
We shot in March and and edited shortly after that.
So weve been done for a while.
One thing that we have to get used to in streaming is how long everything takes to finish.
It just feels like you wait and wait until things finally drop.
DEADLINE So when you pick up in August, will the action continue minutes after Mickey was beaten?
And we will find out if Lisa is truly a killer?
HUMPHREYYes, mysteries will be revealed.
But you have to watch the second half to find out!
