Tamron Hall Talks To Kate Mara About Her Controversial Role In 'A Teacher'

The talk show hosts gets all the scoop on the Fx Hulu Original.

Hulu is coming out with a new TV series called A Teacher, which examines a predatory relationship between a high school teacher and her student. Kate Mara plays the teacher, and she along with the show's creator Hannah Fidell joined Tamron Hall to discuss the importance of the show.


Kate Mara On Her New Series ‘A Teacher’: “It’s an Important Story to Tell”

A Teacher follows the story of a female teacher who has an inappropriate relationship with a male student. This premise is sort of switched from society's vision of a what a predatory relationship looks like. When asked how society looks and males and females differently in this sense, Mara told Hall:

"I think this show sort of opens those questions up to people, to sort of see how you react as an audience member, really thinking to yourself, 'Would I react this way if it were a male teacher or would I have different judgements on them?' I think it's probably - maybe people have different responses to that, I don't know.

Because of its concepts, the show can be considered controversial. Mara explained how she has been asked why she chose to take on such a role, which she feels is not asked towards male actors:

"It's been interesting because a lot of people have asked me, you know, 'Were you concerned about playing this role? Did it take you a long time to decide whether or not to play her?' and I don't - I could be wrong but I feel like that question maybe isn't asked all that often to - you could think of a great male character on a very controversial show, you know, Tony Soprano. I find that interesting that people want to ask me if I thought that somehow it was a problem to make believe that you're someone."

When asked about how and why she created A Teacher, Fidell said:

"For me, and what I think we were able to capture, what's the most traumatizing thing for survivors is often not the act itself, it's the aftermath. A lot of the show is about that aftermath and how confusing and complicated it is to see yourself as a victim, especially for men. As women, you know, we're often told we're victims so it's easier for us to accept that, but not the case for men."

A Teacher is now available to watch on Fx on Hulu.

From our sponsors

From our partners

Top Stories

Caroline Linch