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After news broke last week that beloved primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall had passed away, Netflix He unveiled an interview they filmed several months ago, which was scheduled to be released posthumously.
It may sound strange, but that’s the whole premise of Netflix’s new interview series, Famous Last Words, a show based on a Danish series called The Last Word. Famous people are interviewed in their final years, and this interview serves as their final farewell after their death.
The series is hosted by Brad Falchuk, a frequent collaborator of Ryan Murphy (and perhaps Gwyneth Paltrow’s most famous husband). Falchuk also serves as co-producer with Mikkel Bondesen, the original host of the Danish show.
The show began with Goodall’s episode, and New York Times Reports indicate that at least three other interviews were recorded and stored. But Netflix has not and will not reveal the other people it interviewed. All we know is that many of them are in their 90s.
It can have you playing a terrible mental guessing game, kind of like guessing who might show up at next year’s Oscars. The operation is so secret that only Falchuk and the interviewer are in the room, and the cameras are operated remotely.
The entire premise of Famous Last Words may already seem bleak, but Goodall’s interview serves its purpose as a celebration of life more than anything else. (If I could level one criticism at the show itself, it’s that Falchuk is an odd choice for host. He’s not bad, but that’s not necessarily his calling.)
Goodall’s demeanor during the interview is an example of calm and hope. In the final moments, she made closing remarks while looking directly into the camera: “I want to make sure you all understand that each one of you has a role to play. You may not know it, you may not find it, but your lives matter, and you are here for a reason.”
It may seem simple, but there is a certain danger in her statement. This is what you will leave to us. This is the message she wanted so badly to get across, and you can’t help but feel a little touched knowing that.
Brad Falchuk and Jane Goodall talk during her special interview, with only remote cameras in the room.
Goodall is also asked about more personal things, like who she doesn’t really love (she talks about a list of current world leaders) and any regrets (she alludes to an unrequited romance without naming names).
But Falchuk says that promiscuity or deathbed confessions are not the goal. “It’s not about getting them to tell some secrets about their lives, this is a big story that makes the front page of the New York Post… It’s a service for these people to have their last words.”
In Goodall’s case, what seems most inspiring is her spiritual side. We know she’s a lover of nature and animals, but she explains that the connection she feels with nature is so strong that she’s been known to change the weather on command. Although this seems implausible, Goodall exudes such certainty about these forces that he offers some hope that perhaps there is more to this universe that we cannot understand.
Famous Last Words is a unique business model. Episodes only air after a person has died, so no one can predict with any real certainty when the next episode will be released.
But as the series’ opening titles say, “When someone important dies, all you long for is just to spend more time with them.” And that’s exactly what it offers. For now, we’ll keep our guesses about who will appear in the next episode to ourselves.