Margo Martindale on how ‘some woman’ named Jamie Lee Curtis ‘called me on the phone’ to discuss replacing her on ‘The Sticky’
On Sunday, Nov. 24, Prime Video hosted a screening and panel discussion for “The Sticky” at The Whitby Hotel Screening Room in New York. The series premiere was shown on the big screen for the packed audience, which was made up of members of the Screen Actors Guild Awards nominating committee. Following the episode, journalist Esther Zuckerman moderated a chat with actress Margo Martindale. An intimate reception capped off the evening, complete with drinks and hors d’oeuvres.
From showrunners Ed Herro and Brian Donovan, “The Sticky” is inspired by the true story dubbed the “Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist.” Martindale, a three-time Emmy winner for “Justified” (2011) and “The Americans” (2015 and ’16), plays Ruth Landry, a tough, middle-aged maple syrup farmer. Per Prime Video, Ruth “turns to crime when the bureaucratic authorities threaten to take away everything she loves. She teams up with the hot-tempered Bostonian mobster (Chris Diamantopoulos) and a mild-mannered French-Canadian security guard (Guillaume Cyr) to carry out a multi-million dollar heist on Quebec’s maple syrup surplus.”
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Martindale informed the crowd about the truly amazing way in which she was cast, explaining, “Some woman called me on the phone and said, ‘Hi, this is Jamie Lee Curtis.’ She said, ‘I was going to do this show, but I can’t because of scheduling. And I thought, who is like me?’ And she said, ‘The only other person I could think of was you.’ In my head, I said, ‘In what world?'”
Curtis does still have a smaller role in “The Sticky,” plus she’s a producer. “It’s a delight working with Jamie Lee as well — she’s in the show,” Martindale said. “She’s a force of nature and a straight shooter and an absolutely supportive individual as a producer, and that was grand.”
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The actress’ first impressions of the series was that it was “unique and different, fun and funny, and emotional.” In other words, “Everything you want in a little bit of slice of life.”
Regarding her rugged character of Ruth, Martindale revealed, “I wanted to look tired. I wanted to look beaten. I wanted to look desperate. I wanted the feel to be a woman at the end of her rope.” On working with her co-stars, she declared, “It was an instant chemistry with us.”
Martindale addressed the unique tone of the show by saying, “I thought that what was most important was that it was in the tone of a black comedy. You’re not playing really unless your feet are on the ground. You can go anywhere from there. You go can completely deeply emotional or you can turn upside down. Just as long as your feet are on the ground. I think tonally it came out really well, I was very pleased with it.”
Shooting on location in Montreal, Quebec, Canada was “freeze ass cold,” she joked. “I mean, I was standing in the snow almost to my waist with a chainsaw and those goggles on and thinking, ‘I have got to get out of here.'” However, she told the audience, “It was all worth it in the end.”
As with most productions, “The Sticky” was affected by the Hollywood strikes of 2023. “We started in March, and we finished in May,” Martindale began. “And then there was a writers’ strike and then there was an actors’ strike and then there was a lull in work and now, a year and a half later, the show is finally coming out.” She concluded, “It was all exciting and it was all challenging and it was all wonderfully fun.”
“The Sticky” premieres Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, on Prime Video.
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