Cory Stillman
There is a clear aesthetic to Amazon Prime’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which set decorator Michael Nallan describes as “Mr. & Mrs. Smith for a new generation.”
The series focuses on a younger and more eclectic duo than the 2005 film. Donald Glover and Maya Erskine form just as attractive a pair as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie once did, but the careful detailing all around them is what truly establishes them — and their show, which Glover co-created alongside Atlanta writer Francesca Sloane — as a fresh take on the spy couple.
Over the course of its eight episodes, Mr. & Mrs. Smith teaches us a lot about its central marriage. Much of that information is conveyed through Nallan’s gorgeous sets, not to mention the additional details implemented by production designer Gerald Sullivan.
“[He] will find reference photos and inspiration for a concept that will then be made into renderings and blueprints,” Nallan expains. “From there it is a dialogue back and forth about what elements everyone likes, or does not like, and modifications are made. Finally after all that is the fun part where we get to go out and source all the items.”
Nallan particularly enjoyed decorating and sourcing for the therapist office in the show, and not only because the set centered around actress Sarah Paulson. The office is peppered with ornate collectibles from around the world, taking cue from Paulson’s character’s constant discussions of her world travel.
“We developed a really rich and layered space with treasures and artifacts from different cultures from around the world,” says Nallan. “Like a mid-century bookcase and desk from Newel that I’m obsessed with, oriental rugs, art, artifacts, and books.”
As Nallan combed through the script in preparation for his work on the show, he was consistently amazed by the impressive details the show’s dialogue offered him to play with. The Smiths’ Hot Neighbor, for example, offers a brief monologue in the final episode that gave Nallan a lot of inspiration for what the brownstones on that block might look like. Alongside Sullivan and fellow set decorator Andrew Baseman, Nallan was recently nominated for Best Achievement in Decor/Design of a One Hour Contemporary Series at this year’s SDSA (Set Decorators Society of America) Awards!
Checck out our full conversation with Nallan below, and stream all of Mr. & Mrs. Smith on Amazon Prime now!
What inspired the set design for Mr. & Mrs. Smith?
When they move in, the home has already been renovated and luxuriously designed by the agency, but it lacks any personal touches. It’s intended to be beautiful and aspirational, but a departure from the original Mr. & Mrs. Smith movie with Brad and Angelina where the dream home is a suburban colonial with a white picket fence. This is Mr. & Mrs. Smith for a new generation. They are younger and more hip, settling into the role of spies together. Think mauve in the bathroom (very in for 2023), or the hand glazed asparagus tile for the kitchen backsplash.
Much of the concept for the design of the brownstone, as with most sets, begins with the production designer. In this case the very talented Gerald (Gerry) Sullivan. The production designer will find reference photos and inspiration for a concept that will then be made into renderings and blueprints that are shared with the show’s creators Francesca Sloane and Donald Glover. From there it is a dialogue back and forth about what elements everyone likes, or does not like, and modifications are made. Finally after all that is the fun part where we get to go out and source all the items.
Many elements of the brownstone are specific callouts in the script that are then incorporated into the design moving forward. Specifically, luxury elements like the pool, garage, screening room, rooftop yoga studio, and fancy water bar in the kitchen were all scripted in advance. Additional practical elements related to the spy nature of their profession, such as the gun safe behind a painting, panic room, and other secret compartments for guns later seen in the shootouts were also scripted. So wherever specific elements are indicated in the script or there is an action required (like the composter for a dead body), we plan for and incorporate them into the overall design.
In the final episode (spoiler), there is a huge shootout in the main set which is an homage to the original movie. To create this we had to design multiples of many of the wall pieces and lights so they could be shot up and destroyed. This also factored into furniture choices, lamps, items on shelves you name it because we needed duplicates of almost every item in the house to destroy. Choreographing these action scenes in the space was really a lot of fun.
There is dialogue later in the final episode from Hot Neighbor that sums up the design elements of the house quite nicely. He says something to the effect of: “I’m a Sotheby’s agent and they want your house bad. No one understands how you were permitted to build it. There are no records of the permits being filed, you combined two historical brownstones, you added a garage and pool which alone would cost anyone over $25 million, if the city would even allow for it. The only people capable of anything like this are Russian Oligarchs and Saudi Royals and if we’re being honest neither would have the pallet for something as bespoke as your home. It’s a jewel.” [Emphasis added to highlight the key pieces that needed to be pulled out and incorporated into the design.]
The brownstone itself was scaled to be very similar to the proportions of the NYC townhouse lot (I believe most are 21’ wide x 50’ deep.) As such, we tried to scale the set accordingly to be true to what would fit in an actual townhouse. The designer also wanted to provide depth for filming, so he tried to design the floorplan to be as open as possible in spaces like the Master Bedroom, opting not to put doors on the walk-in closet or large master bath. In doing so, the camera can catch the scenes in a more interesting manner by seeing more elements of the space in the distance, whether it be a light on or some sort of background dressing.
There are other practical elements when it comes to filming — we often design walls to “fly” and move out of the way for cameras so you can see a whole room in a way you couldn’t in real life.
How does it feel to receive a SDSA nomination for your work on Mr. & Mrs. Smith?
To be honest, I’m honored and humbled to be nominated by a group of my peers and people whose work and accomplishments I’ve looked to for inspiration throughout the years: Andy Baseman, Regin Graves, Kim Wannop, Cherish Hale, Lisa Scopa, and Rich Murray to name a few. While high viewership and commercial success of a show are of course the goal, I think there is no greater honor than to be acknowledged and recognized by your peers who view the work through the same detailed lens as myself.
What specific details did you incorporate to reflect the characters’ personalities in their home?
As the show progressed we made a very conscious effort to show the progression of time in the townhouse and to subtly develop it as John and Jane’s own, more lived-in, and unique space. Some elements are small and practical like the cat-related items for Jane’s cat, cosmetics in the bathroom, and clutter and products on the kitchen surfaces, while other elements were more rooted in character development. I had a series of conversations with Francesca Sloane, our showrunner and one of the show’s creators, and we agreed that subtle changes to the townhouse were a great way to showcase how John and Jane were each spending their new found riches while also allowing the viewer to learn more about each of their respective personalities (and just how fundamentally different they are are as people.)
We agreed John was more likely to spend his money on material things like a high-end $50,000 McIntosh stereo system (seen in glowing green in their living room), watches, and fashion items which we curated in his closest with this assistance of our fantastic costume department, lead by the legendary Madeline Weeks. We find out early on in the opening sequence how John thinks about money when prompted about how much he has in his checking account during his initial interview. It’s close to nothing and we can infer he’s a bit flagrant and careless with his spending.
Jane, by contrast, has quite a bit of money saved and we can infer she is more frugal and good at investing. She has good taste, but she’s smart and pragmatic. We chose to show her spending money on art which is something that can be beautiful, but also a form of investment. Art is also a reflection of Jane’s personality, so while choosing the specific pieces, our goal was to find not only beautiful pieces that were contemporary and bold, but also from artists that were unknown and representing minority groups she might be drawn to or want to support. In episode four with the other Smiths, we tour the townhouse with Parker Posey’s Jane Smith character and she remarks that the company has “surprisingly good taste in art.” Maya Erskine’s Jane points out that she actually purchased the piece in the primary bedroom (‘No Coffee this Morning’ by Nigerian artist Osinachi) because “art is what she wanted to buy when she started making money.” This particular line of dialogue and all of the additional focus on the art pieces in the scene were added to the script later with Francesca Sloane as the art curation was added (and well received) during the changeover of the set.
Can you discuss any specific scenes where the set design plays a crucial role in the storytelling?
One particular scene or set that comes to mind (perhaps because it’s the most recent!) is the therapist office with Sarah Paulson. The therapist office was a really fun set to work on that was added to the show during re-shoots and one of my favorites overall. Sarah Paulson was brilliant in this role, but what isn’t she good in? Appropriate on Broadway…incredible.
With this set we really got to layer a lot of character all around the room. There were several callouts in the script about Paulson’s character’s world travels and her over-the-top stories related to each of these journeys that gave us a lot of insight into the type of person she is and what might be in her home. From those context notes we developed a really rich and layered space with treasures and artifacts from different cultures from around the world like a mid-century bookcase and desk from Newel that I’m obsessed with, oriental rugs, art, artifacts, and books. There were a few key pieces we also knew would need to be in the room and built around them. For example, the large sectional was a director request so that over the course of their therapy sessions we could see John and Jane sitting further and further apart to show the shift in their relationship. Overall I really love this space — it shows so much of Paulson’s character (which is almost a caricature of a therapist) and all the layers and objects really juxtapose the simplicity of John and Jane’s townhouse beautifully. The sofa creates a beautiful metaphor about the growing distance in their relationship, and correspondingly the beautiful French doors and windows all around were lit progressively darker in those scenes to show the darkening of the relationship (we helped in this area via the window treatments.)
What are some of your favorite elements or pieces from the sets of Mr. & Mrs. Smith?
Some of my favorite elements in the sets of Mr. & Mrs. Smith are the art pieces, curated by Jane as they settle in their new home. We were able to use some local independent artists — Ross Broadar, Matt Uebbing, Dana Wood Zinsser — which I think is always so special as a way to differentiate and add character outside of the typical prop house rentals, as well as give some screen time and exposure to local talent.
Outside of the art I think some of my favorite elements are tile (sourced by the decorator of the first block Andrew Baseman.) The most often asked about is the beautiful asparagus green handmade Moroccan terracotta tile that is used for the kitchen backsplash. What a showstopper! There is also a beautiful tile in the entry that is a 17th century Portuguese mosaic.
I’m also a sucker for Visual Comfort lighting, particularly the alabaster stone sconces and fixtures. There is something about that warm glow from behind the stone, accentuating the natural veining of the stone while providing a nice warm, even lighting that gets me every time!
What do you hope viewers will notice or appreciate about the set design in Mr. & Mrs. Smith?
One thing I hope the viewers notice about the set design of Mr. & Mrs. Smith is that the spaces are aspirational (we dream about living there) yet warm and attainable (they aren’t a museum space or stuffy.) I also hope the viewers notice that in all of the sets outside of the townhouse we wanted to show a bit more chaos of the city, clutter, etc., so that there is a stark contrast to the calm of when they come home. I think developing the art and items in the townhouse was really special as well and allowed us to show our characters growing through the sets. We know so little about them going into the show, that seeing how and what they add as personal touches unravels the mystery of who they each really are.
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