Paul Hunter is the co-creator of the Apple TV+ comedy-drama series, “Government Cheese,” which takes place in California’s San Fernando Valley in 1969.
The series follows Hampton Chambers, played by David Oyelowo. After he finds religion while in prison, he invents a self-sharpening drill that his son Einstein names the “Bit Magician.”
In a recent interview with WPR’s “BETA,” Hunter discussed Hampton’s struggles to win back his wife and his two sons upon his release from prison, as well as how much of “Government Cheese,” right down to the title, was inspired by his own childhood.
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The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Paul Hunter: I thought about this time with my dad, with my mom and my brother. And I wanted to create from those emotions. My dad would often say, “Listen, we’re gonna get past this.” You know, we’d laugh and joke about it. And that’s the Hampton character. I wanted to see Black characters in a unique way. And how we grew up in my family, I thought it’d be interesting to see the quirk and the oddness.
The character was based on on my dad, who, at one point was incarcerated, and I would go to visit him. And we actually had fun. He was kind of like the mayor and would pull all types of people together. When he got out, you would think that, okay, this is a guy who is going to be down on his luck. But he was quite the opposite. He came out to have a lot to say in terms of encouraging and inspiring our family. And I think that speaks to a lot of us.
Doug Gordon: Hampton is also a dreamer and a hustler, which can be kind of a dangerous combination. And one of the things that he puts his dreams into is this self-sharpening drill. Can you tell us about this invention?
PH: Sure, I used to sell cutting tools, and I worked in a warehouse as a kid and around aerospace companies. And so I was around a lot of the machine shops growing up and talking to some of the machinists there, and they’d have all these wacky ideas. So the inspiration grew from that.
I thought it’d be fun to throw the Hampton character in that world, especially in a time period where you didn’t really see a Black tool salesman. And I thought it’d be interesting to watch this character, with his background, go in there and try to talk to some engineers and try to sell an idea. I thought it’d be a lot of fun.
DG: It is a lot of fun. You were absolutely right about that. I’ve got to ask you about the Prevost brothers. Who are they and what role do they play in the “Government Cheese” story world?
PH: My family’s from New Orleans, so that was kind of an inspiration there. We actually knew Prevosts back where I grew up. And so they’re a group of brothers from Canada who were poor, and they learned to work together as a group. And they got into some trouble with some motorcycle gangs and came to California and took over an orange grove. And if you know the history of Los Angeles and the Valley, it’s full of orange groves.
So they’re tucked away on a ranch up there, and they’re selling their oranges, and they’re probably doing some other things in those orange boxes. They’re tied into [Hampton’s friend] Bootsy, who used to work for them. And Hampton needed to get out. He was afraid he was going to lose [his wife] Astoria. He couldn’t wait any longer in prison. He needed to get out. And when the situation happened in episode one, where there were riots, and his time was pushed back, he had to call Bootsy and say, “Hey, man, can you help me?” And Bootsy uses his Prevost connection. They have guys inside, and so they kind of helped him out.
DG: Bokeem Woodbine plays Hampton’s friend Bootsy. And Bokeem has said that when the set designer and the wardrobe people are on the same page as the actors and the directors, it makes him feel like he’s in a time machine. Is that what makes his portrayal of Bootsy so memorable?
PH: Yeah, I think Bokeem is a genius actor. And what I love about what he does is he’s a true artist. He really appreciated the detail in the production design because he wanted to feel the texture. He talked a lot with the production designer. He talked a lot with Nancy Steiner, the costumer, and they built back stories. The way he dressed, what shoes he was wearing for the day, what his favorite colors were, and what did he want to do in the future? He wanted to retire and have a horse ranch. So, he has boots. He loves martial arts. In another scene you see him with karate shoes on. So I think Bokeem just really appreciates the tools that he has to work with and works great with them.
DG: Speaking of your costume designer, Nancy Steiner, she has this great understanding of your wheelhouse in terms of fashion, and she has said that Wes Anderson’s films are influential for you, with a touch of David Lynch thrown in. How have Wes and David influenced your work?
PH: What I like about Wes is, some of the costuming stuff sort of taps into this kind of humor and offbeat tone, which I love. And Lynch is just very odd and surreal. Nancy worked with David Lynch. I was really wanting to work with her based on all the work that she’d done over the years. And she has a unique style herself, so I thought this would feel period, but it would feel modern at the same time and have an edge of fun hipness to it.
DG: I loved how you opened episode five with “A Day in the Life at Temple Hillel” public access film starring Rabbi Marty. Aeysha Carr, the other co-creator, has said that the two of you wanted to find new ways to tell stories that don’t feel like a half-hour series. I’d say this opening qualifies. Can you tell us about this approach?
PH: I resisted doing a television series for a long time because I didn’t really love the format so much. And so one of the first things I said is, “If we go down this road, let’s make short films. Let’s break the rules.” So one of the things that we would talk about was, OK, let’s set up like the theme of the episode in a fun way that sets up the episode. And then we kind of go into the story.
DG: David Oyelowo is great as Hampton Chambers. What does he bring to “Government Cheese”?
PH: David, as an actor, he grounds it. He’s able to play and have the command of tone, which is not easy in this because we’re not going for laughs. He’s not hunting for jokes, but the situations are absurd, and that’s what brings out the humor. And he brings an elegance to the character.
DG: Yeah. Let’s talk about the rest of Hampton’s family, starting with his wife, Astoria, who is played by Simone Missick. She is really great in this part. What does she bring to her character?
PH: With all the actors, they brought a lot of their personal stories to it, like how they grew up. When I met Simone, I remember her talking about an aunt that reminded her of Astoria. She’s a very patient performer. We didn’t want her to feel like she was angry, but we wanted to feel like she was having a lot of conflict with staying home as a traditional mom, or do I go for my dream?
DG: There’s some sibling rivalry between Hampton and Astoria’s sons. Can you tell us about their characters?
PH: The Harrison character is closer to me, and my brother’s closer to Einstein. Harrison was very passionate about the Chumash Native American culture, as was I when I was younger, just the Native American culture. One of our neighbors was Apache, and he shared a lot of stories with us growing up. I was just inspired by him and loved the pride that he had. And my brother, as you can see in the show, Einstein does great, cool yo-yo tricks [LAUGHS]. My brother was one of those kids who could play an instrument without thinking about it, and just get in front of the piano and play piano. And he loves language.
So, like any family, there’s layers to it. I just wanted to capture the family in a real way. The Einstein character is happy to see his dad. He’s just in his own world. And then the Harrison character is frustrated because he actually wanted his dad to be around. Hampton and Harrison are very much alike, so there’s a lot of tension between them. But at the same time, when there’s tension, there’s probably a lot of love there.
