Kate Mara on Digging Into Both Points of View of ‘A Teacher’-Student Affair
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A married high school English instructor has an affair with her teen student in FX’s A Teacher.
The sordid topic has fueled all too many headlines: An attractive young teacher gets way too close to one of her underage pupils. In this case, it’s fictional Texas high school English instructor Claire Wilson and 17-year-old Eric Walker (House of Cards‘ Kate Mara and Love, Simon‘s Nick Robinson).
While Mara describes the story as “very intense and juicy and unique,” the 10-episode limited series promises to be more thoughtful than any salacious Lifetime movie tackling the same subject.
“The biggest draw for me was that it was not just from the woman’s point of view, but also from the male victim’s,” she explains. “He’s not just a so-called fling that you can write off as such.”
(Credit: Chris Large/FX)
The series is a reworking of writer-director Hannah Fidell’s 2013 movie. She and Mara studied multiple cases of teacher-student affairs and built Claire’s backstory together. “The audience will get a glimpse of why she makes her choices and learn about her childhood, her relationship with her father and family,” says Mara.
We’ll also see how Claire’s selfish act affects her and the people she loves, the actress adds: “There are consequences. She definitely gets what some would say she deserves.”
A Teacher, Series Premiere, Tuesday, Nov. 10, FX on Hulu
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