Nurse Mary Phinney played by actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Photo courtesy of Antony Platt/PBS; New England nurse Mary Phinney navigates her first day in a Union hospital in an occupied Southern town
"We worked most closely with Hannah James, who plays Emma, and AnnaSophia Robb, who plays Alice," Jabour said, "because their characters are so essential to the larger story. They were great. I wish all of my students were as fascinated by the details as they were. They were very curious about what it would have been like to grow up at that time, what their education would have been, what their courtships would have been like, the degree of intimacy that they might have been able to achieve. Perhaps most, though, they capture that inner space that women created, one where they were, of course, essential to every aspect of life, especially in a hospital setting, while having to navigate a wide range of biases and restrictions."
Before filming began, each cast member was presented with a customized research packet that included information about their specific character, as well as information about the general history included in the story.
"I have to say, I love research and it's one of my favorite parts of being an actress," said actress Donna Murphy, who plays Green family matriarch Jane Green. "I have played characters in this particular period before, so that was helpful. I've been in the corset and the hoop before. I know both what that feels like and what the etiquette and the sort of protocol of the time was in regard to many of the exterior elements. But I have never in over 30 years in the business been given that kind of customized material, particularly in a television film project."
Costume designer Amy Andrews Harrell worked closely with producers throughout the process to create looks that were not only historically accurate, but also reflected the characters' various personalities, from the dresses worn by young Emma Green to the spectacular hoop-skirt dresses created for the Union fundraising ball held in the Green home, and even the clothing worn by doctors as they worked.
"The surgeons are very formal people," Harrell said. "They call their operating room the theater, so they would operate in their full suits and uniforms. I found a very early photo of an operation and the man was standing there in his sleeve garters, which they might use to cover the ends of their sleeves. And then there is the one guy who has his vest and his sleeve guards on, and the people assisting him wear whole frock coats. We tried to capture that formality, but also to create a great diversity of style, within the context of the period, to reflect the characters' personalities."
The chance to tell a Virginia story in Virginia, including in historic locations in the Commonwealth, added another layer to the authenticity efforts. "I spent quite a few years looking for locations," Wolfinger said, "and I looked to Virginia first. I knew we had to shoot in practical locations versus building sets on a sound stage. Petersburg itself is almost like a Civil War back lot — Spielberg shot much of Lincoln there and did very little to it because you really don't have to. And I knew Centre Hill, a beautiful, historic mansion there, would work perfectly for the Green house."
Adding to the allure, she said, was a Virginia crew with a great track record in historical drama. "There is a fabulous crew in Virginia that is very accustomed to working on historical dramas. They worked on HBO’s John Adams and Terrence Malick's The New World, among many other productions. So if you are going to do a historical drama, Virginia is clearly the place to come."
All involved in the project were particularly conscious of the importance of historical accuracy, given the show’s audience. "PBS has a different audience than anybody else," said Mercy Street producer David Rosemont. "It is an audience that expects accuracy, but also one that brings a tremendous amount of knowledge to the viewing experience. They want good stories. They want good characters. They want characters they can invest in. And in a historical piece — because PBS does a lot of award-winning, first-rate documentaries — they want the history to be right."
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