Dietland is many things. The new AMC series is Joy Nash's first starring role. It's Julianna Margulies' return to TV, her first series since The Good Wife ended in 2016. It's also incredibly timely.
"Most stories about fat people are a transformation story where they end up thin," Nash says in the video above. "And Dietland is not. Dietland is a different story. Your life can change and your body can stay the same, which is so exciting and true."
Based on the novel by Sarai Walker the new series was developed for TV by Marti Noxon of Mad Men and Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame. Dietland follows Plum Kettle (Nash), a woman who has been overweight her entire life, who ghost writes the answers to the letters to the editor of a women's magazine. Margulies plays Plum's boss, Kitty Montgomery.
Something happens to Plum: She's contacted by an underground organization of women who are fighting back against, "the status quo, against the beauty industry, against all the messages that we get that we should be more perfect," Noxon says.
Told you it was many things.
And the call came from within the media organization Plum works for, totally blowing her mind.
"I think she's been pushing that away for so long because life starts when you're thin, she's been waiting for that moment and finally it's here," Nash explains.
There's more than one organization at play behind the scenes—Jennifer also exists and is taking a more violent approach to things. "They've decided to take justice into their own hands and for them that means capturing sexual predators and killing them," Noxon says.
"Plum's really taken to the idea that women are taking the law into their hands and seeing justice served to the people who deserve it," Margulies explains.
Plum finds herself in the middle of it all.
"I think everything about this show is going to surprise people," Margulies says.
And that's what you need to know about Dietland. Click play on the video above to hear more from Noxon, Nash and Margulies.
Dietland premieres Monday, June 4 at 9p.m. on AMC.