Hulu will air the first of four episodes from the anticipated Hillary Clinton documentary on Friday evening, a highly anticipated look at the public and private life of the former Democratic presidential nominee.
"Hillary" explores various topics pertaining to Clinton's life, including her failed presidential attempts as well as Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. All eyes are on Clinton ahead of the documentary's premier but behind the scenes, things are just as intriguing, as The Hollywood Reporter noted in a report that highlighted essential things to know about "Hillary."
"Hillary" director Nanette Burstein had been contemplating making a documentary that trailed Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign, but her idea was turned down. The idea resurfaced in 2017 when producer Howard Owens approached Burstein to discuss the project.
In order to dig down deep into Clinton's life, the film crew had cameras fixated on her for at least 35 hours over seven days. Burstein admitted she didn't "really understand" what she was getting into at the start of the project.
Burstein was determined to tackle all aspects of Clinton's marriage, which included the Lewinsky saga.
"The reason why that was important to me was not just for the sake of it being salaciously interesting to people, but because she's always been judged by it. Why did she stay in her marriage? Was it just a business deal or a real marriage?" Burstein said. "The more I talked to both her and her husband, I realized, 'Okay, this is very much a real marriage," she continued. "And the more that we can humanize this, the more we can understand this woman and what she went through, as opposed to just judging her."
Bill Clinton was eager to speak openly from day one. "I kind of think he knew [his marital woes] was on the agenda," Burstein said. She explained that they did sit down to discuss the topic beforehand but Bill had no issue about sharing his story to the cameras.
The team did not reach out to Lewinsky. Neither did they grill Clinton about her. She volunteered information about the ordeal. "[Hillary] didn’t know her," Burstein said. "I didn’t ask her because I felt that would be a bridge too far and not fair. Obviously [Bill] felt that he should or could comment on it, so he did."
Producers struggled to find a strong conservative representation. Bill Frist lent his voice to the documentary but even securing him was tough. Burstein had initially hoped to feature Newt Gingrich, but was told he’d "rather stick needles in [his] eye then do this interview."
A near-finished version of the docuseries was shown to Clinton in October but she was initially concerned that it may be too long and that people would "get sick" of her. She also expressed a handful of personal regrets.
"I regretted that my mother wasn't still alive and that my brother was dying while we were doing it," Clinton said. "My best friend from sixth grade is in there and she died in the summer and I'd recommended another good friend and they never got to her before she died. So I was watching it through the lens of what wasn't there and couldn't be there."
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