Shea Whigham, Chris Chalk, and Gayle Rankin say HBO's new adaptation isn't your nana's Perry Mason

In the Perry Mason of the ‘50s and ‘60s—and in most “classic TV,” for that matter—audiences rarely, if ever, saw a sympathetic person of color in any sort of role of substance. It’s something Perry Mason’s Chris Chalk said made him not connect with the show growing up, and something he says he’s particularly glad has changed in the new adaptation.

Chalk sat down with us alongside Gayle Rankin and Shea Whigham to talk about why this particular Perry Mason is so 2020, as well as what they’ve been using, media-wise, to get them through the last few difficult months.