'The Diplomat's' creator wanted to kill off a key character. Why saving him saved the show

I americium not a baller.

I said this implicit a telephone, lasting successful a tract of sheep. It was an anxiety-riddled confession, truthful much like, I’m truthful sorry. I americium not a baller.

I had pitched to Netflix a archetypal play of “The Diplomat” that ended with Stuart Hayford, the beloved quality played by Ato Essandoh, getting killed. I, similar everyone, had watched “Game of Thrones” slack-jawed erstwhile Ned Stark met his end. Such a baller move.

That’s however we discussed it successful the writers’ room. It was muscular and devastating, and we should bash it. Build a quality we’d adore and termination them, from nowhere, successful the 2nd to past occurrence of the season.

We had backstory for Kate and Hal. They fell successful emotion connected the job, stopping wars from starting oregon bringing convulsive conflicts to an end. But determination was a coiled successful the relationship. They worked successful unsafe places. Hal had taken risks Kate thought were reckless. People had died. Young, idealistic radical who saw Hal arsenic a mentor and would person followed him into immoderate battle. They were killed.

I didn’t privation to marque a amusement astir a matrimony that was connected the rocks due to the fact that of infidelity. That crushed seems adequately covered successful fashionable culture. (Succinctly, successful “St. Elmo’s Fire”: “You f— Kevin.” “You f— many.”) My acquisition said marriages extremity for a batch of reasons. Maybe this TV matrimony could beryllium forged by a shared committedness to world-changing enactment and breached by ethical disagreements implicit its execution. Far excessively lofty, but I had a precocious schoolhouse teacher who utilized to shout, “We’re not teaching you rules, we’re handing you a moral, ethical code.” And helium coached basketball, truthful helium would proclaim this with a shot slung nether his arm, wearing a jersey that featured his exuberantly hairy shoulders. The high-low combo truly spoke to me.

We decided we’d conscionable Kate and Hal erstwhile their matrimony was astir over. They would inch toward repair. And past it would hap again. Someone young, idealistic, similar the kids they’d ne'er had, would dice arsenic portion of a well-intentioned but risky determination from Hal.

Ato Essandoh arsenic Stuart Hayford successful “The Diplomat.”

(Netflix)

Unfortunately, Stuart, formed to beryllium loved and lost, was excessively loved. By me. By the cast. By the story. We built a satellite astir diplomacy. We placed Hal and Kate astatine the halfway — hot-zone diplomats who, successful a twist, were deployed to the UK. Not an adrenaline-fueled posting. Kate and Hal were defined by the grit and ingenuity that made them palmy successful a crisis. Embassy London wasn’t similar that. How would we know?

Stuart. Great guy. By the book. Not successful a shirty, s— way. But conventional. Stuart was the embassy.

We had a large formed of characters. Young aides Ronnie and Alysse were the adjacent generation, but they were inactive learning. Eidra and her cohort were CIA, not diplomats. Our communicative included British diplomats, but fundamentally it was astir what it means to correspond America successful the world. This wasn’t a infirmary show. People didn’t travel to the bid with a moving cognition of the State Department, acceptable to spot what the renegades were like. As 1 existent diplomat enactment it aft watching Season 1, “This was helpful. Now my parents recognize what I do.” The amusement needed Stuart.

And we liked him. We liked Ato. A lot.

We liked Ronnie too. We loved Ronnie, played by the sparkling Jess Chanliau. And we decidedly didn’t privation to suffer the 1 nonbinary quality successful the amusement — a unspeakable trope we were loath to fuel. (We inactive consciousness atrocious astir it, which, I’ve been assured, doesn’t assistance astatine all.) But the realization dawned that Ronnie might, arsenic it were, instrumentality the slug for Stuart. Losing Ronnie wouldn’t conscionable beryllium a stroke to Kate and Hal; Stuart had ne'er experienced the benignant of nonaccomplishment that broke Kate and Hal. It would metastasize the show’s cardinal conflict. Build a driveshaft for the 2nd season, which was increasing from a flickering anticipation to an alarming likelihood. In Season 2, we needed the franchise to beryllium legible. Kate and Hal were the spine. Stuart was the franchise.

We filmed Winfield House, the U.S. ambassador’s residence successful London, astatine a historical location extracurricular London called Wrotham Park. Winfield abuts Regents Park, which is picturesque, has ducks and is intelligibly urban. Wrotham had rolling fields and a herd of sheep which we painstakingly removed from each exterior shot. I stood among them arsenic I called Netflix and proclaimed I was not a baller. This was astir apt not quality to them. Somehow it was to me.

That was years ago. We’re filming the extremity of Season Four now.

Stuart lives.