Controlling.  That is how Anna Paquin described herself when she sat down with journalist Barbara Gasser at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s office in West Hollywood.  But the trait has been handy when producing movies and TV shows – Blue State, Free Ride, The Parting Glass, Bellevue and her latest, the six-part limited series Flack. “It’s hard getting an independent film produced but obviously producing television is a much longer time commitment.  I produced it and I am in almost every single second of it.  I have sweat blood and tears for many years getting this baby on the air. So I am very excited about that.”

The show that is set in London delves into a high-end PR company’s world. “My character, Robyn, is the go-to gal for really problematic clients.  She is fixing and crisis managing issues.  It deals with the underbelly and less glamorous end of celebrity and image management and all of that stuff.  She is excellent at her job, however, her private life is an absolute disaster.  She pretty much does everything she can to torpedo her own life.”

The Golden Globe winner started her acting career when she was nine.  She was cast in director Jane Campion’s The Piano and received a Golden Globe nomination and an Oscar. She has been working har ever since, but always keeping her feet on the ground. “The kinds of clients that Robin deals with are people that are very, very high maintenance in ways that don’t necessarily have anything to do with creating anything or doing anything in particular.  A lot of them are just famous for being famous and are very demanding and not particularly pleasant and I would say not massively professional.  And I pride myself on working with people who work for me.  I work with people, I have the same team, agent, manager, lawyers since I was a little kid. So we are a pretty well-oiled machine at this point.  So I’m not the source material for this show.”

But she has seen a lot of stuff. “There’s absolutely people who really enjoy being in the public eye.  I consider that to be the flipside of getting to do what I love to do; creating things and telling stories.”

Listen to the podcast and hear why she likes being a producer; what kind of producer she is; how producing a limited series is different from producing a movie; how she balances family life and career; how she handles a crisis; how winning an Oscar at an early age changed her life; why she has a SWAT team for red carpet events; who’s part of her entourage; how well she manages time; what is her opinion about social media; how she tries to help younger actresses; why keeping up the #metoo conversation is important for the near future; what she thinks about working with an intimacy coordinator on The AffairTrue Blood family; why keeping fit is important to her; and why she likes CrossFit.