New series "Genius" aims for fuller portrait of Albert Einstein
There’s not a lot Brian Grazer hasn’t accomplished in Hollywood. The Academy-Award winning producer is behind numerous hit movies like “A Beautiful Mind,” “Apollo 13,” as well as the Emmy-winning TV series “24” and “Arrested Development.”
Grazer’s new series for National Geographic, “Genius,” aims to humanize Albert Einstein by focusing not just on his scientific breakthroughs but on his personal life as well. Grazer joined “CBS This Morning” to discuss how they sought to paint a more complex and challenging portrait of the scientist than is usually depicted.
“He was a bad boy. I mean, he was a bad boy in every way. He was kind of an artist bad boy that had to flee where he was because of Nazi Germany and what was going on there and come to America. But he was a superstar, he was very famous,” Grazer said of Einstein.
Grazer’s frequent collaborator, director Ron Howard, also executive produced and directed the first episode of the series and is known for making thematically similar films with Grazer. “It’s difficult to make science cinematic, but Ron Howard is quite brilliant at this,” Grazer said.
When asked about the secret to his successful creative work with Howard, Grazer said, “We always intersect on the same kind of value system and taste.”
Grazer also sees Einstein as a historic disruptor: “He was the first person to really challenge anything that was, kind of, solid fact.”
“People all want to know how things are done and ‘Genius’ is a sexy way of accomplishing that,” Grazer said.
The 10-part series premieres Tuesday, April 25 on National Geographic.
