Diksha Sundriyal
Created by Dennis Lehane, Apple TV+’s ‘Smoke’ is a crime drama that packs many twists and turns to keep its audience guessing. The story focuses on an investigation surrounding two serial arsonists being chased by arson investigator, Dave Gudsen, and Detective Michelle Calderon. While Dave knows the ins and outs of chasing a fire’s path to find its origin, he has been struggling to find the arsonists who have wreaked havoc across the town. This is where Michelle comes in. She is supposed to help Dave solve the cases, but that doesn’t mean that she is any less complicated. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Michelle Calderon is a Fictional Creation in a Story Based on True Events
‘Smoke’ presents a fictional look at the true story of arsonist John Leonard Orr, inspired by the podcast ‘Firebug.’ While the story borrows heavily from the real-life criminal and his arson spree, a lot of changes have been made to the story to bring it to the contemporary setting. This includes the character of Detective Michelle Calderon, which is an entirely fictional role created to serve the plot of the show. In real life, there were several detectives and arson investigators who worked together to find and expose Orr’s crimes, but there is no one whose story parallels Michelle’s in the show.
Dennis Lehane created Michelle because he wanted to explore the idea of people being attracted to the things that they know are going to destroy them. In the process, he came up with a rich backstory for her, delving into everything from her childhood trauma to her behavioural pattern as an adult, which influences her choices, be it about her career or her romance. When actress Jurnee Smollett came on board, she and Lehane had a detailed discussion about Michelle, which further expanded the character’s arc, bringing more depth to her story.
One of the major things that attracted Smollett towards the role was the wave of contradictions exhibited by Michelle. Lehane described the character as someone who is great to the people she loves and is ready to do anything for them; at the same time, she is damaged and a little demented, and that makes her highly unpredictable. Smollett leaned into this aspect of the character, excited by the challenge of portraying a heavily flawed person who is not the hero others might make them out to be.
Jurnee Smollett’s Research Helped Her Inhabit the Role in Greater Depth
Because Michelle’s psyche is an important part of her character’s journey, Jurnee Smollett tried to get a better handle on it by delving into research. While she didn’t have any real-life counterpart to study for the role, she did talk to therapists and psychologists to understand why Michelle might be a certain way or make certain choices, especially when it comes to her personal life. In the same vein, she also talked with detectives and fire-fighters to better understand the element of fire and the investigative eye needed by someone like her character in ‘Smoke.’
If the psychological and mental challenge of the role wasn’t enough, Smollett also had to make sure that she had the right physicality for the character. Michelle’s backstory reveals her to be a former Marine, and the actress knew that this had to be evident in the way she holds herself. She wanted Michelle to have that physique, which would also factor into other parts of the character. For this, she followed a strict training regimen, which ended with her gaining fifteen pounds of muscle. The training allowed the actress to inhabit the role better.
At the same time, she also talked with former Marines to understand what Michelle’s mindset would be like and how her time in the military would affect the way she sees and perceives things. All these things combined helped her prepare for the role and know it so well that by the time the cameras rolled, Smollett knew the character inside out so well that all of her flaws and quirks were embedded in her mind and she was able to bring in the nuance that comes subconsciously, giving more depth to the character and making her highly realistic for the audience.
