Over 30 million people have eczema, according to the National Eczema Association.
Infants have it, women have it, men have it, and John Turturro's character, attorney John Stone on HBO's T he Night Of, has it.
And if you watch the show, then you know just how prominent Stone's eczema is. In some scenes it takes center stage, like a character. The harder he works and the more stressed he gets, the more the rashes on his feet seem to flare up.
He's stricken by his condition and has often even been ridiculed by it. And after the second episode viewers can see his affliction is more than just something to make the audience think "God, that looks like a nightmare to deal with."
It turns out the common medical ailment, is an essential part of the show. In the words of Steve Zaillian, co-creator of the show, it demands its own subplot.
Zaillian spoke with The Washington Post and explained the importance of the plight around Stone's feet. The idea to make Stone's character have eczema spurred from the BBC series, Criminal Justice, which the HBO mini-series is based on.
“In Peter Moffat’s Criminal Justice, [the character] does have eczema, but we took that to a much further degree in our story,” Zaillian said in the interview. “It really became a part of his character and bedevils his life. It’s something that became — I guess you could call it a subplot – essential to his character.”
“It actually becomes even more important in the last episode,” Zaillian teased. Turturro added that it "made the character great. All those problems affect you… and can really wear you out in a big way.”
So, overcoming eczema issues equals underdog coming out on top? Does this mean we have a big comeback in store for Stone? Will he reign triumphant against Detective Dennis Box with Naz by this side? Guess we'll just have to wait to find out.
We're just itching to know.
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