Development
Due to the father-son dynamics of the hunting world depicted in the series' first season with the Winchesters, the writers decided to explore a mother-daughter relationship, resulting in the introduction of Ellen and her daughter Jo. The name originated from the writers' decision to base her on the "tough yet emotionally-vulnerable" characters portrayed by actress Ellen Barkin. Ellen was meant to have a "true and honest platonic friendship" with John Winchester, and her backstory of her husband having been killed due to John's mistake was added to the storyline to explain why John never mentioned the Roadhouse to his sons. Ferris auditioned for the role, and feels that she was exactly what they had been looking for. She commented, "I have a certain kind of personality that works specifically with a role, and Ellen is just me on television. They were looking for a tough, strong, yet a little maternal actor, and I struck a chord." Series creator Eric Kripke agrees, feeling that Ferris "really brought the character to life", being "nuanced and complex and tough, yet beautiful and feminine".
The writers intended for the character to make only two guest appearances in the third season, which left Ferris "a bit surprised and " at Ellen's lack of involvement. However, her initial return was scrapped due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, and the actress declined a guest appearance in the finale because the lackluster offer "could cost money and work". The opportunity to return for the fifth season surprised her due to the large time span since her previous appearance. Though she expected her character to eventually die, a devastated Ferris was surprised at how quickly it occurred. However, after speaking to director Phil Sgriccia—he told her that Ellen was the "perfect fodder" for the "kick" that the series needed, and would "go out in a blaze of glory"—the actress came to realize that the character's death made sense. Ellen's last words to Dean—"Kick it in the ass."—was an improvised homage to the late Supernatural executive producer and director Kim Manners, who had died the year before and would often recite the phrase before filming a scene.
Read more about this topic: Ellen Harvelle
Famous quotes containing the word development:
“Somehow we have been taught to believe that the experiences of girls and women are not important in the study and understanding of human behavior. If we know men, then we know all of humankind. These prevalent cultural attitudes totally deny the uniqueness of the female experience, limiting the development of girls and women and depriving a needy world of the gifts, talents, and resources our daughters have to offer.”
—Jeanne Elium (20th century)
“The Cairo conference ... is about a complicated web of education and employment, consumption and poverty, development and health care. It is also about whether governments will follow where women have so clearly led them, toward safe, simple and reliable choices in family planning. While Cairo crackles with conflict, in the homes of the world the orthodoxies have been duly heard, and roundly ignored.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“If you complain of people being shot down in the streets, of the absence of communication or social responsibility, of the rise of everyday violence which people have become accustomed to, and the dehumanization of feelings, then the ultimate development on an organized social level is the concentration camp.... The concentration camp is the final expression of human separateness and its ultimate consequence. It is organized abandonment.”
—Arthur Miller (b. 1915)