Ryan Murphy teases there could be more of Hollywood to come on after Netflix series leaves fans longing for more
Jeremy Pope plays Archie in Hollywood, with Darren Criss as Raymond. (Netflix)
Ryan Murphy hinted there could be a Hollywood season 2 after fans demanded he continue his glossy revisionist history.
Hollywood has defied middling reviews from critics to become a huge hit for Netflix, with countless fans devouring its seven episodes in quick succession.
When Murphy first announced Hollywood, it was confirmed to be a one-off limited series.
The final episode wraps up the story of Ace Studios and its band of queer actors, Black performers and women executives in a neat bow.
But the success of the series has led Murphy to reconsider his original plan, with the TV supremo revealing that he would consider another run of episodes.
Replying to a fan who asked about a potential Hollywood season 2, he replied: “Well Hollywood was planned as a limited series, but it’s become so popular that everyone is asking for another season.
“So who knows? I sure do love this cast though.”
Peg Entwisle becomes Meg in Hollywood. (Netflix)
Hollywood season 2 could turn the show into an anthology, fans suggest
Fans were naturally ecstatic, and full of suggestions.
Some put it to Murphy that he delve deeper into the Dreamland storyline, telling more stories of Los Angeles sex workers trying to make it big.
Others suggested Hollywood could become an anthology, much like Murphy’s other series American Horror Story and American Crime Story.
Executive producer Janet Mock gave credence to this idea on Twitter, replying to a fan who suggested a follow-up could take place in a different era of Hollywood, with the cast playing a new batch of characters.
“We have a very similar vision… IF we were to tell another HOLLYWOOD story,” she tweeted.
We have a very similar vision… ? IF we were to tell another HOLLYWOOD story. #hollywoodnetflix https://t.co/LqPfNNiKFH
— Janet Mock (@janetmock) May 6, 2020
Were Murphy and Mock to make a straight follow-up, one character whose story could easily be continued is Rock Hudson, played by actor Jake Picking.
Hudson is one of a handful of characters in the Netflix series based on a real-life person.
In the series, Hudson falls in love with another man, screenwriter Archie Coleman, and in the series finale walks the Oscars red carpet hand-in-hand with him.
In real life, Hudson was a gay man who remained closeted throughout his life, though his sexuality was speculated on by the media sporadically.
Jake Picking plays Rock Hudson in Hollywood, the new Netflix series from Ryan Murphy. (Netflix)
Could Hollywood season 2 delve into Hattie McDaniel’s ‘gay’ affair?
Hattie McDaniel is another real-life name transplanted into Murphy’s Hollywood.
Played by Queen Latifah in the series, McDaniel was the first Black person – and person of colour – to win an Academy Award.
McDaniel’s story doesn’t get the in-depth treatment that Hudson’s does, but one scene hints at the rumoured affair between the Oscar-winner and Tallulah Bankhead.
In real life, rumours that Hattie McDaniel was gay persisted for years, with a 2000 musical imagining her and Bankhead reuniting at the pearly gates.
Sounds like prime Ryan Murphy territory to us, to be honest.
