HBO gave Alan Ball one note for Six Feet Under: "Could you make the whole thing more (f*cked) up?"

The New York Times

Ball complied with the HBO note by making Rachel Griffiths' Brenda, initially written as a milquetoast girlfriend, a far more complex partner and foil to Nate Fisher. Ball, however, did push back on HBO's request to cast a movie star as the Fisher family patriarch, who dies in the opening scene. Ball managed to convince HBO that the character actor Richard Jenkins was right for the role, assuaging their concerns by casting Griffiths, who had recently been nominated for an Oscar for Hilary and Jackie.