Virtually any family can relate to the complications that can arise when everyone brings their own baggage to a problem-solving situation, but the dynamics on display in Peacock’s Apples Never Fall are hopefully not an everyday situation for real-world families. Based on the novel by Liane Moriarty, the new series takes what might be considered relatable tensions between family members and heightens them to thrilling degrees, due to an unexpected disappearance, which required stars Jake Lacy and Conor Merrigan-Turner to go to great lengths to bring the Delaney family to life. Apples Never Fall premieres on Peacock on March 14th.
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Apples Never Fallย centers on the seemingly picture-perfect Delaney family. Former tennis coaches Stan (Sam Neill) and Joy (Annette Bening) have sold their successful tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. While they look forward to spending time with their four adult children (Jake Lacy, Alison Brie, Conor Merrigan-Turner, Essie Randles), everything changes when a wounded young woman knocks on Joy and Stan’s door, bringing the excitement they’ve been missing. But when Joy suddenly disappears, her children areย forced to re-examine their parents’ so-called perfect marriageย as their family’s darkest secrets begin to surface. ย
As far as how the actors developed their on-screen dynamic, Merrigan-Turner detailed of the process, “I’d say it was certainly more organic than anything. It just became, I mean, Alison and Jake and Annette, and Sam, in a way, had come to Australia to shoot this, and they were away from their family, and we’re all staying together. So, in an organic way outside of, ‘Oh, we’re shooting as a family, we should really get to know each other and really form this bond,’ it just happened in a really beautiful, loving way, which was just like, ‘I like you. Oh, I really respect you. I like you, want to just hang out?’ And that’s the way it went really, and I’m glad it translated across to film.”
Having previously starred in projects like The White Lotus Season 1, A Friend of the Family, and Significant Other, Lacy has starred in a string of intense projects.
“Sometimes I’m a little unfocused on set, which, I have to reign it in a little to go like, ‘Hey man, let’s … maybe let that die out and refocus,’” Lacy said of bringing heavy subject matter to life. “But it also creates, I don’t know, a looseness where I’m not so stuck. But, yeah, there’s been a lot of darker, heavier dramas, which has been wonderful, I’ve always wanted to get to have a foot in both, but the pendulum might need to come back a little more to the lighter fare soon.”
Merrigan-Turner was quick to add, “I wouldn’t say unfocused. I’d say Jake has this incredible comedic mind that brings this, the whole set is so vibrant because of it, because Jake is just there making everyone feel a part of making this production. That isn’t unfocused, I’d say it’s more one of the most welcoming and generous behaviors that anyone can have.”
The dynamics on display in the new series will offer relationships that audiences can relate to, with Merrigan-Turner detailing how starring in the project impacted him once the cameras stopped rolling.
“There’s a heaviness of walking away from a long day of work, for everyone,” the actor expressed. “It doesn’t matter what type of job it is, you devote so much time to feeling a certain way, or doing a certain activity that can be draining. But in terms of reflection-wise, I think, and maybe something that people might walk away from the show feeling, it’s like, man, appreciate your loved ones. Make the call. Call your mom, call your dad, call a loved one in your life. Let them know that you really care and appreciate them. That’s certainly my experience walking away from working on the script and this narrative. It was just like, ‘Oh wow, family and people around you are so important and it’s important that they feel recognized.’”
Apples Never Fall premieres on Peacock on March 14th.
Are you looking forward to the new series? Let us know in the comments!
