Black comedy thriller filming the biggest challenge Peacock ) based on a true story ? Made stars Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina stop laughing between takes.
“They were fun together,” director and executive producer Alexander Buono told The Hollywood Reporter at the show’s Thursday night premiere. “Honestly, the hardest thing was getting them to stop laughing so we could shoot the scene. My role directing them was usually [I had to] act as a wet blanket.”
“We’re driving people crazy,” agrees Cuoco. “We were laughing all the time. We were a duo we didn’t even know we needed. He was hysterical, he was kind, he was funny, and he was a great guy on set. He took care of everyone, and we all did that . It’s important to us, and it’s a great game.”
The show was written by creator Craig Rosenberg. The main creator, which follows Cuoco and Messina as married couple Ava and Nathan, are on a tight budget as they expect their first child. When they start a profitable true crime podcast to make ends meet, they soon find themselves embroiled in a killing they’re profiting off of. The series is produced by Jason Bateman’s Aggregate Films, with Bateman and partner Michael Costigan serving as executive producers .
In addition to their fiery on-screen chemistry, Buono points out that the pair also have two distinct acting styles. “[Kaley] is very intuitive and [Chris] is very down to earth,” the director said of the two stars. “He likes to take lots and lots of shots, she doesn’t need to take lots and lots of shots. So I think he grounded her and she brought more comedy out of him.”
“Her laugh was contagious,” Messina recalled posing for a photo with Cuoco. “When you make her laugh, you feel like you’ve won.”
Tom Bateman , Kelly Cuoco & Chris Messina Todd Williams Mori/Peacock
Tom Bateman plays Matt, not sure how much of that will actually be on the show. “We described it as ‘unusable magic,'” the actor recalls. “There should be a word for it—that painful feeling when you’re trying not to laugh. Especially when you’re running late and the crew is going home, and you’re like, ‘Damn, I can’t even get my lines out because I laughed so hard.’”
In addition to being a fan of Cuoco, Messina says it was the heart of the show that drew him to the project. “I love the idea of these two completely falling apart and deciding to get back together in the silliest, darkest, most ridiculous way possible,” Air star said. “That was fascinating. I think the DNA of the story is a love story, and that’s what I respond to the most.”
On the show, Cuoco’s character Ava is pregnant – a detail that reflects real life , because this The actress herself found out she was expecting her first pregnancy with her daughter while filming.
“It was a nice distraction,” Cuoco said of the experience. “I complained a lot, ate a lot of bad food. It was [so] special, like when is it going to happen again? It was like a moment. We had to air it, we had to add it to the show. It has now The dot is stuck in the stone, it’s special.”
Adapted from a true story Peacock Premieres June 8.
Alexander Buono, Chris Messina, Kaley Cuoco, Tom Bateman, Liana Liberato and Priscilla Quintana Matt Winkmeyer/Getty Images
