Last Sunday night, I got to do one of my favorite things- watch a new episode of The Family. This time though, I was eating a family-style dinner and watching with some of the people who make the show happen! We were joined by Zach Gilford {“Danny”}, Alison Pill {“Willa”}, Floriana Lima {“Bridey”} and Executive Producers Jenna Bans & Laurie Zaks. Not only did we get to watch the live airing of last week’s episode, but we were treated to an early viewing of tonight’s episode, “Sweet Jane”. This is one episode that will have you literally yelling at your TV!
Sweet Jane {Air Date 4/17/16}: Claire wrestles with the emotional ramifications of Willa’s scheming. Meanwhile, Nina observes that Adam disappears every night from his home and sets out to track down his mysterious destination, while Clements investigates Jane’s connection to Doug, the pock-marked man. When the Governor’s wife threatens to reveal Claire’s drinking, Willa handles the situation by exposing another Warren family secret, potentially changing the outcome of the election. Finally, Hank makes a shocking discovery that reveals his true involvement in Adam’s kidnapping.
You would think that watching the episodes with the cast and EPs would make it somehow less believeable- for most of the screening I was sitting directly next to Alison Pill, so of course I knew she wasn’t really doing all the bad things that her character Willa did. However, because of the level of acting and the great writing on this show, I got sucked in each time until the commercial break came back and I was able to breathe again. It was also fun watching how the cast interacted with each other- you could tell that they almost view themselves as a real family {a much less dramatic one than the Warren family}.
We learned a lot about what goes on behind-the-scenes at the show, including how the idea for this sometimes incredibly haunting show. Creator Jenna Bans actually grew up across the street from a sex offender, and as a kid it freaked her out and she was really scared. ABC had been wanting to make a show about an imposter that was a mystery thriller, so she married the two ideas together.
We naturally needed to know how the actors can play these super intense roles, and Alison Pill talked about how she’s able to play her character, Willa:
First of all, we have really good writers, and it really makes sense to me. She’s fully frozen at thirteen {which is when Adam is kidnapped}. She is somebody who will do anything to keep her family together. Everything else that is built up- all of this armor- is only to get to her ultimate goal, which is having her entire family under one roof again. That’s it. Literally, everything else is driven by that, so when anything threatens that, that is the worst thing that can happen in the world. So all of the emotion just comes from that thought of being thirteen and trying to keep your family together. I was a very emotional thirteen year old, as most are, but I also love the fact that she’s written in this way.
If you’ve been watching the show {which, by the way, you should be!}, you know that Willa has made a HUGE shift and a lot has been revealed. How did Alison prepare for that? According to Executive Producer Laurie Zaks, she’s known all along:
Allison also knew from the beginning because we talked about it on the pilot even though we hadn’t figured out exactly what she had done. By the time we filmed the pilot, she knew [SPOILER, but those who watch the show know what we’re talking about!], so all of those cool moments in the pilot where she’s watching him in the hospital room, all of that footage that we used in seven- some of it we reshot, but a lot of it we found in the pilot. Alison was just doing that, like the moment at mantelpiece where she’s, like, ‘Do you wanna go upstairs now?’
It’s really fun to go back and watch some of the most pivotal Willa scenes knowing now that she knew then what was coming!
One thing that I had no idea about with TV is that they work with several directors. For The Family, almost every episode had a different director than the one before it, although some directors did come back for episodes later in the season. Two episodes were even directed by one of the stars of the show, Andrew McCarthy {who plays Hank, one of the characters that you have to hate, but can’t help but feel a little sympathy toward}. Floriana Lima talked about what it’s like to have a costar sit in the Director’s chair:
It’s weird that he’s a director and also playing Hank which is this intense character, and he’s just so present as a director, so you’re like, ‘Whoa, you’re doing that, too, at the same time?’ He’s really good.
So what’s next for The Family? They will find out sometime next month if they’ve been picked up for season two, but if that happens Jenna Bans says, “People keep asking me, like, well, what’s the second season? And I’m like, you will not ask that question when you watch the season finale.”
We asked her how many seasons she could see from The Family, and she said, “Definitely three. Beyond that- I mean… you know, I was on Scandal, too, and we were like, ‘This can only go, like, a season. What are we gonna do?’ And then you get to the end of the first season, and you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s a second season.’ Then in second season, you’re like, ‘That’s obviously the third season.’ Somehow it always works itself out.”
If you’re not watching The Family, be sure to catch up and join in! I watch a lot of drama/mystery type shows so I can usually predict where things are headed- but with this show that hasn’t happened once. Every time I have a theory they destroy it within minutes and it’s so thrilling to be taken on a ride where you can’t see the finish line!
The Family airs at 9/8c Sundays on ABC. If you can’t watch it live, be sure to watch it on your DVR within 3 days- that’s the cutoff for it counting for ratings, which will tell ABC execs that they should renew it!