Most families enjoy dinner together most evenings during the week and save a special meal for Sunday supper. A last week thanks to Disney, as part of the #ABCTVEvent, myself and 24 other bloggers enjoyed a very special family style dinner with cast and creators from ABC’s The Family. Yep, you read that right, we had a sit down with producers Jenna Bans and Laurie Zaks and from the cast Alison Pill, Zach Gilford and Floriana Lima watched two episodes of The Family.
If you’ve never watched an episode of The Family, stop right now and head over to abcgo.com. You’ve got to catch up with me! It’s an amazing show that will not only keep you guessing but it makes for a great discussion on potential plot twists! You just never know. The Family has a very impressive group of writers that truly keep you wanting more after the credits begin to roll. It’s funny as I sat there I kept thinking.. “can we watch one more?!” You all know how much this girl loves tv and show is truly a favorite.
We live tweeted during the regular showtime and had a blast. As a matter of fact, #TheFamily trended no. 5! Oh yeah! Love it when a show I’m live tweeting along to trends. It’s the power of social media friends. It really is.
Photo Credit: LovebugsandPostcards.com
We also got a chance to have a Q&A session with the creators and cast. Jenna Bans. Here’s what she tells us about how she came up with the idea for The Family:
“I’ll tell a brief version of the story. I lived in a house, and across the street was a sex offender, and I freaked out and got really scared. So part of it sort of came from there. The other part was, ABC had been wanting to do sort of this idea- and imposter was sort of and make it into a mystery thriller. So I sort of married the two ideas.”
If you’ve been watching you know the deep character Alison Pill portrays as Willa. We ask Pill about “the emotion that you emote on screen is amazing. How do you get into character to do all that?”
“I really- first of all, we have really good writers, and it really makes sense to me. I think the sort of touchstone for me is the moment, when me and Madeline Arthur switch places on the bed in the motel. And she’s fully frozen at thirteen. Like, she is somebody who will do anything to keep her family together. Everything else that is built up- all of this armor is only, is only to get to her ultimate goal, which is having her entire family under one roof again. Everything else is driven by that, so when anything threatens that, that is like, 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, um, and I was a very emotional thirteen year old. But I also love the fact that she’s written in this way that, it was a slow burn with Willa, of like not understanding her and just being like, uh ok, Willa. She hates her brother, she’s too uptight, and she’s really religious. All this stuff and then just slowly get to know her emotional life which is so deep and huge, it’s been fun.“
Photo Credit: PostcardsandLovebugs.com
Here’s a cool tid-bit Andrew McCarthey who portrays Hank Asher is also a director in some of the episodes! Oh yeah!! We didn’t get to meet Andrew but we definitely talked about him and his character. Here’s what Floriana Lima who portrays the sly and seductive reporter Bridey Cruz had to say, “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?” I could not agree more! I couldn’t begin to be able to decipher which is which LOL. He’s an amazing actor!
Alison added more, “He also knows the show so well, like, he’ll call me on things being, oh in this script you said this, but in that, you said that, going through. He’s everywhere, like in the writer’s room, like he knows everything about the show.“
Photo credit: Coralie Searight – Love Bugs and Postcards
This cast is truly a family. Had such a blast meeting them and getting to spend time to pick their brains.
During our time with the creators and cast of The Family we previewed episode 8 titled Sweet Jane. I don’t want to put out any spoilers but you aren’t going to believe what happens in this episode. Here’s the synopsis from ABC:
“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.“
THE FAMILY – “Sweet Jane” (ABC/Giovanni Rufino)
ALISON PILL, JOAN ALLEN, RUPERT GRAVES
And in case you are a fan but don’t watch live, if you DVR The Family make sure to watch it within 3 days of the live showing. This helps the Nielson rating because we want a second season!! We won’t know until mid May if the show is picked up for a second season. Let’s help make it happen for the cast and crew of ABC’s The Family.
Catch The Family TONIGHT!
The Family airs Sundays at 9/8c on ABC!
