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'We Were Liars' star opens up about how the show's 'rough' and emotional story 'took a toll' on him
Based on the novel by E. Lockhart, the new series We Were Liars on Prime Video is a dark and highly addictive show. With an all-star ensemble cast including Emily Alyn Lind, Mamie Gummer, Caitlin FitzGerald, Candice King, David Morse, Shubham Maheshwari, Esther McGregor, Joseph Zada and Rahul Kohli, it's a compelling execution of this beloved YA story.
We Were Liars follows the Sinclairs, a wealthy family called "American royalty," who spend their summers together on the family's New England private island, Beechwood Island. Among the group are cousins Cadence (Emily Alyn Lind), Mirren (Esther McGregor) and Johnny (Joseph Zada), and Gat (Shubham Maheshwari), the nephew of Kohli's character Ed, who's partner Carrie (Mamie Gummer) is one of the daughters of the family's patriarch, Harris Sinclair (David Morse). Cadence, Mirren, Johnny and Gat are referred to by their family as "The Liars," inspired the antics they get up do in the summer months.
Sisters Carrie, Bess (Candice King) and Penny (Caitlin FitzGerald) are all in a constant battle to be the most impressive daughter in their father's eyes, a pressure they trickle down to their kids as well. But the status quo of this family is shaken one summer when Cadence, on the summer of her 16th birthday, has a traumatic brain injury. While she's lost all memory of the incident, she's determined to find out what happened the night of her injury.
The story doesn't just look at the summer where things changed, but goes back to look at the history of this family's evolving, often tense, relationships and circumstances that led to that night.
While Lind's performance is the anchor of the show, both McGregor and Zada give impactful portrayals of Mirren and Johnny.
For the character Mirren, the show really leans into her "weirdness" and individuality, unique in a family that wants to see everyone in matching Ralph Lauren outfits. McGregor described playing Mirren as a "liberating" experience.
"I think I'm like that anyways, ... but it was nice to be able to do that in a work setting too, and really find the levels that she brings to that weirdness," McGregor told Yahoo Canada.
Much of the success of We Were Liars is the way the show swings from the deeply heartbreaking moments to the electric, oftentimes funny and sarcastic energy of other elements of the story. Zada's portrayal of Johnny really epitomizes that, with character having an electric free spirit when we first meet him.
"That was such a big part of his character, and stepping into that made me feel like I was a more confident person," Zada said. I'd be able to walk on set and hold my head high and feel confident about my work, and then being able to have what's coming underneath that was so good for my acting."
But when it's revealed that Johnny did something terrible to another student at school, and his mom Carrie had to pay to cover for him, Zada brings devastation to his performance.
"It was really rewarding to pull it off. I think, I hope," Zada said. "It was really hard. It was hard to go to those places emotionally. It definitely took a toll on me after a while. I think the subject was pretty rough too. It was not a very nice thing, but it was definitely stretching for my acting ability."
While The Liars are a highlight in the show Rahul Kohli, whose's had impressive past performances in projects like iZombie and The Fall of the House of Usher, is a favourite.
While much of that is a credit to way Kohli brings so much nuance and a unique charisma to every character he plays, it's also because Ed, along with Gat, share an outsider perspective that the audience will have of the Sinclair family.
"The scripts were great. They were well written. They're based on a fantastic book. Mamie is a fantastic actor," Kohli said about what attracted him to being part of the show.
"I don't want to act like I didn't do work, but it was a very easy job. Mamie is incredibly professional and disciplined at what she does, asks great questions. I came in very late in the game with an open mind, and I allowed the creators and the cast to kind of create the world for me, and I just had to exist."
It is the relationship between Gat and Ed that feels really special, because they're able to share the reality that while they've spent so many years with the Sinclair family, they're ultimately not Sinclairs, which comes with an othering and a constant feeling of being on the sidelines.
"The couple of side chats between Gat and Ed, one, gave me an opportunity to work with Shubham, who I absolutely adore, just such a wonderful actor, super new to the scene, but just fantastic to work with, and has a great future ahead of him," Kohli said.
"Especially if your character is not centred in a story, you basically play detective as an actor. You're going through a series of scripts and you're saying, 'When do they talk about themselves? When do they share their opinions about the world that they're in?' And those happen with Gat, those scenes with Ed are where you get a little bit more information about where his head's at. So they were super important to me for helping to create Ed, because that is a huge part of it. It's being a fish out of water. It's being othered. And the difference between Gat and Ed is, does Gat want to exist in that world and behave in the same way as Ed, or does he want to carve his own path."
But a lot of that pressure to uphold the Sinclair legacy comes from Harris, who not only has high expectations for his family members, but is particularly brash in how he communicates that. Whether it's racist and discriminatory comments, or incredibly hurtful insults to his family.
The one person he has a particularly interesting relationship with is Cadence. While he doesn't condone all of her decisions, she's the one person who actually has the courage to talk back to her grandfather, and call out his poor behaviour.
"Emily is absolutely terrific and getting to work with her was really a joy," Morse said. "And they were some my favourite scenes too."
"And when I read the book, one of the things that always stuck out to me were the scenes between Cadence and Harris, and that relationship. And I think the fact that she stands up to him is one of the reasons he sees her as the one who's going to carry on the legacy, carry on the business. None of his daughters have what it takes. And if anybody has that, has the backbone, ... it's her. So it makes that relationship more interesting."
"She's like Michael Corleone to the Don," Kohli added.
While Harris could be a one-dimensional character, we do see elements of his vulnerability peek through, which is necessary to make him feel like a fully realized character, including the love Harris has for his dogs, or what we learn about the fourth daughter Harris had with his wife Tipper (Wendy Crewson).
"I thought that stuff was essential," Morse said. "One thing that you could add to that is the relationship with Tipper, his wife, and really with the family when there's no pressure, when they're giving him love. That's what he he needs."
"I think we can see some very public figures at the moment who would, you know, they just want attention and love, and everything revolves around that. And I don't want to think of Harris so much that way, but that's there. He's a man who, for a long time, he's been a man that people want something from him. ... He's a powerful man. No matter where he goes, somebody wants to sit next to him, get something from him. It's affected who he is and how he moves through the world. So those little moments that you're talking about, I think are not only important for him, but for the story."
