We were joined on the Popternative show by Rosie Perez (The Flight Attendant, White Men Can’t Jump) and Jacobi Jupe (Peter Pan & Wendy, Britannia) who star in the Apple TV+ psychological thriller series, Before. Starring and executive produced by multi-award-winning actor Billy Crystal (Monsters Inc., When Harry Met Sally), the 10-episode series premiered on October 25 with the first 2 episodes.
Before follows child psychiatrist Eli (Crystal) who, after recently losing his wife, encounters a troubled young boy, Noah (Jupe), who is under the care of foster mother Denise (Perez). Noah seems to have a haunting connection to Eli’s past, and as he attempts to help Noah, their mysterious bond deepens.
The series also stars Judith Light (Transparent, Who’s the Boss?), Maria Dizzia (Agatha All Along, Orange Is the New Black), and Ava Lalezarzadeh (In the Garden of Tulips).
On working with Billy Crystal in a genre outside of comedy, Jacobi tells us, “One thing I learned from Billy is you gotta keep it happy. You can’t let [everyone] get a bit sad, because it’s a sad series, it’s quite intense. You gotta keep it happy, keep it buzzing, keep everyone having fun instead of feeling sad or anxious”
“It was really cool saying ‘okay this is going to happy to your face’ while you’re doing [a scene], so this aspect of it was really cool and watching Jacobi going through the motions as well was pretty cool,” Rosie says on working on a show that has some thriller elements to it.
Watch the full conversation with Rosie and Jacobi below.
A new episode of Before drops every Friday through December 20.
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