Interview with Esther Smith and Rafe Spall on Season 4 of "Trying" - now streaming on Apple TV+
Esther Smith and Rafe Spall play the two main characters Nikki and Jason on the comedy series "Trying". Season 4 has been available worldwide on Apple TV+ since 22 May 2024. In our interview myFanbase's editor in chief Catherine Bühnsack was able to talk about the emotional rollercoaster the TV show is taking us on, from laughing out loud to crying tears of joy because of the soulful and beautiful story that is "Trying". Esther and Rafe give us their view into what made them want to play Nikki and Jason and why these characters never lose hope through all the hurdles life throws at them when wanting to become parents. And they both give us a deeper look into what it is like to work with their cast mates from Darren Boyd and Siân Brooke to their newest additions Scarlett Rayner and Cooper Turner.
© Apple TV+
29 May 2024 by Catherine Bühnsack
Here's a German translation of the interview.
Having read the synopsis of the series one might think "Trying" is a very dramatic show. I mean, an unfulfilled desire to have children can put any relationship to the test. Instead it's so sweet and emotional in a positive way and so funny as well! What drew the two of you to this project when you read the script for the first time?
Esther: I think, it's exactly that. I think that the fact that on each page there was an ability for me to be crying and then laughing so close to each other. And I just thought that was so special. Essentially, when I first got the scripts through, I just kind of inhaled them, I just didn't want to stop. I wanted to hang out with these people and I wanted to see where the story was going to go. And it's just got such heart and I think when you're given an opportunity like that you just want to grab it. And I feel so lucky that I got the opportunity to do it.
Rafe: I agree.
© Apple TV+
Nikki and Jason had to overcome a lot of obstacles to be able to adopt these two children, Princess and Tyler. What do you think made them never give up or never lose hope?
Rafe: I think that, once people decide that they want children, it's an extraordinarily powerful force that is almost indiminishable – if that's a word. If you have such love that you feel that you need to place it in another human being, if that's got nowhere to go that love, then it's a great tragedy. And the fear of that tragedy, the ability to not even imagine that would become a reality is extraordinarily powerful and they do never give up. And even when they've got their kids and we're six years later, they are still not giving up, because you don't – when you've got kids, you don't give up. Because they're just the most important thing imaginable. And this show is about that force and it's about the force of love and its power and its great beauty.
"Is Everything Okay?" | Clip from Episode 405 Mother's Day of "Trying" now streaming on Apple TV+
Since the finale of the third season, we've jumped six years in time. Do your characters feel different now? Would you describe them as more mature - especially now as parents? Or are they still their lovely chaotic selves we know from the first three seasons?
Esther: I think it's a real lovely mix. I feel like, speaking for myself and Nikki, that she has matured in a way or like developed because she has been a parent now for six years. I can see in her this… I tell you, she has kind of really flourished with it, but she is still equally as neurotic and chaotic with it. But she's so organised and she's just so full of love. And the story that we go on this series with her, particularly with Princess, it's just heart-breaking because you just know that she just wants the absolute best for her daughter whilst also still trying to come up against her own stuff, her own neuroses with that or not feeling good enough or not getting it quite right. So, it's got that really lovely mix which I think is a really nice tension to play with within the show this series.
Rafe: I just look a lot older…
Esther: (laughs)
Rafe: … and that's not even makeup. I just feel a great deal older.
© Apple TV+
Nikki and Jason's relationship is at the heart of this show and you have told the story before of how the two of you prepared for your chemistry test. Now the family has grown - there is four of you. Was there also some kind of chemistry test with your TV children played by Scarlett Rayner and Cooper Turner?
Rafe: Yeah, there was. We went in and we read with a few young actors and they were all brilliant. The calibre of people that were presented to us by our casting director, it was excellent, but it was pretty clear that both Cooper and Scarlett were the right people to play the jobs. They're extremely talented young actors and they just brought a new dimension to the show and the show is all the better for their presence.
Esther: (nods in agreement)
© Apple TV+
Did that change the dynamic on set? Because they say: Never work with animals or children in film. Especially when filming season 3 you had several scenes with young children on set.
Esther: Yeah! Throughout the stages, they slotted right in. It kind of felt like they've always been there, weirdly. What was interesting for me was, I a hundred percent felt like so much older when you have like a point of reference to someone who is much [younger]. Like Scarlett was 20 when we were filming it and I just felt so aware that I had grown up and was no longer 'down with the kids' as it were, despite some of her references. That was quite confronting, but I mean that's just life, isn't it? You get older. Yeah… Both of them, they just slotted in.
Rafe: Yeah, they're lovely. And Scarlett, she's twenty and she's a young woman, but Cooper is a kid. But his maturity and his ease in himself and his confidence, but not in an arrogant way, just he's so sure in his own skin that little boy. And he's so warm and he's got such a good sense of humour and he's just a very very…
Esther: He's so delightful!
Rafe: … he's a lovely little man. Yes!
Esther: 'A lovely little man' (laughs) He's delightful, he really is delightful!
"Clapping for Time" | Clip from Episode 403 Murder at Slaugherbridge Manor of "Trying" now streaming on Apple TV+
© Apple TV+
The two of you have an amazing ensemble cast around you and in this season we see them develop deeper storylines. Are there any favourite moments you'd like to share of the times when you all come together?
Esther: I love when we all come together and there is one particular episode where every member of the family is there in this kind of big country house and it is genuinely hilarious just to kind of see everyone do their thing and be there as a family. And you (looking at Rafe) giving a big speech in that episode…
Rafe: It's brilliant when you've got Darren Boyd and Siân Brooke who play those characters. They're just so good and such excellent actors! And Darren, who plays… what's he called?
Esther: Scott (laughs)
Rafe: Scott! That's on paper quite a sort of cartoonish character but he makes it so real. And someone who's potentially such a buffoon, you actually feel love for him. And in the same way Siân Brooke, who plays Karen, she is very hard and harsh, but again has got a lot of heart and you root for her. And I think what the show does, what Andy [Wolton, the creator] does, is he writes people, writes characters that aren't able to tell people that they love them in a conventional way, right? So, they're all finding it difficult to say 'I love you' but they all do, in their own way. And so that's really beautiful! All of those: Scott, and Karen, and even Freddy played by Oli Chris, and our characters, me and my dad finding it difficult to express love for each other, but we still do. And I think that's identifiable. It's not always easy to tell family members that you love them, but you do. And you do it through acts of love rather than actually saying it. To see that presented on screen I think is very identifiable for audiences.
Thank you so much and I wish you all the best!
All four seasons of "Trying" are available on Apple TV+.
Die Serie "Trying" ansehen:
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