“The Last Two Episodes Are Crazy”

The new Peacock original series — Teacup, created by Ian McCulloch — follows the Chenoweth family as they find themselves trapped on their isolated rural farm through paranormal means one night. Caught up in the terrifying proceedings are siblings Meryl (Émilie Bierre) and Arlo (Caleb Dolden), with an incident involving Arlo kicking off the story and the children embarking on their own journey to find a way to safety. Joined by family friend Nicholas Shanley (Luciano Leroux), the Chenoweth siblings face otherworldly dangers as their parents learn firsthand just how deadly the situation is rapidly becoming.

In an exclusive interview with CBR, Teacup actors Émilie Bierre and Caleb Dolden share how they found their respective characters, explain how they built their family dynamic with co-stars Yvonne Strahovski and Scott Speedman and hint at an action-packed season finale for Teacup as the series premieres on Peacock this October.

CBR: Once the story really gets underway in Teacup, there’s barely any room to stop and breathe. How was it finding your characters amid all this chaos?

Émilie Bierre:
I did some prep beforehand, before we started filming. I always do a playlist for my characters. I have a notebook that I work with. You had to just make sure you knew who you were playing, and then who that person is going to turn into once things start going completely wrong.
Ian McCulloch, our amazing showrunner
, his writing is just simply amazing. We had some great conversations with him and the directors that we were working with. This all happens in 48 hours, so let’s find out how they’re going to react to all of it.

Caleb, for Arlo, there is a clear demarcation of how is before something happens to him at the start of the series and after. How did you want to create Arlo before and the Arlo after?

Caleb Dolden:
How I created Arlo before, he was just a regular little boy, like every nine-year-old boy. And then, when things start happening, how I made it like that is Arlo needs his family, but after things start happening, he depends more on his family to survive. He gets changed a little bit, and he’s definitely more cautious.

Émilie, the scenes between Meryl and Nick are great because they bring a more human side to the story while the adults handle a lot of the action guns blazing. How was it working with Luciano Leroux in your scenes with him?

Bierre:
It was so lovely! Luciano is so great, we had so much fun with him. I thought that was such a beautiful element of the show because it brings you back to the innocence that these two kids still have, even with everything that is going on.
I thought it was great that they’re just trying to find comfort with one another.
I really enjoyed those scenes and playing the young Meryl that’s like “I’m going to act like I don’t think you’re funny, but I might find you a little funny.” We had fun with those. He’s got some good dad jokes in this show! He just keeps coming with them!

The Chenoweth family is already together as a unit, with a lot of history that the audience doesn’t necessarily see on-screen. How was it building that family dynamic with Yvonne Strahovski and Scott Speedman?

Dolden:
I think it came naturally, it came very easily. It wasn’t forced, it just came.

Bierre:
All of it was on the page. All of those conflicts and relationships were written, we just had to bring them to life. When you get to do that with such talented people, it just makes it much more fun. I really enjoyed building
that mother-daughter relationship with Yvonne
. We don’t get any scenes as the cute little family having a good time. You don’t even have that.
But it was so fun to do all of those intense scenes with them.
I felt really safe working with both of them. They just give you so much in a scene that you have to sit there, respond and deal with the moment that you’re working in. I just really enjoyed working with both of them. They’re really awesome.

When that intensity does pick up, things get quite physical out in the woods for both of your characters. How was it capturing the physical side of your performances?

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Bierre:
It was really fun!

Dolden:
It was fun and challenging.

Bierre: The last two episodes are completely crazy, especially the season finale.
When I read those, I was so excited to get to do that. The more challenged you get, I personally think the more fun you have. All of it was lovely. Ian’s a genius, so we all knew that it was going to turn out okay. There were some very intense scenes, and we knew Ian was going to guide us, and we could rely on each other. It was fun!

Created by Ian McCulloch, Teacup premieres Oct. 10 on Peacock.

Teacup

Trapped on a farm in rural Georgia, a group of neighbors must put aside their differences and unite in the face of a mysterious and deadly threat.

Release Date

October 10, 2024

Creator(s)

Ian McCulloch

Cast

Yvonne Strahovski , Scott Speedman , Chaske Spencer , Kathy Baker , Boris McGiver , Caleb Dolden , Émilie Bierre , Luciano Leroux , Alice Kremelberg , Diany Rodriguez

Seasons

1

Writers

Yvonne Strahovski , Scott Speedman , Chaske Spencer

Directors

E.L. Katz

Character(s)

Maggie Chenoweth , James Chenoweth , Ruben Shanley , Ellen Chenoweth , Donald Kelly , Arlo Chenoweth , Meryl Chenoweth , Nicholas Shanley , Izzy , Valeria Shanley

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