Andre Hyland and Michael Angarano find themselves wrapped up in a woman’s bizarre situation inLaid. After roughly a decade of starring in a lot of online comedy shorts, Hyland has gradually begun expanding his acting career to both feature-length and TV projects, including the Kate Beckinsale-ledGuilty Partyand Bill Hader’sBarry. Angarano, on the other hand, has been acting since he was a teenager, having starred in everything from Cameron Crowe’sAlmost Famousto Disney’sSky High,Christopher Nolan’sOppenheimerand NBC’sThis Is Us, which earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.
Based on the Australian show of the same name,Laidrevolves around party planner Rubywho one day discovers that her past sexual partners are dying in the order they slept with her, leading her to investigate the reason why. Hyland stars in the show as Zack, boyfriend of Ruby’s best friend AJ, who also lives with the two, but is a notoriously lazy and self-centered figure. Angarano, meanwhile, stars as Richie, a person Ruby once slept with who becomes a sex timeline loophole and is skipped over, joining her on her quest to find answers.
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Alongside Hyland and Angarano, the ensembleLaidcast includes Oscar-nominatedEverything Everywhere All at Oncevet Stephanie Hsu,The Decameron’s Zosia Mamet,Good Trouble’s Tommy Martinez, Andre Hyland, Elizabeth Bowen, Olivia Holt, Ryan Pinkston, David Denman and Susan Berger. Utilizing its gonzo premise to deliver some shocking deaths, while also remembering the genuine humanity of the characters and the humor to come from its concept, the show is a wildly entertaining ride.
Ahead of the show’s premiere,ScreenRantinterviewed Andre Hyland and Michael Angarano to discussLaid, what drew them to the American adaptation of the Australian comedy, how they were intrigued by the way it “Trojan Horsed” its darker comedy into its rom-com presentation, and the joy they found from getting to work with Hsu on the show.
ScreenRant: I’m really excited to talk about this show. I watched the first seven episodes of it the other day, and I was just hooked from start to finish. Andre, I’d love to start with you, and then Michael, what about it really hooked both of you to want to be a part of the show?
Andre Hyland: I like that it was a dark comedy, but it’s fed to you like it’s not. It’s kind of a twisted rom-com, I like that about it. The way it looks and presents itself, you wouldn’t think that it gets kind of graphic at times, or dark, I guess is the quick way of saying it. So, I think that’s a cool thing about it, that’s what grabbed me.
Michael Angarano: For me, I just thought a couple of things. It has such a good hook. When the question is posed, like, “Why is this happening?”, you just want to know. So I felt like that was such a good engine for a show in general. And then, the scripts were so funny and were so well written. You read it, and it really popped off the page.
But when you actually started performing the scenes themselves, you would find this whole range in them. And I obviously love Nahnatchka and Sally. I thought their sentiment — there were so many jokes per page, it almost read like a sitcom back in the heyday, you know, I guess a broadcast sitcom. But it was — and I hate the word — edgier, it’s darker, and it felt like you had so much more latitude in terms of tone that you could really inject. And they did.
They injected so much, it’s so self-aware in terms of it knows what it is, and it’s not afraid to make fun of itself, and also make fun of other things. It’s not afraid to be politically incorrect. It makes really good jokes, I thought, and the characters really come off the page too. So, it was just exciting. It’s so rare you have a show that could actually reach people, that people could see, that’s fun to be in, and also fun to watch.
Andre Hyland: Yeah, I agree with that. I feel it’s sort of this dark twist that’s Trojan Horsed into this sort of familiar showcase that people are used to, in a sense. It’s a way to trick people into something new and more interesting. [Laughs]
Ruby’s Dynamic With Zack & Richie Will Grow In Unique And Different Ways
“I feel like what Richie and Ruby have almost seems like brother-sisterly.”
I’d love to talk about both of your characters' dynamics with Stephanie, because obviously, with Andre, you kind of don’t like her, but you also do have an indifference to her, whereas Michael, you start off on a really bad page with her, but as the show goes on, something starts to build there. What was it like for each of you to find that dynamic and rapport with her as filming went on?
Andre Hyland: Well, I think for both Zack and Ruby, they’re both in each other’s lives because of AJ. They both kind of have to experience each other just because one’s the best friend and one’s the boyfriend. They are the sidecar that comes with either party, so they don’t not like each other, but they’re there. It’s like, a classmate, it’s like, “Well, we’re here together, so might sit together at lunch at school, but not spend the weekends together” kind of vibe. But then, as the show goes on, everyone grows in directions and everything, but I think that’s the initial situation.
Michael Angarano: I feel like what Richie and Ruby have almost seems like brother-sisterly. There’s a lot of nagging and brutal honesty in their relationship. What makes their relationship interesting is they sort of repel each other, and that’s part of why they come close. He’s one of the few people who can be brutally honest with her, and she’s not afraid to be judged by him, and him by her. At least baseline, “Take it or leave it.” They’re very take it or leave it with each other. “This is who I am. I’m not trying to impress.” They’re not afraid to be themselves around each other, and I think that kind of lends itself to the dynamic going forward.
Angarano & Hsu Couldn’t Get Through One Of Their Audition Scenes Together Without Laughing
“…that kind of spelled out our relationship from the start.”
I don’t want to spoil anything, but there is something of a rom-com hidden in this show. What was it like finding that specific dynamic with Stephanie, in particular?
Michael Angarano: It was such a great thing about watching Stephanie perform this character, because I felt like the voice of Ruby and Stephanie as an actor were such a perfect marriage. Nahnatchka and Sally wrote such a specific character, and when you heard Stephanie read it and say the lines and inhabit the character, it just felt so natural and authentic. So, I don’t know, I felt like our relationship was just very easy from the get-go.
We also have really, sometimes heavy, long, funny, dark scenes with each other. I’ll give you a good anecdote. When I auditioned, we couldn’t get through a scene because we both cracked up laughing at the same thing, and that was just the audition. And that kind of spelled out our relationship from the start. Right away, you felt like we were on the same page.
Andre Hyland: Yeah also, Stephanie’s cool to work with. She’s rooting for everything to work, and trying to make it work, not just holding her place. She’s an easy, nice person to work with.
AboutLaid
A woman finds out her former lovers are dying in unusual ways and must go back through her sex timeline to confront her past in order to move forward – “Laid” is a f—ed up rom-com where the answer to “why can’t I find love, is there something wrong with me?” is a resounding “Yes. There is. The problem is definitely you.”
Laid
Cast
A woman discovers that her former lovers are dying under unusual circumstances. As she navigates her past relationships, she must confront her history in order to move forward, delving into a journey of self-reflection and resolution.
