Liar, liar.
Prime Video’s new teen drama “We Were Liars” (premiering Wednesday, June 18) is a twisty summertime thriller.
Based mostly on a wildly in style novel of the identical identify, the present is helmed by “The Vampire Diaries” mastermind Julie Plec and Carina Adly MacKenzie.
“What drew me to it is the deep emotional roller coaster that this story takes you on, starting from what seems just like a very simple, sweet, nostalgic coming-of-age story about first love and best friends and summer, and takes you from basically all those vibes on a very twisty-turny, surprising journey into a big tone shift,” Plec completely advised The Put up.
“We Were Liars” follows Cadence Sinclair Eastman (Emily Alyn Lind) and her circle of cousins and associates – together with Johnny (Joseph Zada), Mirren (Esther McGregor), and Gat (Shubham Maheshwari) – who’ve adventures over the course of a number of summers on her prosperous household’s personal island.
However, issues take a darker flip as Cadence should determine what’s taking place after she loses her reminiscence, and everybody appears to have secrets and techniques.
Rounding out the solid is Candice King, Mamie Gummer, Rahul Kohli, and David Morse.
“Casting a big ensemble like this, where everybody is supposed to be related to each other and blonde, as in the books, is never easy,” stated Plec.
She added, “Blonde, you can usually fake, and, which we did pretty well in a couple situations, but you really need to be able to believe that they’re all of one piece.”
For Gat, an Indian boy who’s Cadence’s love curiosity, she stated, “We looked high and low. We were able to cast the role of Gat from a beautiful young actor who had never acted for a living before at all. His audition tape was done in his dorm room on campus just before he graduated [from] university.”
Plec continued, “We got to discover the incredible. Mamie Gummer, who’s worked for years, but is stepping into her own as a leading lady.”
Gummer, 41, is Meryl Streep’s daughter. When requested concerning the chance that Streep, 75, will tune in, Plec stated, “I have alternate [thoughts] of like, ‘Meh, that fine, she won’t watch it, that’s okay,’ to ‘Oh my god, Meryl Streep is probably gonna watch the show.’”
She quipped, “I just hope she likes it, to be honest.”
“We Were Liars” can be America’s introduction to Aussie actor Zada, who’s poised to have his profession take off, as he’s been solid because the star of the subsequent “Hunger Games” film, “Sunrise on the Reaping.”
“I feel very proud. I know he’s worked before in Australia, so somebody else gets to take credit for discovering him off the street, but Carina and I are gladly gonna take credit for discovering [him] in the United States of America,” Plec stated.
She recalled how throughout filming, Gummer even set him up for his subsequent main position – the Netflix adaptation of “East of Eden” starring Florence Pugh – “because Mamie called her very good friend, Zoe Kazan, who was directing it and said, ‘You gotta meet this kid. He’s extraordinary.’”
Plec added, “I think we knew it on set. When we were in the sound stage, the sound engineers would be like, ‘God, that kid is so good.’ I think we’re just at the beginning of a very long, very cool road for him.”
In the meantime, Plec has executed three reveals up to now in “The Vampire Diaries” universe, together with “The Originals” and “Legacies.”
About whether or not there may very well be extra coming, Plec stated that she’s not engaged on something particular in the intervening time.
Nonetheless, she added, “I have had ideas in my head for more stories in Mystic Falls for pretty much since I started telling stories in Mystic Falls,” referring to the city the place “The Vampire Diaries” came about.
“So all anybody has to do is ask, and I will be there with bells on.”
