Emmy-nominee Jake Lacy is no stranger to playing a… jerk.
He received widespread critical acclaim for his Emmy-nominated turn in the first season of Mike White’s The White Lotus. Now, he’s back on the Emmy scene again with another take on an affluent, preppy — let’s just call it what it is — douchebag in Peacock’s Apples Never Fall. When asked if he was concerned about typecasting, the entirely genuine and very funny Lacy playfully responds.
“I feel like if I do one more in the next 18 months, people are going to be like ‘Is this what you’re doing now? Is entitled pricks your card now?’,” Lacy laughed.
But in all seriousness, Lacy’s Troy Delaney from Apples Never Fall barely holds surface-level similarities with The White Lotus’s Shane Patton. Based on the novel by Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty, Apples Never Fall presents the troubled Delaney family, a once-prominent tennis dynasty whose matriarch Joy (Oscar nominee Annette Bening) mysteriously disappears. As the limited series unfolds, the family nearly tears itself apart with doubt as it becomes increasingly apparent that Joy’s husband Stan (Sam Neill) may have been involved in her disappearance.
As Troy, Lacy excels within the high-powered ensemble. His Troy emerges as a character who, despite all the trappings of success and happiness, finds himself unravelling upon the disappearance of his mother. As he comes to terms with his darkest suspicions, he recalls emotional encounters with his father and tries to process the events around him while holding on to his role as sibling leader. It’s a role that only bears surface-level similarities to Lacy’s previous work and demands significant emotional investment as he brings the character to life.
In this interview, Lacy talks about working in such a fantastic ensemble and finding energy from close collaborations with other actors. He also talks about his close work with actor Sam Neill who lavishly praises Lacy’s performance. He reveals how this role stretched him as an actor — and it’s not through the hours of practice to replicate his character’s high-level tennis skills. Finally, he talks about working on the great William Friedkin’s final film, Showtime / Paramount+’s The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, and how the experience changed the way he looks at filmmaking.
Apples Never Fall streams exclusively on Peacock. The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial streams exclusively on Paramount+.
