It wasn’t the wealth or the drama that drew Amanda Peet to ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’—it was series creator Jonathan Tropper’s writing.
“I think that Mel wasn’t a sad sack middle aged divorcee, but rather someone who’s complicated, angry, having great sex, and fighting to stay alive,” Peet says about what attracted her to the script.
Peet—whose great-grandfather helped open Radio City Music Hall—opens up about working with Jonathan Tropper, acting opposite Jon Hamm, and what she finds meaningful in taking on producing roles behind the camera on projects like ‘The Chair’ and ‘Fantasy Life.’
In the wealthy enclave of Westmont Village, hedge fund manager Andrew “Coop” Cooper (Jon Hamm) seems to have it all—until his world unravels following a betrayal by his wife Mel (Amanda Peet), estrangement from his children, and a sudden firing under suspicious circumstances. Desperate to maintain his lavish lifestyle, Coop turns to robbing the very people he once considered friends and neighbors. But when one heist goes disastrously wrong, he’s pulled into a dangerous spiral of secrets, lies, and shifting moral boundaries, revealing just how fragile—and interconnected—their privileged world really is.
Created by Tropper, the series stars Jon Hamm, Amanda Peet, Olivia Munn, Hoon Lee, Lena Hall, Mark Tallman, Isabel Marie Gravitt, Donovan Colan, Eunice Bae, and Aimee Carrero. Series directors include Tropper, Craig Gillespie, Greg Yaitanes, and Stephanie Laing. The series is written by Tropper, Jamie Rosengard, Jennifer Yale, Josh Stoddard, Evan Endicott, Danielle DiPaolo, and Bryan Parker.
Season 1 of ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ is streaming on Apple TV+. Season 2 is currently in production.
Awards Focus: It’s so nice to meet you today. How are you doing?
Amanda Peet: I’m okay. How are you doing and where are you?
AF: I am in Chicago.
Peet: Chicago, okay.
AF: I moved here for improv, weirdly become a film critic along the way.
Peet: Interesting. I respect that. I like that you did some improv before you became a critic.
AF: Yeah. I fluked into it.
Peet: There’s stranger paths, aren’t there?
AF: Yeah. What was it about the script for ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ that first attracted you to the role?
Peet: I think that Mel wasn’t a sad sack middle aged divorcee, but rather someone who’s complicated, angry, having great sex, and fighting to stay alive.
AF: What has it been like to have an opportunity to work on a series created by Jonathan Tropper?
Peet: Well, he’s the boss to end all bosses. I think he’s ruined me now at this point, probably. I think he deeply cares about the work and he also deeply cares that folks are happy from the top of the line people to the PAs.
AF: What do you typically look for in a character when you’re reading a screenplay?
Peet: Well, good writing really is the thing, right? Because you could have someone who’s ostensibly a boring stay-at-home mom, but whose plot is really interesting and well-written. You could have someone who’s president of the United States, dealing with a bunch of crazy shit, and the writing is terrible so you don’t want to do that.
AF: What did you bring to the character of Mel Cooper that isn’t on the page?
Peet: I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. I feel like it’s on the page. It’s Tropper and my scene partners, led by Jon Hamm.
AF: Speaking of scene partners, how has it been having this opportunity to act opposite Jon Hamm and what’s that been like?
Peet: Well, he’s my kind of actor, because he’s very playful and he doesn’t do it twice the same way. He’s a very improvisational spirit, even when he’s sticking to the lines as written. In between takes, he doesn’t get all poopy and take himself really seriously. He knows we’re not curing cancer. For me, he’s just the right amount serious about the work.
AF: What about working with the rest of the cast?
Peet: It’s really special. I’m sure it sounds annoying, but we kind of won the lottery with this one. Between Tropper and Jon Hamm. a lot of the assholes have been weeded out over the years. People they’re not willing to work with or who they’ve heard are very fussy or mean, so it’s been kind of a delight.
AF: While watching the series, I found it fascinating how there’s still a romantic comedy triangle at play.
Peet: When he called me to describe the part he said, They’re not over each other and that has to always be there. It has to be this kind of through line. That they’re still attracted to each other, even though they drove the relationship into the ground. And so, yeah, I found that to be really poignant that they met in college and when life is so innocent, full of promise, and then they fucked it all up. But then, they can’t quite let go.
AF: You’ve gotten into the producing side of things in recent years, having co-created ‘The Chair’ and produced ‘Fantasy Life.’ What do you find the most fulfilling about taking on roles behind the camera?
Peet: Well, I don’t have to get dressed for work, which is nice. I don’t have to go into hair and makeup, which is one of the joys.
With ‘The Chair,’ I was actually writing, so it was very different, but with Fantasy Life, I was just putting in my two cents here and there, so that was very, very different.
But yeah, it’s really exciting to, in my old age, be able to pivot and use a different part of myself. I worked with great, great people so it was really exciting. I hope to do it again.
You have more control. You don’t have any control as an actor. Unless you’re like Jack Nicholson or something, but you don’t have a lot of control when if you go see the stuff and you’re like, Hey, could you possibly cut this scene? I think that the show’s getting really slow in this area, or I think I really sucked in this scene. Can you please cut to someone else? You can’t do that, but you can do that when it’s your own show.
It’s really about just being able to impose your own take on something, right? You choose all the sound and what people wear, and most importantly, what ends up on the cutting room floor.
AF: One thing that I really appreciated about watching ‘The Chair’ was how it touched on campus antisemitism.
Peet: Yeah, a little, maybe not as much as it should have, but.
AF: Yeah. Well, I don’t think anyone could have foresaw what would have happened in the last few years after it aired.
Peet: Insane. Where was undergrad for you?
AF: I was at Bradley for my freshman year and then Northern Kentucky for sophomore through senior and thankfully, nothing close to what we’ve seen these past few years.
Peet: Yeah, yeah. Pretty crazy.
AF: Yeah. I’ve got friends that are have have kids in college and just hearing the horror stories since October 7. I mean, it’s like, oh my G-d.
Peet: Yeah, me too.
AF: In perusing your biography, I couldn’t help but notice that your great grandfather played a role in establishing some of the early movie palace theaters in New York, including Radio City Music Hall.
Peet: Wow, you really did research!
AF: Yeah. Did his being a part of the industry inspire you to pursue a career in acting or is it just a coincidence?
Peet: I think that it was more when I started getting interested, then people in my family started saying, Roxy Rothafel created the Rockettes and Radio City Music Hall, designed Radio City Music Hall as a theater for the people. He actually died bankrupt and was a philanderer.
But yeah, it was more when I started to admit to my parents that I was going to pursue this, which wasn’t their favorite thing to hear, as you can probably imagine. My mom started showing me pictures of Roxy and stuff like that and wondered if there was some kind of recessive gene. I guess he had a really famous radio show as well. He was an entertainer, I think, even though he was mostly behind the scenes.
AF: There’s something about Jewish parents wanting their kids ending up as doctors or lawyers rather than the creative types that upset them.
Peet: Yeah. Yeah, it probably would have been better if I said I wanted to be a writer, but it was really almost tantamount to me being like, I’m going to go to Vegas and be a showgirl or something like that. They were like, Ah!
AF: At a time when so many series are lucky to get a second season, let alone finishing the first season, how grateful are you that ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ is returning for a second season on Apple?
Peet: I think it is batshit crazy. Everyone I know is struggling. It’s like a needle in a haystack.
It’s crazy. I’m old enough—I’m old now, so I can feel, I feel really grateful. When I was younger, I’d be like more, Well, what else is there? Like that.
AF: When you’re working on a series and it’s the hiatus, how do you decide which projects to tackle?
Peet: I thought ‘Fantasy Life’ was really beautifully written, and I thought that Matthew’s sense of humor was really—I felt really simpatico with him somehow. When I talked to him, I thought he was sane and really smart. But it takes a lot for me to leave the kids in LA at this point because, for obvious reasons. I’m just looking for good writing. That’s it. That’s it.
Hopefully, I’ll be able to write a little bit more myself. The other thing that’s nice about producing and writing is that you’re not waiting for someone to call. There’s an aspect to being an actor that is a little bit like he’s just not that into you, where it’s just like you’re dating someone who is just not that into you.
AF: Yeah. You just mentioned LA. How has it been with working in New York for this series since they’re filming in the Westchester area?
Peet: Yeah. I grew up in Manhattan so it’s always kind of like coming home. Now I feel kind of weird, like I love both. My heart is in both cities, but I’d rather it be in New York than be anywhere else probably, with the exception of like maybe Florence or Paris.
AF: It’s been so nice getting to chat with you this afternoon. Thank you so much.
Peet: Thank you again. Have a wonderful day.