“We really are just using the book as a jumping-off point,” The Big Door Prize showrunner and executive producer David West Read revealed during a TCA press conference for the Apple TV+ adaptation of M.O. Walsh’s novel. “The concept of the book is the seed that we’re planting for the series, and we have an amazing writers’ room, an amazing cast, amazing crew, designers. There’s so many creative brains that have come together to start building something completely different from the book, and I like leaning into mystery and magic in this series to open up the possibilities of where it could go.” The series follows the residents of a small town called Deerfield as a mysterious machine named Morpho is installed that can show your true potential for the low price of $2. “Our Morpho mythology is deep, and we’re asking questions as we answer questions and making sure that we pay the mystery forward with this show so that we have the longest road possible.”
(Alberto E. Rodriguez via Getty Images/Apple TV+)
“I read the book before I had read the script,” revealed Chris O’Dowd, who headlines the series as Dusty. “I love that central premise that we may have a second go-around, that there can be this reset where maybe this part that we had been trying to fulfill all of our lives was actually some kind of façade or joke or trying to live up to somebody else's expectations. And then suddenly, if you follow what you were supposed to, then maybe we'll find some kind of happiness. There's something fun in that premise, particularly at a time where we have all reset to explore.” As a fan of the book, Chris was also inspired by how the show took the novel’s core ideas and modified them to create an ongoing series. “We're always looking for answers of some kind. From astrology to Zoltar to Jesus, we're all looking for some kind of an answer as to what else is there, and guidance. And this small town is a microcosm of that. It's interesting to watch all of these people either embrace or reject or, whether they like it or not, be influenced by the idea of an oracle. And we can see that happening in society all the time. So, to watch it in one small town, and how everybody is affected is fascinating.”
Playing Dusty’s wife Cass is Gabrielle Dennis, who shared her excitement for the conversations The Big Door Prize will inspire family and friends to have about whether they’ve achieved their own potential. “I think that's a question around dining tables, around living rooms, around water coolers that people are going to ask and talk about,” Gabrielle shared. “It's going to be a continuation of it, and I think they did such a great job of invoking thought that makes you ask these questions without really telling you what you should be thinking or feeling.” Asked if she would use the Morpho machine if she had the chance, Gabrielle said she prefers to live in the unknown. “I didn't read the book, only because I didn't want to know and spoil anything for myself with the journey that I was going through with Dave creating the character and going into the process,” she confessed.
“We got to meet M.O., he came to set,” actor Josh Segarra revealed about the author. “He had a good time. I just remember his face smiling, walking through and just telling us ‘Look at this world, I'd never pictured it like this.’” Josh plays Giorgio, a happy-go-lucky individual. “I love this guy. He's a former New York Ranger hockey player and goes back to his town and opens an Italian restaurant that he’s really proud of. He likes to host his best friends. Dusty is his best bud, even though Dusty doesn’t want to be his best bud. He has a lot of love for everybody around him, and that’s what I love about this guy. He’s all heart and he was a very, very fun character to explore. He’s got a lot of layers on top of him, literally and figuratively, and he rocks a tracksuit well. So any time I got to go to work in a tracksuit, I think everybody was jealous that I was in the most comfortable clothes on this one.”
“Potential is a lot more than just what you do professionally, that's definitely something that's laid out pretty clearly in the show,” Sammy Fourlas said about the implications of what Morpho tells you. Sammy rose to fame in skits on TikTok before transitioning to acting, with The Big Door Prize marking his TV acting debut. “I didn’t anticipate doing this, and I don’t know what the future will hold. But going back to the fact that it doesn’t necessarily have to do with your career, there's so much time to figure out what that potential could be and to any of us."
Similarly, Djouliet Amara was a dancer before finding she had a talent for acting, joining the cast as Trina. “This is not my first career, and this is kind of a really accidental career for me,” Djouliet explained. “I was a dancer and specifically going onto this show, it's the biggest role I've ever had in anything, and I really felt like it all happened by accident, the finding of my potential, and I feel like I'm continuing to grow from here.”
“It's a comedy that has elements of drama and magic, and there's a slight eeriness to it around the edges,” concluded David West Read about the tone of The Big Door Prize. “There's a slightly unsettling feeling to the show that kind of creeps in over time, because the idea of being told your potential itself is very aspirational at first, but reckoning with whether that’s possible is slightly more unsettling. So we tried to match that with the overall tone of the show.”
The Big Door Prize premieres Wednesday, March 29th, with three episodes on Apple TV+, followed by weekly episode releases on Wednesdays through May 17th.
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