“I've worked on more television with Greg [Garcia] and Martha [Plimpton] than any other person in my whole career,” explained Garret Dillahunt during a TCA press conference for Sprung, a new show streaming on Amazon Freevee. Garret not only stars as Jack, a recently released ex-convict, but also serves as an executive producer on a show that introduces some fresh new faces. “You're going to be pretty excited to meet these young actors. They fit in pretty seamlessly to this world.”
(Dennis Mong/Amazon Freevee)
Sprung marks the television debut for Clare Gillies, who plays Wiggles. “People in real life are total nuts, so I don’t think it’s that farfetched and I think I’m just as crazy or kooky or quirky as Wiggles,” the actress revealed. Greg Garcia praised her ability to jump into her character quickly throughout the shoot. “It’s not a stretch at all for me. We’re watching real people. These are these people that you see in life, and you have an experience with them, and you think, that guy’s a character, you know. That happens all the time.”
One of the familiar faces in Greg Garcia’s new on-screen family is James Earl, whose previous shows include Glee and Scream Queens. “One of the things that stood out to me when this breakdown came out was it was saying don’t play it to the funny,” James Earl shared. “[Greg] didn't want you to play into the comedy. And I think that helped a lot when I got on set because we weren't really playing. It was more real, being real and the funny was in that.”
Audiences may also recognize Phillip Garcia as Rooster from a recurring role on Scandal and a guest appearance on Mayans M.C. “I remember when Garret started following me,” the actor shared, having already been through the audition process at the time. Phillip had posted a video on Instagram of him singing, which caught the attention of the producers. “I think Garret sent Greg my Instagram post that I did for my now wife. I was away from her and I sang the song for her on my Instagram, and I guess they wanted to use it in the show, and I was like, ‘Hell yeah, let’s do it!’”
“Raising Hope was easily the best job I've ever had,” gushed Martha Plimpton about jumping at the chance to work with Greg and Garret again. “Garret and I had an almost instant friendship from the day we started really. And I think we work similarly. We have a similar way of going about things that work. And Greg being Greg, I mean, I'd follow the guy anywhere. The two of them making the show was just an instant yes for me. I mean, there's a shorthand obviously, but there's also familiarity and humor and a friendship that goes back a long way. And it’s like going home. It’s like being with old friends. And it feels really, really good. The work’s going to be a lot of fun. And you know the scripts are going to be good. And you know that the crews are going to be great. Greg works with a lot of the same department heads repeatedly over the years. And so there's a familiarity there with the crews. And it’s kind of like working with family. It’s really great.”
“I've been very lucky that all the cast I've ever worked with kind of become a family very quickly,” Greg Garcia shared. “It wasn't like we stopped seeing each other after Raising Hope finished. I'd worked with them actually on different shows, but also it wasn't that long before we did this that we were social distancing in my backyard and catching up. And then it takes maybe, I don't know, half a day before this all becomes a family. Everybody you're looking at here. Garret and I and Martha are working together again, but I think more importantly we're working with this new family of people that we were in the trenches together in Pittsburgh for ten weeks and we had an absolute blast. And this is the new family that's been formed.”
You can check out the new family formed in Sprung. The first two episodes are now available on Freevee, with new episodes streaming on Fridays.
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