Posted in: Peacock, TV | Tagged: Andre Hyland, Laid, Michael Angarano

Laid Stars Hyland & Angarano on "Sitcom Feel," Improv, Costars & More

Laid stars Andre Hyland and Michael Angarano spoke with Bleeding Cool about flexing comedic muscles, Stephanie Hsu, Zosia Mamet, and more.

Andre Hyland and Michael Angarano are veterans with over 20+ years of experience on screen. Hyland starred in shows like the Max animated comedy Ten Year Old Tom, HBO's Barry, and Paramount+'s Guilty Party. Angarano appeared in Vertical's Sacramento (2024), Warner Bros' Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 (2024), and Oppenheimer (2023). The two star in the Peacock dark comedy series Laid, based on the Australian series of the same name by Kirsty Fisher and Marieke Hardy. Adapted for American TV by Nahnatchka Khan (Fresh Off the Boat) and Sally Bradford McKenna (Will & Grace), the series follows Ruby (Stephanie Hsu), who finds out her former lovers are dying in unusual ways and must go back through her sex timeline to confront her past to move forward. Angarano and Hyland, who play Ritchie & Zach, respectively, spoke to Bleeding Cool about whether they've seen the original Australian series, the Peacock's sitcom vibes, improv, and the series leads in Hsu and Zosia Mamet.

Laid: Andre Hyland & Michael Angarano on Filming, Hsu, Mamet & More

Bleeding Cool: Did you watch the original Australian version of 'Laid?'

Angarano: I have not yet, as a matter of fact. I felt this show had its own distinct vision from Nahnatchka [Khan] and Sally [Bradford], and it felt like we didn't need that as a reference, so to speak.

Hyland: Yeah, plus I'm bad at Australian accents [Angarano laughs].

How does a project like 'Laid' compare to your other work?

Hyland: The show is a mix of single-camera, multi-camera, and old-school broadcasts with new-school streaming. There are also these old-school elements, and the multi-cam elements of DNA that are part of it were new for me. That was a bit to learn, and I thought that it was interesting and cool, but Michael's a pro in that zone, so [laughs].

Angarano: I agree. It was the first thing I've done where it was a single cam, but the way it was written and the way it was treated felt like it had so many crossover elements of sitcoms. They would give us line alternates the night before, like pages of them, sometimes for specific pieces of dialog. The only other time I've done anything like that was like joke alts would be on a sitcom. That was interesting, and I thought structurally, the show felt very sitcom, with a lot of dovetailing of storylines. It felt new in that aspect for me.

Hyland: Everything was purposeful. There was nothing in there randomly.

Speaking of random, were there opportunities for improv, or was it mostly sticking to the script?

Hyland: Mostly the script, but there were periods and pockets where we could, for certain scenes, allow for some more improvising. Some scenes were [Michael] and I when we were fighting, and things like that could add some bits. Sometimes, in table reads, you add a little flourish here or there, and then it would end up in the script, which was cool. That was improvised in a phase, but it would end up in the script, and then it was a purposefully written script like, "X to Y would lead to Z." There was space to be creative, but to make sure this song stayed in tune, you had to stick to the script, but there were places where we tried things for sure.

What can you say about your co-stars, Stephanie [Hsu] and Zosia [Mamet], and the way they carried themselves on screen?

Angarano: They are so good at what they do. Stephanie is like the consummate best, most generous, number one, and producer. She appreciated her role as the show's producer and wanted accountability and responsibility. She flourished in it, and you could tell she was learning as she went, too. Also having to balance that with being the star of the show and having an immense mountain of dialog to learn every day. You could see Stephanie taking on taking "a bigger bite of the apple," so to speak, and relishing that.

Zasia's like…I didn't know more than almost any other character on the show when I was most familiar with Zasia's work. When I read the script knowing she was a part of it, I heard her voice, it's so distinctly, and watching her performance, I was like, "She is so pitch-perfect sometimes." She's so spot on and in the zone, always like I'd never see her have, like, an offbeat.

Hyland: I agree. She can make any line funny.

What can you say about how the writing on the show brings out the best in you guys performance-wise and your costars as an ensemble?

Hyland: It was cast well. Each person, once you see them in it, you're like, "That makes sense." The actors were applied well to the characters that were written and vice versa.

Laid, which also stars Simu Liu and Chloe Fineman, premieres December 19th on Peacock.

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