While most people slowed down during the pandemic, Jake Lacy's schedule accelerated. It began with filming 鈥淭he White Lotus鈥� for HBO, where his portrayal of an entitled newlywed dissatisfied with his honeymoon hotel room earned Lacy his first Emmy nomination.
鈥淪ince 鈥榃hite Lotus,鈥� I feel like I haven鈥檛 stopped moving. If I鈥檓 home between now and New Year鈥檚, that鈥檒l be the longest we鈥檝e been in one place in two plus years,鈥� said Lacy, 38, over Zoom from his home in Connecticut that he shares with his wife and two sons.
But he's also quick to note his good fortune because 鈥淢y love for this work fires every one of my cylinders. When it鈥檚 good, it鈥檚 good. There's just nothing better for me (besides) my family and this work. Maybe reading books. That鈥檚 it.鈥�
Lacy has been recognizable for more than a decade, popping up, for instance, on the final season of 鈥淭he Office" as Pete, a new salesman at Dunder Mifflin, or as a suitor for Rooney Mara in 鈥淐arol." There was also a recurring role as Lena Dunham's good-guy boyfriend, Fran, in HBO's 鈥淕irls.鈥�
Although he was 鈥渨orking consistently,鈥� Lacy said doubt about that next job would creep in. "I felt like, 鈥橧 don't know how I'm going to have two kids and buy a house and do this, like it just might not happen'... then a job would come along and buoy me long enough to not feel that way anymore.鈥�
When 鈥淲hite Lotus鈥� began production, Lacy said the set was energized by having cameras roll again.
鈥淚 think because of the pandemic, none of us had filmed in a year or eight months at best. There was a real enthusiasm and kind of gnawing excitement to be like, 鈥楪et me out there, let鈥檚 do this,鈥� you know? Murray Bartlett remembers the first scene he and I had when I鈥檓 coming to complain about the room. He was like, 鈥業 remember we both came at each other like two wild dogs.鈥� (Creator) Mike White had to go like, 鈥楢ll right. This is the first time, let's pull it back a little bit,' Lacy laughed.
His latest role, in the new Peacock limited series 鈥� is more sinister. He portrays a man who ingrains himself into a church-going family in the 1970s, only to abduct one of the daughters twice.
鈥淎 Friend of the Family" drops its first four episodes Thursday with the remaining five doled out weekly. Lacy plays Robert Berchtold or 鈥淏鈥� who meets the Broberg family and immediately zeros in on one of the young daughters, Jan. 鈥淏鈥� manipulates the Brobergs in a multitude of ways to gain access to Jan. The series is based on true events with the real Jan Broberg and her mother, Mary Ann, signed on as producers. (A documentary about the case, 鈥� ,鈥� began streaming on Netflix in 2019.)
When he took the job, Lacy wanted to make sure the children who worked on the series would be regarded with care.
鈥淩ight from the jump, I asked (showrunner) Nick (Antosca), 鈥楬ow are you handling the abuse?鈥� He was like, 鈥榃e don鈥檛. We don鈥檛 show it.鈥� Narratively, I have no interest in it. As a producer, I don鈥檛 want to create that kind of television."
As the person portraying the abuser, Lacy said he wanted to make sure both the kids and their parents felt safe because 鈥渢he worst thing would be to try to tell a story about grooming and trauma and in the process, traumatize a kid. His concerns were lessened by production who he credits with checking 鈥渆very box you could ask for.鈥�
鈥淭he production went out of their way to do that as well, both having a therapist on set always by union regulations, and then also changing the sides and scripts that were given to the kids, to protect them from what the experience was.鈥�
The series also stars Lio Tipton, as Berchtold's long-suffering wife, and Colin Hanks and Anna Paquin as Jan's parents who each experience their own entanglements with the man. On screen they were adversaries, but Hanks says working with Lacy sparked a new friendship.
鈥淚鈥檒l be quite honest, we were cracking jokes nonstop all the way up until action and then immediately after cut," said Hanks. "I think that made the work that much easier. It became very evident that we were kind of cut from the same cloth and that we needed to be able to think about everything else, anything else, and then we can go and do all the dark stuff that we have to do. We had an absolute blast. He鈥檚 an incredibly talented individual, and I鈥檓 really, really proud of the work that we did together.鈥�
Also this month, Lacy co-stars in the genre-blending film 鈥� ," premiering Friday on Paramount+. Lacy and Maika Monroe play a young couple on a camping trip in Oregon.
鈥淚t's a tough thing to talk about because the basis of the movie is a spoiler. You can only kind of offer up the first act and be like, 'They鈥檙e camping and a thing happens,鈥� he laughed. "But when the switch flips, it was a lot of fun to do.鈥�
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This story has been corrected to show that Mike White is the creator of "The White Lotus.''
Alicia Rancilio, The Associated Press
