Nick Antosca is the creator, executive producer, and writer/showrunner for Peacock’s twisty limited series, A Friend of the Family, a true-crime story that seems stranger than fiction. It focuses on Robert Berchtold (played chillingly by Jake Lacy), a seemingly normal family man who ingratiated his way into the lives of another family, neighbors in Utah, and ultimately into a kidnapping not just once but twice of their young daughter Jan Broberg at two different points in her life — first when she was just 10 and again she was 18. That he was able to pull off this seduction/abduction two times is just one of the more bizarre points of the storyline, one that also involves her mother, Mary Ann (Anna Paquin), in a weird twist as well.
For Antosca, there is definite appeal in taking on limited series with unique true-life aspects, as he previously was behind the Jessica Biel-starring Candy and the Patricia Arquette-led The Act. All three of these projects are based on real stories with real people but in situations that if they didn’t happen you might find hard to believe.
Antosca joins me on my Deadline video series, Behind the Lens to talk about his fascination and approach to telling these tales and why there is much more there than meets the eyes. To watch our conversation just click on the link above.
Join me every Monday and Friday during Emmy season for another edition of Behind The Lens.
Editor’s note: This episode of Behind the Lens was taped before the writers strike began.