In Hal & Harper, Hal (Cooper Raiff) and Harper (Lili Reinhart) struggle to maintain some sense of normalcy as they endure a difficult childhood with their father (Mark Ruffalo), who later in life tells them that he’s starting a new life with his pregnant wife Kate (Betty Gilpin).
Awards Buzz spoke to Raiff and Reinhart about approaching this project after Raiff’s previous features S#!%house and Cha Cha Real Smooth and Reinhart’s role this year in American Sweatshop.
Raiff shared what he learned from getting to portray the younger version of his character:
“It taught me that, when I’m in fight or flight, I can really turn into a little kid, and I’m trying to take deep breaths and realize that I’m an adult. The biggest thing that it taught me was I, at some point during production, realized that, oh, I was so confused as a little kid. Because of course, when you’re dealt certain things as a kid, you don’t have the tools to process and feel all of the feelings that are running through your body. But as an adult, you are, and as an adult, you can tell yourself that everything’s going to be okay, and you’re not running from a lion. It taught me that, as a kid, I think stuff happened that made me feel confused and I desperately wanted the adults in my life to tell me that everything was going to be okay.”
Reinhart added her own perspective on her younger self that she’s gleaned from making this show.
“I realize how much I acted like such a grownup when I was a kid. I know myself as a kid, and, not that I was a lot like Harper, but I was like her in the sense that I felt that I didn’t belong from a very young age. I felt very awkward around my peers, and I think it came from me knowing that I wanted to be an actor really young, and that put me on this one-track mind of, I need to get out of there and I need to go succeed at this thing, and I’m certainly not going to be able to do it while I’m in middle school.”
Watch the video above to hear about where things might go in a theoretical season two – and why it probably won’t happen.
Hal & Harper is now streaming on MUBI.
