In The Miniature Wife, the relationship between Lindy (Elizabeth Banks) and Les (Matthew Macfadyen) hasn’t been great for a while, and their issues are only exacerbated when Les accidentally shrinks Lindy down to six inches tall. As Les tries to figure out how to reverse the process as he’s expected to deliver the product to eager investors and Lindy deals with publicity problems for her new book, they confront their problems in a more intense and heated way than ever before.
Awards Buzz spoke with Banks and Macfadyen about what they’ve come to appreciate about being normal-sized. Banks highlighted her favorite large real-life objects:
“You definitely don’t want to be small. The whole world is terrifying, and the world is terrifying enough, so stay big if you can. I was delighted by all of the giant props that I got to work with, everything from an iPhone to an earbud, and I got a giant Hershey chocolate bar at one point that was real chocolate that I could really eat. I got a huge, just one kernel of popcorn that was as big as half my body. Edible as well. So I had a lot of fun with the props. I loved even push pins and I mean just all the things that became weapons that I didn’t think would be a weapon, like floss! And I live in a Christmas village, which was really a delight. And I got to have a life-size baby Jesus!”
Macfadyen embraced the chance to seem to understand science:
“I quite enjoyed it. It’s quite nice as an actor because you can pretend. It’s great wish fulfillment, because I was so bad at science and maths, like chronically bad, and so it was lovely to pretend that I was a genius, semi-genius.”
From the supporting cast, which includes Zoe Lister-Jones, O-T Fagbenle, and Sofia Rosinsky, Fagbenle is apparently the one the rest of the ensemble believes is most like his character:
“We were at the premiere and they asked me, oh, which actor do you think is most like their character? And then they said to me, everyone said you! Me! And I play an insane person. I was borderline offended. That’s all I have to say.”
Watch the videos above to hear more from the ensemble and for thoughts from showrunners Steve Turner and Jennifer Ames and executive producer Michael Ellenberg.
All eight episodes of The Miniature Wife are now streaming on Peacock.
