‘A Friend of the Family’: See Anna Paquin & More in First Look at Peacock True-Crime Drama (PHOTOS)
The harrowing true crime story of the Broberg family is coming to the small screen in A Friend of the Family. The Peacock limited series premieres Thursday, October 6 on the streaming service. Starring Anna Paquin, Jake Lacy, Colin Hanks, Mckenna Grace, Lio Tipton, and Hendrix Yancey, A Friend of the Family is a nine-part series tracking the Brobergs, whose daughter, Jan, was kidnapped multiple times over a period of years by a charismatic, obsessed family “friend.”
Peacock shared the first photos from the series on Tuesday, August 9, giving viewers their first look at Lacy as the eponymous “family friend” Robert “B” Berchtold, Paquin as Mary Ann Broberg, Hanks as Bob Broberg, Tipton as Gail Berchtold, Grace as older Jan Broberg, and Yancey as younger Jan.
“The Brobergs — devoted to their faith, family, and community — were utterly unprepared for the sophisticated tactics their neighbor used to exploit their vulnerabilities, drive them apart, and turn their daughter against them,” Peacock describes. “This is the story of how their lives were permanently altered — and how they survived.”
The family’s story was also told in Netflix‘s true crime documentary Abducted in Plain Sight. The real Jan Broberg and her mother, Mary Ann, serve as producers on the Peacock dramatization. Jan penned a letter explaining their decision to tell the story and what they hope viewers will take away from it.
“We were a loving, trusting, educated family. We were not stupid or careless. So how could this happen in our neighborhood, where we knew everyone, and everyone was a friend? The truth is that most predators are not strangers but people we know — people who can build trust, create special friendships, and separate family members psychologically,” Jan’s statement reads.
It continues: “As little girls, we talked and we listened around the dinner table every night. Mom and Dad were always there. We were so safe, so loved, so carefree. Then, in 1972, we met the nicest new family at church, with children who matched us in age. A deep friendship ensued. Over several years, our families did hundreds of activities together: church parties, family dinners, boating and snowmobile trips, sleepovers, game nights, movies, and barbecues. Then on a normal afternoon, the father kidnapped me — and from age 12 to 16 I was sexually assaulted and severely brainwashed by this man who I trusted.
This story will make you talk, shout, cry — and it will make you angry. Good. The team of writers, actors, designers, directors, and producers … have captured the heart of how good people can be manipulated and their children victimized. Our story is relatable because so many families have direct experience with this sort of abuse. I hope that our story will start conversations — because secrets live in darkness and silence.”
Took this on my last night in Atlanta last week on #AFriendOfTheFamily. Thank you to everyone involved in the making of my story. Thank you to sweet @MckennaGraceful for the beautiful necklace and to @laurenwolkstein for taking such care in the filming of such sensitive scenes.❤️ pic.twitter.com/NGTP3JszxR
— Jan Broberg (@janbroberg) August 8, 2022
In addition to working directly with Jan and Mary Ann, showrunner/executive producer/writer Nick Antosca and the show’s team were given access to thousands of pages of trial transcripts, FBI notes, interviews, and childhood diaries regarding the tumultuous time.
“The series exists outside the typical categories of genre. It’s a thriller built around obsessive relationships, a family drama, and a nightmarish coming-of-age story,” Antosca said. “In the course of working on this story and talking with others who have worked on it, one thing has become clear: It’s more relatable than it first seems. The Brobergs’ story is an extreme point on a continuum that many people have been on.”
“The other reason I couldn’t stop thinking about this story is that, after all of it, the Broberg family grew stronger,” he continued. “They loved and forgave. This is a horror story that’s also about survival. And part of what makes the story so exceptional isn’t how strange it is, but the fact that the Brobergs told it at all.”
The series premieres with its first three episodes on October 6 with new episodes releasing weekly after that. The drama is executive produced by Alex Hedlund and Eliza Hittman. Hittman also directs multiple episodes, including the pilot. Skye Borgman serves as consulting producer for Top Knot Films, and the show is a production of UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group.
Scroll through the first photos from A Friend of the Family, below.
A Friend of the Family, Limited Series Premiere, Thursday, October 6, Peacock
