[Editor’s note: The following contains some spoilers for Your Friends & Neighbors.]

Summary

In the Apple TV+ series ‘Your Friends & Neighbors,’ Coop is a hedge fund manager that turns to burglary after losing his job, all to maintain his family’s lifestyle.

Mel, played by Amanda Peet, is Coop’s ex-wife who struggles with conflicted feelings for him while dating his former best friend.

The series delves into the complexities of relationships, intimacy, and the consequences of double lives.

From creator Jonathan Tropper (Banshee, Warrior), the nine-episode Apple TV+ series Your Friends & Neighbors follows Andrew “Coop” Cooper (Jon Hamm) and his fall from grace as a hedge fund manager still struggling to get over his recent divorce from Mel (Amanda Peet). After being fired and unable to find a way to meet the financial demands of his life, Coop unexpectedly turns to a life of crime, stealing from the homes of his affluent neighbors and uncovering more than just their valuables and their taste in art. At the same time, his own affair with Sam (Olivia Munn) results in Coop getting caught in a murder accusation that he has to disentangle himself from before figuring out what comes next. Melanie Cooper sent her husband into a tailspin when he learned that she’d gotten together with his best friend Nick (Mark Tallman), ending their marriage and sending him packing from their home with their two teenage children. To complicate matters, Mel never actually fell out of love with Coop, and even though she remembers why she left him, there’s also an undertone of not being fully satisfied with Nick. During this one-on-one interview with Collider, Peet talked about the draw of this world and character, her love of Tropper’s work, the complicated Mel and Coop dynamic, why she found the intimacy coordinator very helpful, and Mel’s friendship with Sam.
‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ Mel and Coop Just Can’t Stop Being Attracted to Each Other

“They’ve obviously been through so much.”

Image via Apple TV+

Collider: When this came your way, what was the draw of this world? Was there something in this specific character that you were interested in exploring, or was it just the fact that these were really smart scripts? AMANDA PEET: Both of those things. I definitely love Jonathan Tropper. I had read This Is Where I Leave You. I really like stories that involve this idea of, “Are you who I think you are? You’re this person sleeping next to me, or you’re somebody I’ve known for many years. Is it possible you have a double life and I’ve just missed it? What have I missed?” I find that to be really suspenseful and uncomfortable, so I was riveted right away. And then, I also just loved that Mel and Cooper are still attracted to each other. They’ve obviously been through so much and have beaten their relationship down into the ground like a dead horse. But the fact that they can’t stop being attracted to each other is also really fun.

Related

‘Your Friends and Neighbors’ Review: Jon Hamm’s Long-Awaited Apple TV+ Drama Is Our Next Streaming Obsession

‘Your Friends and Neighbors’ premieres April 11 on Apple TV+.

How did you view that dynamic between them? Did you see them as soulmates? Has she just become disillusioned with him and their relationship, or were they never really meant to be together? PEET: When I talked to Jonathan Tropper, before we decided I was going to do the part, he said they still love each other and they can’t quite get over each other, so that was always in the back of my mind. It’s really terrible in life when you’re attracted to someone and you really, really, really wish you weren’t. It’s so infuriating, but it’s really, really fun to play. I loved that part of it. What did you most enjoy about your character and her arc over the season? PEET: She’s really complicated. We’ve seen depictions of middle-aged divorcees who are really sad and sit on the couch with lots of wine. I liked the idea that she’s acting out and having great sex with this beautiful boyfriend, but still has this aching suburban ennui and dissatisfaction, and is obviously carrying a torch for her ex.
Amanda Peet Believes Mel and Coop Have a Lot of Regret in ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’

“You’re going to derail the thing that you wish you wouldn’t derail.”

Do you feel like Mel is happier with Nick, or is it a case of the grass always being greener somewhere else? PEET: Sometimes when people meet, when they’re really young in college, it can get derailed. You don’t know what you know when you’re older, and you don’t know that it’s more important to make those compromises, or you’re going to derail the thing that you wish you wouldn’t derail. How I saw it is that they both have a lot of regret. Pretty early on in this, we go from seeing your character in bed with Coop, and then she’s in bed with Nick. Were there conversations about how to make the intimacy different in those relationships? PEET: Yeah. We had a little bit of conversation about that. Especially when we were doing the flashbacks from when Coop and Mel were supposed to be younger, we talked about trying to make it really passionate.

Related

“We Don’t Want This to Turn Into a ‘Breaking Bad’ Scenario”: ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ Star Jon Hamm on Why Coop Is Not a Criminal Mastermind

Hamm also talks about starting off the series slipping around in a sticky pool of blood.

When you know that you’re going to be doing scenes like that, is it important for you to have trust there for communication? Is it also important for you to have more of a say in those kinds of moments? PEET: We had an intimacy coordinator, and I really loved her. I thought that she was instrumental in helping me and Jon [Hamm]. Some of it is setting the choreography, and some of it is knowing when to let it be a little bit more impulsive. But just having someone there made it a little bit easier for me to let go. But the real truth is when you have someone like Jon Hamm, who’s a real gentleman and kind and considerate, you don’t really have to worry about anything except trying to make it look real.
Amanda Peet Had Fun Exploring the Genuine Friendship Between Mel and Sam in ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’

“Is this going to be a betrayal?”

Image via Apple TV+

The whole self-defense night was an interesting one for Mel and for Sam. We see them spar together, and they also get a little bit aggressive when they’re just hanging out with each other after. What was it like to have some of those bonding moments between your characters and to find that dynamic? PEET: I thought it was so fun. This show is really just hitting on the idea of, “What is real intimacy? Do you really know someone? Can you really know someone?” Olivia [Munn] and I definitely wanted to convey that we had an intimate relationship and were true girlfriends, so that we could play up that idea and play up the suspense of, “Is this going to be a betrayal? When is it going to happen? When is the other shoe going to drop? Is it going to drop?”

Related

10 Shows To Watch if You Love ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’

Check these out if you’re hooked on the Apple TV+ hit.

Your Friends & Neighbors is available to stream on Apple TV+. Check out the trailer: