Eric releases on Netflix on May 30, 2024.
A six-episode limited series starring heavyweights Benedict Cumberbatch and Gaby Hoffmann will be available on Netflix at the end of May. Abi Morgan created and wrote the series. She is known for her incredible work on films like Shame and The Iron Lady and her Emmy-winning writing on The Hour. The series follows a set of parents who are struggling after their son is kidnapped on his way to school.
Set in New York, Eric replicates some of the incredible work of past crime-thrilling series from Netflix, such as Mindhunters, Griselda, and Ripley. The often dark tone of the series brings a nice twist with the introduction of Eric. Eric is a character that Vincent and Cassie’s son Edgar had drawn. The larger-than-life monster is brought to life after Edgar’s kidnapping, bringing a much-needed comedic aspect to the series.
I had the chance to speak with one of the series’ stars, Gaby Hoffmann.
The Plot
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Set in 1980s New York, Eric follows the search for nine-year-old Edgar, who disappears on his way to school. The disappearance has taken a toll on his father, Vincent, who starts to alienate his family, coworkers, and the detectives trying to find his son. Vincent clings to his son’s drawings of a puppet, ERIC, convinced that if he can get the character on TV, Edgar will come home.
Gaby Hoffmann talks playing Cassie Anderson in Eric
Gabby Hoffmann plays Cassie Anderson, the wife of Vincent Anderson (Benedict Cumberbatch) and the mother of Edgar Anderson (Ivan Morris Howe). Shortly after the series starts, we see Edgar kidnapped because Vincent allowed him to walk to school alone one day. This leads to a massive chain of events, and Cassie and Vincent begin arguing over how he handles the situation. Hoffman talks about reading and preparing for the role of Cassie.
“I usually don’t do anything to prepare cause I don’t know how to prepare cause I didn’t study or I’ve never been to anything. But this time I had been thinking I would like to know how to prepare. So actually leading up to this, I had a couple of conversations with this wonderful acting teacher, Julie Areola, and we didn’t even read the dialogue. We just talked a lot about Cassie and her psychology, and I just thought about her a lot.
I tried to dream about her and I wrote down the sort of timeline of her arc, little things that I think many actors do all the time. I did for the first time. So I just sort of like invited her into my consciousness prior to getting even into pre production. And that was interesting. And it felt very much like she was already there. When I arrived on set, which, you know, usually it can take a little while.”
The visceral nature of working within the role of Cassie sees her juggling the potential idea of her son being dead while also dealing with her husband, who is losing his mind. Hoffmann brought a calm and even collected nature to Cassie, as she had to be the one in the relationship to attempt to keep it together. Of course, this doesn’t always work, but Hoffmann explained how she decompressed out of Cassie outside of the job.
“Just going home to my kids every night, you know, that does the trick. You enter their space, and they don’t care where or what you’ve been doing. The only place to be is right here, right now, with them. At the end of the shoot, I think it was a little bit, and the emotionality of it lingered with me a little bit, and I felt a bit exhausted, but in the day-to-day, I found it really energizing and deeply creatively fulfilling.”
As a parent, I couldn’t imagine what it would be like if my child were to go missing. Benedict Cumberbatch and Gaby Hoffmann’s performances in their respective roles of Vincent and Cassie are a highlight of the series. Their powerful and moving scenes together, filled with tension and emotion, are a testament to their acting prowess. At times, it almost felt like Vincent and Cassie were going twelve rounds in a heavyweight title fight. Hoffman reflects on working alongside Benedict Cumberbatch in this thrilling series.
“It is a true delight just to behold what he can do, which is miraculous. And it’s really fun to work with somebody who’s that good and hungry to find what is genuine, willing, and eager to collaborate and be vulnerable. And to recognize that it’s a partnership and that you have to bring your two impulses, doubts, fears, and instincts to each other and share them and find what’s there. It’s such a privilege to get to do this work, and doing it with somebody who comes with their whole self is wonderful. So that’s what I got with Benedict. I loved it.”
Eric is a six episode limited series releasing on Netflix on May 30, 2024.
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