After years in 鈥淩eno 911,鈥 Kerri Kenney-Silver wondered if she鈥檇 ever be in a more conventional comedy.
鈥淚 spent 34 years of my career doing a very different comedy and I always wanted to have a chance to do something like this,鈥 she says of 鈥淭he Four Seasons,鈥 a new Netflix comedy. 鈥淏ut nobody would really see me that way. Just getting the audition, I felt like I had won something.鈥
Steve Carell and Kerri Kenney-Silver play a couple whose marriage is on the rocks in "The Four Seasons."
Now, as one of the friends who vacation together at various times of the year, she鈥檚 getting the comedy opportunity of a lifetime. 鈥淚 still can鈥檛 believe it鈥檚 real,鈥 she says.
In the series, based on the 1981 Alan Alda movie, Kenney-Silver plays wife to Steve Carell. They鈥檝e invited friends to their lake home for a vacation and, in the process, discover their 25-year marriage is falling apart. The friends 鈥斅爌layed by Tina Fey, Will Forte, Colman Domingo and Marco Calvani 鈥 try to help them through the rough patch.
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In the next season (the series is told in four trips over four seasons), the couple has split, and the husband has moved on to a much-younger woman.
Can the friendships last? That鈥檚 the question producers tackle, albeit 40-plus years after the first film was made.
Back to the source
Fey, who鈥檚 also executive producer of the series, says she relied on Alda鈥檚 original script for structure, then infused it with contemporary references and moments from the series writers鈥 lives.
鈥淓veryone was really generous about sharing their real experiences and their real feelings about all their own relationships,鈥 Fey says. 鈥淗opefully, that added up to stories that felt very truthful.鈥
Domingo, who also directs an episode, says there were moments that rang true from his own life. Danny, his character, insists he needs five-star accommodations. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 like, 鈥楾ina, did you read my journal?鈥欌 Domingo says. 鈥淎 yurt would turn me completely off, so I didn鈥檛 have to act much.鈥
When the gang is roughing it on an island, he slips away to a nearby resort and revels in the luxury.
When they shot the scenes at the resort, Domingo urged others to 鈥渇eel the towels; feel the towels,鈥 Fey recalls.
鈥淚t was as if we鈥檇 never known nice things before,鈥 Domingo says. 鈥淲e were touching and feeling everything.鈥
Colman Domingo and Tina Fey are among the friends who vacation together in "The Four Seasons."
Life lessons
Kenney-Silver found truth in so many situations, 鈥淚 was like, 鈥楬ave they been watching me in my real life?鈥欌
In addition to giving her those based-in-life comedy scenes, 鈥淔our Seasons鈥 offered Kenney-Silver a chance to dabble in drama.
鈥淎t its core, I authentically delivered it, and it was devastating,鈥 Kenney-Silver says. 鈥淎nd Tina came up and said, 鈥榊ou know this is accurate 鈥 this is probably what this character would be feeling at this moment, but the tone actually can鈥檛 be this.鈥
鈥淚t was such a masterclass in understanding the levels and riding this wave of emotion because life is all things.鈥
Domingo says he upped his directing chops, particularly since he has done heavy dramas of late.
鈥淚 wanted to have a bit of sleight of hand and make it more like an independent film and focus on the performances,鈥 he says.
Kenney-Silver remembers Carell鈥檚 character saying, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to be married to a woman who has to take a few practice steps before she gets on an escalator.鈥
鈥淚 do that,鈥 she says, 鈥渁nd I did text my son when he went away to college to say, 鈥極h, don鈥檛 forget, don鈥檛 ever step on an escalator in Crocs, 鈥榗ause you could lose a foot.鈥欌
鈥淭he Four Seasons鈥 premieres May 1 on Netflix.
