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Alison Brie shines in ensemble pieces like Netflix’s underrated series GLOW, NBC’s cult favorite Community, and now in Peacock’s binge-worthy Apples Never Fall. One of the things that makes her stand out is her vulnerability and how she grounds every performance in honesty, which makes you want to root for her, no matter the character.
Brie has played characters who desire control over every situation. With Apples Never Fall, she makes a hard left from previous A-type roles as Amy, the eldest of the Delaney siblings. Amy wears her heart on her sleeve to a fault and, for the most part, teeters between stepping into her own and being emotionally out of control when confronting the disappearance of her mother, Joy.
The Delaneys like to keep up appearances. Each member seems like a success story, with Joy (Annette Bening) and Stan (Sam Neill) still riding on their former glory days as tennis coaches. Amy is different from the rest of her siblings. Unlike the other Delanyes, who give in to the distinguished pedigree of being a Delaney and what that specifically looks like to the outside West Palm Beach community, Amy can’t seem to find the right path, and she can’t fake it like the rest of her siblings, nor does she want to. As a viewer, it was a delight to see Brie playing to her comedic strengths and vulnerability by taking on someone so earnest about living out loud that it leads to unintentionally humorous moments, too.
For Brie, it was the opportunity to tap into something different. “I love that Amy leads with her emotions. I feel like the characters that I play often want to be very in control of their emotions and not quite reveal them to people, but Amy is a great communicator. I loved her openness.”