Share

All the reasons to watch 'A Million Little Things'

Cape Town - Critics may have dismissed A Million Little Things as 'This Is Us for Men,' to quote Time, but the heart-tugging series has been a huge hit with audiences, who gave it an 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes - one percentage higher than the Golden Globe-winning show it’s frequently compared to.

The ensemble cast includes two-time MTV Movie Award nominee Romany Malco (Weeds) in a 2019 Image Awards nominated role; Golden Globe nominee Ron Livingston (The Conjuring); three-time Teen Choice nominee Grace Park (Hawaii Five-O), three-time Kids Choice nominee Lizzy Greene (Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn), David Giuntoli (Grimm), Allison Miller (13 Reasons Why), Christina Moses (Condor), Christina Ochoa (Animal Kingdom), James Roday (Psych), and Stephanie Szostak (Iron Man 3).

With season one now streaming on Showmax and ABC having just ordered season two, we caught up with the cast to find out more:

How would you describe ‘A Million Little Things’?

Stephanie: A Million Little Things is about a group of eight friends whose world comes crashing down when one of them dies unexpectedly by suicide and they are faced with their own disenchantment and they have to open up to each other. Ultimately, it's about how vulnerability and having those hard conversations and of course laughter is what friendship is all about.

Grace: This show is absolutely about friendship, but for me, all of them are not really living the lives that they want. They're all either holding themselves back or they're doing what they think they should be doing. So this is also a bit of a midlife crisis kind of a situation.

James: It's also a show about grief, about re-evaluating priorities, about picking up pieces, about leaning on people and allowing them to lean on you and how sometimes catharsis can come from the most unlikely of sources. It's very human.

Christina Moses: When I first read the script, I was laughing and I was crying every two seconds. I really love barebones storytelling, just people being people, dealing with their lives and their joys, their insecurities, their hopes, wishes and dreams - and just the humour that that takes, and the humanity of that.

Ron: We've seen dramedies before but they're usually half-hour comedies with some drama elements thrown in. This one, I think, it kind of comes at it from the other way. Like, what if we take an adult relationship drama, that's usually very heavy and weighted, and write it with comic dialogue? We're not the first to attempt that but it's still relatively virgin snow.

A scene in A Million Little Things.

What is it like working with your fellow cast on A Million Little Things?

Allison: We love each other. We hang out. We did karaoke on Sunday night. We go to dinner together. I just love these people so much, which is great, because I'm supposed to on camera.

Stephanie: It's been amazing. The friends on the show and the cast were all super different people, which makes it really interesting. 

Christina Moses: We just have really great chemistry. Even from the very first table read, it was like sparks were flying. We have a text chain and we just send each other ridiculous gifs and memes and whatnot. We feed off of each other. And it's like that in person.

Christina Ochoa: I just feel very fortunate. They're wonderful humans first, actors second. So, yeah, it's very hard not to fall in love with every one of them.

A scene in A Million Little Things.

What does friendship mean to you?

Ron: The idea behind A Million Little Things is that friendship is not just a single thing. You can't sum it up in a single sentence. It has millions of little facets about it. It's the little, tiny interactions here and there, that over time accrue into a really, really deep friendship. Deep friendships don't happen overnight, because it's not enough time for a million little things to happen.

To me, friendship is somebody that you feel like you know what they would say. Even if they're not there to say it, you know. If you carry a part of them in your head, to me that's always friendship.

Allison: Sharing space with someone who supports you and doesn't judge you and you can talk about anything. They might try to steer you in the right direction if you're off, but it's all about just keeping each other afloat. That's what friendship is.

Christina Ochoa: Friendship is driving you to the airport at peak hour. Friendship is calling you out of the blue just because they think of you. And friendship is definitely being there during the hard times.

Stephanie: And friendship is calling a friend that you haven't spoken to in a year and it's like you spoke yesterday.

A scene in A Million Little Things.

What do you hope audiences will take away from watching A Million Little Things?

Romany: I want men to look at one another and go, it's true, we don't talk. And I want people to reach out to one another and say, “Did you see that show? That's me. That's what I feel like every day. I've never been able to describe it, but did you see Rome? That's me.”

Allison: I hope that they feel seen; I hope when people watch, it’s like a mirror that's being held up to them. And I hope that they can laugh and cry and have some sort of catharsis.

Christina Ochoa: I would love for them to, as I did, relate to every single one of the characters and empathise with what they are going through. I hope that people laugh and cry; we laugh and cry everyday on set. I do. And I hope that it makes them think about their loved ones or it makes them take a second to reach out and to lend a helping hand to anyone that might be struggling in their life.

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:

WATCH A MILLION LITTLE THINGS ON SHOWMAX NOW

(Photos supplied: Showmax)


We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE