Breeders’ Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard React to Luke’s Premiere ‘Bombshell’: ‘It’s a Massive Shock’
How can the Worsleys’ already complicated family dynamic get any crazier? By adding a baby to the mix, of course!
In Monday’s Season 4 premiere of Breeders, a five-year time jump finds a now-18-year-old Luke at the precipice of a huge life event: He’s moving in with his girlfriend Maya’s family because (brace yourselves) she’s pregnant!
More from TVLine
It’s a final-season shocker that sets the stage for more questionable parenting, heavy drama and major introspection for each and every one of the family members. When Luke unleashes this jaw-dropper in front of his grandparents at Christmas dinner, the news stuns everyone into silence — especially Paul (Martin Freeman) and Ally (Daisy Haggard), the grandparents-to-be.
“The next phase of his life is just about to begin, and we hadn’t accounted for that being parenthood just yet,” Freeman tells TVLine. “He’s going to go into further education. That’s what we all want, including Luke, we think. He’s got a lovely girlfriend who we’re very fond of. When we get the bombshell, of course it’s a massive shock. I suppose, also, because Paul and Ally were not kids when they started having kids. They were pretty grown-up people. So for our family to start getting a new bit of a family tree so soon, of course there’s shock! It was not what our plan was at all.”
“I think they do very well at sort of going, ‘Oh!’ and not just literally fainting,” adds Haggard. “But now they have to figure out how to be both supportive and encourage him to continue doing his studies. There’s a whole lot of drama that they have to figure out.”
And that’s not the only stressor putting the family through the wringer during the show’s last hurrah. There’s Paul’s parents’ deteriorating health, plus the teeny, tiny fact that Paul and Ally decided to call it quits years prior in conversations we’re privy to via flashbacks. But even at the top of the final run’s production, its stars had no idea what to expect, including what was to come for the married couple at the center of it all.
“I didn’t know when I got the scripts,” Haggard tells TVLine. “I was like, ‘Are they even going to be together at the beginning of the series?’ But they have navigated that particular storm only to find themselves in other treacherously perilous water, as is Breeders’ way. Fundamentally, they were always good friends and had a really good relationship. It’s just that it reached one of those moments where you didn’t know whether or not they could get back together. By actually taking a step away and sort of admitting defeat on their relationship, the pressure was off and they slowly found each other again.”
Considering how contentious things typically get for the couple (Gabby-gate, anyone?), Paul and Ally seem to agree on most things concerning their children. This is especially true when it comes to becoming early grandparents and Luke entering fatherhood.
Says Haggard: “They agree on this particular thing which is, ‘Oh, my God, what? How are we going to do this?’ and the realization that you’re really trapped in that situation. You don’t want to alienate your child, so I think [Ally and Paul] are really connected… to a point.”
What were your thoughts on Luke’s big news? Grade the first two episodes below, then light up the comments.
Note: This interview took place before SAG-AFTRA officially announced a strike on July 13.
Best of TVLine
Get more from TVLine.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
