In Uncoupled, Neil Patrick Harris finds himself single, in New York, after a 17-year relationship. Darren Star, famous creator behind the successes of Sex and the City and D’Emily in Parissigns this new Netflix series with Jeffrey Richman, producer of Modern Family. Interview.
Posted yesterday at 8:00 a.m.
Uncoupled is an eight-part comedy starring Neil Patrick Harris, a posh New York real estate agent who finds himself single overnight after his partner leaves him after 17 years together. Uncoupled, it’s a bit like Sex and the City cheerful version. We’re in uptown New York, and it’s about love and friendship.
The tone is light, and the apartments are sumptuous. There are three very different gay friends: there is Billy who accumulates lovers, Stanley the loner and Michael, the new bachelor in love. There is also Suzanne, Michael’s colleague at the head of a single-parent family, and Claire, a wealthy divorcee.
I want to compare Uncoupled at Sex and the City. Because we are talking about a great success here, six seasons, two films and a sequel, that suits me very well!
Jeffrey Richman, producer
PHOTO SARAH SHATZ, PROVIDED BY NETFLIX
The three friends of the series Uncoupled. Brooks Ashmanskas plays Stanley James, Neil Patrick Harris plays Michael Lawson and Emerson Brooks is Billy Jackson.
Changing world of flirting
Darren Star wanted to create a romantic comedy starring a gay man in his late 40s living in New York who becomes single after a terrible breakup.
“A nightmarish breakup! We have all experienced difficult but decisive breakups in our lives. Ruptures that have caused changes, ”he says.
“And Michael finds himself, 17 years later, in the world of dating and flirting, and that’s the funny thing, because he’s lost. It really is a nightmare! Everything has changed,” he says.
PHOTO ANDY KROPA, INVISION, PROVIDED BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Darren Star at the series premiere Uncoupled in New York, July 26
Seventeen years later, the definition of privacy has also changed. “We don’t want to be alone, so we’re ready to do anything and everything to meet someone and we do crazy things! “says Darren Star.
Over the episodes, Michael will go through different post-breakup states of mind, between rage, anger and denial. He does not understand why he finds himself single when he thought he had found the man of his life. The new bachelor will test the dating app Grindrwill have younger lovers and live many adventures in this funny, sometimes absurd, but enjoyable series.
A universal theme
“The series takes place in a gay environment, but the theme of rupture is universal. We can all recognize ourselves in this story, whether we are gay or straight, because we experience the same thing when we are heartbroken. There is a great humanity in the character of Michael”, underlines Jeffrey Richman.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY NETFLIX
Neil Patrick Harris plays the main character of the series Uncoupled.
“Neil Patrick Harris is perfect. He is funny, talented, authentic and so sexy! thinks Darren Star. This is the time for him to ask himself questions, to see that the possibilities are many and that he still has life ahead of him. »
The creator emphasizes the importance of bringing more mature characters to the small screen. “The good thing about Jeffrey Richman and me is that we are of a certain age, and we know that we can have exhilarating lives in our 50s or 60s! We really understand our characters! “, he jokes.
You can experience a midlife crisis full of hope and twists and turns. Sometimes the worst can happen, but we get something positive out of it, we keep hope for the future, that’s what you have to remember.
Darren Star, creator
PHOTO PROVIDED BY NETFLIX
Neil Patrick Harris plays Michael, and Tisha Campbell plays her colleague Suzanne.
The choice of New York to camp the story went without saying for the two creators. “It’s a city where anything can happen, people meet people there, anytime! they say. It is a very human city from this point of view. People come to New York to reinvent their lives here, because anything is possible. »
Darren Star and Jeffrey Richman have fun on the show wondering: what could be worse than being a gay bachelor in late 40s New York? A divorced woman in her fifties? “It will take more than a season to answer this question! It’s all about attitude. You have to be creative and move forward! they answer with a laugh.
The two creators hope there will be a sequel to Uncoupled. In the meantime, Darren Star lives between New York and France, where season 3 ofEmily in Paris is filming until the end of September. “It’s so rewarding to shoot abroad, to be in France,” he says. We have a lot of fun and it makes us take a break from our American reality. »
On Netflix