Before stars Billy Crystal as Eli, a child psychiatrist who, after recently losing his wife, Lynn (Judith Light), encounters a troubled young boy, Noah (Jacobi Jupe), who seems to have a haunting connection to Eli’s past. As Eli attempts to help Noah, their mysterious bond deepens, sparking haunting memories and unearthing unsettling secrets about the past.
The ten-episode limited series makes its global debut on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes on Friday, October 25, with one new episode every Friday through December 20.
Last week, we sat down with showrunner, writer, and executive producer Sarah Thorp to learn more about Before. During our interview, she talked about assembling the show's impressive cast, the complicated character dynamics, and the way this story explores grief, mental illness, and perhaps even the supernatural.
Thorp also comments on Before's unique opening credits, the chances of a second season, and addresses some of the creepy imagery which plays such a huge part in later episodes (don't worry, we avoid spoilers).
You can watch the full interview with Before's showrunner in the player below.
I thought this was a very bingeable series and it helps that the episodes are roughly 30 minutes each, especially when so many shows feel bloated when they get to that 50 or 60-minute mark. Were the shorter runtimes an important part of telling this story?
You know, what’s interesting is when we first started out and got in the room, it was an hour long. Our pilot was an hour and we broke the whole season as hours and right around two-thirds of the way into the room, Apple was like, ‘We love it, but…can you make it half hours?’ And they were completely correct because it’s a psychological thriller and actually a very intimate story between those characters, anytime you’re servicing all of this other stuff outside of that, you’re taking your foot off the gas for that. It was a great pivot and I think it really works for us.
Seeing Billy Crystal, it goes without saying that he’s a screen icon but I see that he was also an executive producer as well. Why was it so important to have him in that role?
Well, he actually originated this idea so Billy has been on this project from the get-go. He and I have been developing it with Eric Roth for a number of years. It was always going to be…what was exciting for me was I’ve never written and developed a character before knowing who the person was. Also, getting to collaborate with him and do it was a cool experience, so it was always Billy.
When it came to casting a young actor who has so much screentime alongside Billy, what made Jacobi the right choice given what’s required of him with a role as challenging as this one?
We got very, very lucky with Jacobi. We saw hundreds of kids and saw lots of really, really talented kids. Obviously, we were looking for someone young and when you bring in an actor that young, they haven’t had a lot of experience. You’re taking a real gamble with them, so when we found Jacobi, he instantly sparked…you could just tell that not only was he a unique talent, he came to it like a mature actor. He already seemed like he had been doing this his entire life. You see him in scenes with Billy Crystal and Rosie Perez and he’s right up there with them. There was never a sense of, ‘Oh, we better slow it down for this kid.’ He’s amazing.
I’m being mindful of spoilers, but the relationship between Eli and Noah is so important, so to make sure their dynamic worked must have been another big hurdle to climb?
Yeah, those two sparked immediately. They were cracking jokes and making each other laugh on day one, opening scene on the set. They just, fortunately, had a great chemistry between them. Also, Billy is incredibly generous as a person and an actor. He has a way of making people feel comfortable and helping them bring out their best.
At the same time, Eli and Lynn are a huge part of this story and that all plays out in a way that will surprise people. It must have been a lot of fun sinking your teeth into that relationship as a writer?
It’s hard to imagine being with someone…in the story, they’ve been together their whole lives. They were high school sweethearts and college sweethearts, so when you spend a lifetime together with someone who is your best friend and all of your experiences are with them…to lose that person, I was interested in that theme of loss and grief and how we all experience it in some way. How do you manage that? Judith is such an open…she has the hugest heart and she brings such intensity and emotion to everything she does. She was really fantastic.
When it came to balancing that exploration of grief with those hints of the supernatural and even mental illness. There are so many different ways this story can be perceived, but finding the right balance, what was that like?
One of the things when we were looking at it in the writers’ room, one of the things we talked about a lot is that your experiences are real to you. Regardless of how anyone else wants to interpret what happened, what you experienced…if you’re having nightmares, those are very powerful to you. If you’re having an emotional trauma that colours the way you see the world…those experiences are real, so we always said we were going to go with emotional logic and dream logic. And never draw a line between those things.
The imagery of the worms is really interesting and unique. Was that something that was always part of the show or did that evolve as you found the story?
That evolved as well! That came out in the writers’ room. What we started discovering is that trauma is horrific, so all of those visuals very naturally came out of psychological trauma. The only thing…the only rule we sort of had was that we weren’t going to do anything just to have a jump scare or just to shock the audience. All of those things are rooted in something the characters are experiencing and struggling with. That was one of my favourite moments, when that stuff happens. I’m like, ‘Billy Crystal…and there’s a worm!’ [Laughs] That was my favourite. I don’t want to say too much!
Something else I loved was the opening credits. We don’t always see that these days, but they were very True Detective-esque to me. Did you always want those?
Oh, good. I mean, I always…to me, that’s how a show is meant to start. You’ve got to have this good music driving this visual that sets the tone because the show is very atmospheric. It felt like we wanted to set that up from the top so that was a lot of fun to do.
I’d love to revisit this world, but do you see yourself coming back and maybe doing a season 2 with different or the same characters?
You know, who knows what the future holds? I loved writing this character. I loved working with Billy. I had so much fun with this mix of genres that we did, but all I can say is, we’re enjoying where we are right now and hope everybody else enjoys it as well.
Before premieres with its first two episodes on Friday, October 25.