For Jordan Peele, the ‘Nope’ score provides the ‘spectacle and the spectrum’ of his show ‘The Twilight Zone’ — and, ultimately, a shot at bigger screen stardom.
Jordan Peele’s latest series, which premiered Aug. 13, is nothing like the beloved 1960s show that created Peele as a household name. But while the FX comedy’s premise may be off-beat to some, the show’s creator (and frequent guest star) believes the critical accolades he’s received show that people are “getting to know” the series.
At his Netflix stand at the Sundance Film Festival, Peele offered the audience a behind-the-scenes look at his new series.
“People know me for this show, and that’s what it’s about,” he said. “The whole idea of ‘Nope’ is to take what we know and we have and we have seen and we have learned and we have all this knowledge and to see what kind of a spectacle it can really become and how we can explore the questions that we wanted to ask.”
Peele created the series — a show about a family of people with supernatural abilities — with his wife, Jordan Chariton, who provided the voice of the show’s lead, Dr. Emmett (Bill Pullman) and its central “spectacle” through her character, Nell (Sarah Paulson). The series premiered in August, but Peele has offered his own take on the genre in a number of other endeavors, including the 2016 short film, “Cabin fever,” and the upcoming Netflix series, “Homecoming King,” which he co-wrote and executive produces with Chariton.
While “Nope” was filmed in Los Angeles, it was also shot in a number of New England towns where Peele and the creators grew up. From the “Nope” cast, there was Peele’s 8-year-old daughter, Charlotte (named in honor of the actor Charles Grodin), and his family, which includes mother Janelle Peele, played by Chariton, and sons Devon (named for the film “Slacker,” in which Peele appears as a character) and Billy (named for the popular indie band, which Peele wrote and recorded a song for and was credited as a songwriter