Cristin Milioti first heard about her new Peacock show “The Resort” when she was filming the 2020 sci-fi rom com “Palm Springs.”
“When I first talked to [that movie’s screenwriter Andy Siara] about it, we were on that set three years ago. I was really intrigued. But it’s so difficult to get anything made [so] we sort of left it at, ‘Please call me if this comes to fruition,’” Milioti, 36, told The Post.
Premiering Thursday, July 28th, “The Resort” is a comedic thriller created by Siara and Sam Esmail (“Mr. Robot”). It follows couple Emma (Milioti) and Noah (William Jackson Harper, “The Good Place”) as they embark on a vacation in the Cancun area for their 10th anniversary. There, they become ensnared in a bizarre and multi-layered mystery. Nick Offerman and Skyler Gisondo (“The Righteous Gemstones”) play supporting roles.
“At first it seems like it’s about marital drama and trying to re-ignite a relationship that maybe is on its last legs,” said Milioti. “And then you think it’s a murder mystery. And then it turns into something so much bigger that has to do with the disappointment of time and growing older — and how we can’t go back — and regret. I find those things fascinating to explore and I love that [the series] did it in a style that’s very singular.”
Emma and Noah play amateur detectives, looking into the case of two missing tourists who vanished 15 years earlier, shortly before a mysterious hurricane demolished their hotel (a body also turned up). These events seem to be connected to a local crime family, but it’s also a mystery to the audience just why Emma and Noah are getting involved, as Emma seems increasingly frazzled.
“I’ve known a lot of women like [Emma]. I had a lot of compassion for how she’s on fire with disappointment,” said Milioti [“How I Met Your Mother,” “Fargo,” “Made For Love“]. It’s part of being alive and it’s tricky to deal with, and she isn’t acknowledging it. It’s sort of eating her alive … I really gravitate towards roles that feel like fully formed humans. The information about her is parsed out throughout the show – you can tell she’s dealing with something, but you don’t know what it is. I find that so many people are like that.”
“The Resort” was a reunion for Milioti and Harper, who also played a couple in the 2017 play “After The Blast” written by Zoe Kazan.
“We also played a couple in distress [in the play]. It was a difficult play, and one of my favorites that I’ve ever been a part of. It was helpful to have gone on that journey with him,” she said. “Even though we played a very different couple, I feel very safe with him and trust him immensely. So, I felt like we could go very far in exploring the dynamic of these two people.
“I really love what Will and I get to do in the beginning [of ‘The Resort’]. They’re just so unable to communicate and so stuck in a pattern, talking about nothing, afraid of saying what they want to do,” she said. “That was an element of the show that I really enjoyed. And it sort of turns into a really big adventure …i t felt like I was getting to act in the type of movies that I grew up watching, like ‘Jurassic Park.’”