Josh Gad and Isla Fisher Discuss What to Expect in 'Wolf Like Me' : 'People Will Really Connect'

On Thursday, Peacock released all six, half-hour episodes of Wolf Like Me 

Wolf Like Me
Photo: Peacock

The wait is over!

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Josh Gad and Isla Fisher open up about their time filming the new Peacock series Wolf Like Me (all six, half-hour episodes were released on Thursday) — and why they think people will connect so deeply to the characters and the story.

"[The story] is really about how scary it is to fall in love," Fisher, 45, says about the series, a new genre-bending romantic comedy, created and written by Abe Forsythe, that follows an unusual love story between Gary (Gad) and Mary (Fisher).

"We're just putting it on the page. I think people will really connect," she says.

"It's unlike anything I've ever read," Gad, 40, adds about the script.

According to the show's synopsis, everyone brings their own set of baggage to a new relationship — and Gary and Mary are no different. Gary is an emotional wreck and struggles to provide for his daughter since the death of his wife. Mary has a secret she can't bring herself to share with anyone. The universe brought these two together for a reason, they just need to keep following the signs.

"Mary's a romance columnist," says Fisher. "She gives advice to people, despite not being able to really live any form of life herself. She has a bunch of hobbies. She keeps herself busy, but she's ultimately burdened by guilt and shame through this enormous secret that prevents her from connecting to people. She lives in this isolated city. I think she sees Gary and he's this beautiful dad and he's this like lovely human being and he's so cute and funny and she just falls in love with him, but she's held back by her own secret."

Wolf Like Me
Peacock

"Gary's a single dad raising an 11-year-old girl who is definitely going through her own," says Gad. "I think that they're going through their own grieving process in their lives and Gary's sort of closed off. He's not willing to let anyone or anything into his life. Well, at the same time, it's exactly what he needs to be doing. And in walks Mary."

As the two begin to develop feelings for one another, Gad says the characters' connection is rooted in something deeper than what they initially expected.

"I think that they both fill an essential need that they're missing," he says. "I think that they both understand each other because each of them is dealing with a crisis that is equally complex in a different way, and they have been living with that crisis alone, unable to speak to anyone, unable to talk it through, unable to find catharsis outside of the usual little sort of methods."

Gad adds, "Whether you're going to speak to a psychologist or whether you're putting your words on paper. It takes two to tango, and these two find each other and that tango gets really complex really quickly, but it allows for the two of them to have a person in their lives that fulfills that need that they so desperately have."

In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, Forsythe — who also directed the series — said, "I'd love for audiences to go into watching the series not knowing where it's going or what gets revealed as the show progresses because I think if that happens, then it's going to shock and surprise people. You get to the end of every episode and there's a reason that you have to keep watching."

Gad is best known for voicing Olaf in the Frozen franchise for Disney and playing LeFou in the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. Meanwhile, Fisher is best known for her work in films, including Wedding Crashers and Rango.

"We fell in love with Abe Forsythe's imaginative storytelling and gift for creating complex and compelling characters," Lisa Katz, president of scripted content for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, told Deadline in April. "With the incredibly talented Isla Fisher and Josh Gad at the center, Wolf Like Me will be engaging, quirky and wholly original."

All six, half-hour episodes of Wolf Like Me are streaming now on Peacock.

Related Articles