McKenna Grace (Ghostbusters Afterlife) has joined the Peacock drama A Friend of the Family where she will star alongside Anna Paquin (Flack).
A Friend of the Family will be based on “the stranger-than-fiction kidnapping story of Jan Broberg, who was kidnapped by their neighbor Robert Berchtold on two different occasions during the 1970s.”
Grace will portray Jan Broberg, the young kidnapping victim. Jan “leads a happy, traditional life in an idyllic American city. Jan trusts family friend and neighbor Robert Berchtold, though he has plans for her abduction that she doesn’t suspect.”
Paquin will play Jan’s mother Mary Ann Broberg while Colin Hanks (The Offer) will play her father Bob. Jake Lacy (The White Lotus) stars as Robert Berchtold and Lio Tipton (Why Women Kill) as his wife Gail Berchtold.
A Friend of the Family is written, showrun and executive produced by Nick Antosca with Eliza Hittman (Never Rarely Sometimes Always) executive producing and directing several episodes, including the pilot. Jan and Mary Ann Broberg will also serve as a producers along with her mother Mary Ann Broberg. The duo wrote a memoir titled Stolen Innocence: The Jan Broberg Story which detailed their experiences throughout the years. The series will be produced by Antosca’s Eat The Cat and Top Knot Films.
A Friend of the Family tells the harrowing true story of the Broberg family, whose daughter Jan was kidnapped multiple times over a period of years by a charismatic, obsessed family ‘friend,’” reads the synopsis. “The Brobergs — devoted to their faith, family, and community — were utterly unprepared for the sophisticated tactics their neighbor used to exploit their vulnerabilities, drive them apart, and turn their daughter against them. This is the story of how their lives were permanently altered — and how they survived.
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