“Penelope,” a new TV series that premiered Tuesday on Netflix, follows the story of a 16-year-old girl who leaves her life behind to build a new one closer to nature.
The premise sounds like a parent’s worst nightmare. It likely would have been handled far more scandalously in other creative hands. But the new teen drama from Mark Duplass and Mel Eslyn, starring “Little Fires Everywhere” standout Megan Stott, makes a bolder statement about young life through its quieter approach.
“This show is about Penelope’s unraveling, and having that moment where she’s creating a new version of herself that she can look at and say, ‘This is totally me,’” Stott told TheWrap. “I want people to be able to watch and reflect on themselves and their lives, and find things that really help set that fire inside of them.”
Duplass wrote “Penelope” during the Covid pandemic lockdowns, as he pondered his own desire to reconnect with nature, while dreading his young daughters’ impending relationships with social media. Centering the show around a 16-year-old girl was the idea from the start, so he brought in Mel Eslyn, president of Duplass Brothers Productions, to direct and bring her own teenage self into the story.
“I was looking at shows like ‘Euphoria’ and other young adult shows, and I didn’t see anything that represented these softer, more contemplative conversations I was having with my kids,” Duplass told TheWrap. “I don’t want to say those shows are disrespectful to teenagers, but there’s a certain lack of validity given to the complex inner lives that a lot of these kids have.”
“I really wanted an example for my daughters to be able to watch someone who’s living a life that feels quite different from how they live,” Duplass said.
Eslyn added that the chance to explore a complex subject matter for a younger audience and “create a new rhythm that we hadn’t seen yet was thrilling, but also very scary.”
Below, the star and creators of “Penelope” break down the making of the heartwarming and thought-provoking new series.
Finding Megan
The “Penelope” team saw 400 audition tapes for the lead role. Eslyn credits casting director Amey René for narrowing the list down to 100, then herself for getting it down to about 30 names for her and Duplass to make the final decision.
When they first saw Stott’s tape, Eslyn recalled feeling “terrified” for her. Stott made a splash playing one of Reese Witherspoon’s daughters in Hulu’s adaptation of “Little Fires Everywhere,” but could she handle an eight-week outdoor shoot braving the elements of the Pacific Northwest?
All hesitation faded during a callback Zoom meeting, in which Megan mentioned she had spent all day foraging around her hometown to make her own tea.
“It felt like one of those moments of synchronicity… I was like, ‘This girl is Penelope,’” Eslyn said.
Though she might not give off an outdoorsy vibe on first glance — or on a Hollywood audition tape — Stott is no stranger to the great outdoors. Growing up in Fayetteville, Ark., the 21-year-old actress’ childhood was filled with fishing, hiking and foraging.
“I would say I’m more skilled than Penelope,” Stott joked. “I definitely had to dial it back on the things that I knew about camping.”
‘Fantastical’ encounters
Throughout the eight-episode journey, Penelope meets various peculiar characters. There’s an aspiring singer who gives her shelter in his van for a night, played by “Dash & Lily” star Austin Abrams; an odd but welcoming environmental scientist played by Krisha Fairchild; and a group of Catholic teens seeking their own rediscovery, led by “The Penguin” actor Rhenzy Feliz.
“There are lightly fantastical elements to this show,” Duplass said. “Is it practical for all 16-year-old girls to run away from home and go out to the woods? Probably not.”
“The musician who asks you to go back to his van often goes very differently in media, and that was a conscious choice,” the filmmaker added, noting he wanted to highlight the “incredible sense of generosity” to be found within America’s hiking community.
Penelope also shares the screen with some wildlife, including a heartwarming interaction with a bear cub (which ends as you’d expect) and a more chaotic one with a bobcat.
“Working with animals is something we always take a moment to think about if it’s really justified. In a lot of cases for this show, it did [feel justified],” Eslyn said. “Rather than get a bear that’s trained and just in a horrible situation, we have this baby bear. We just let it run around and put the camera on it… we shifted that entire episode to do whatever the bear called for us to do.”
Stott called the bear cub a “great scene partner.” “She would do these funny things where she’d just roll on the ground or have a little temper tantrum,” the actress said. “It was adorable for the scenes we were doing.”
“It was a really ‘Yes, and’ improv kind of bear,” Duplass joked.
Sparking conversations
After years of producing “Penelope” by themselves, the series has now premiered on Netflix in the U.S. — giving the little show and its complex premise a massive spotlight.
With a streaming home featuring recent hits like “The Perfect Couple” and “Baby Reindeer,” Duplass said he hopes the show finds a wide enough audience that it sparks meaningful conversations about how younger generations are being impacted by their reliance on electronics.
“There’s a massive conversation happening globally right now, but particularly in the U.S., about our relationship to technology and what it’s doing to us,” Duplass said. “I would love to have someone come at us and be upset about this and validate all those theories.”
Eslyn added, “‘Penelope’ may be an extreme (in the conversation), but I think there’s so many facets to this conversation that are good for us to start having.”
“Penelope” is now streaming on Netflix.
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