Exclusive Interview
James Lafferty & Alexandra Park Open Up About Why They Love Working Together
What To Know
- James Lafferty and Alexandra Park, who are married in real-life, play a couple (Jeremy and Andrea) going through a divorce on Everyone Is Doing Great.
- With the show returning for Season 2, Park and Lafferty tell Swooon why they love working together, even in their tumultuous television scenes.
- Park also teases changes in Jeremy and Andrea’s relationship in Season 2.
James Lafferty and Alexandra Park have been together for more than a decade. They tied the knot in 2022 and welcomed their first child in December 2025. But while things are thriving in their real-life relationship, the same can’t always be said for their characters on Everyone Is Doing Great.
The show premiered on Hulu in 2021 and is now returning via Netflix with Season 2 on May 11. Lafferty and Park play Jeremy and Andrea, respectively. In Season 1, Andrea filed for divorce, leading to a series of ups and downs for her and Jeremy before their amicable conversation in the finale.
But being a real-life couple helps Lafferty and Park bring authenticity to even their most difficult scenes together. “We do have that familiarity with each other,” the One Tree Hill alum tells Swooon. “Obviously, that comes with a relationship. There are ups and downs and tough times you get through. I think it makes it easier to play that familiarity and intensity with each other in those moments. You very much have a rapport.”
Lafferty says that having a real connection “changes the dynamic completely” for the characters. “I think it’s just one of the many benefits of working with your friends and loved ones, like we’re all doing here,” he adds. “There is a chemistry, an underlying chemistry there, that really can’t be fabricated. It’s genuine.”
The show also stars Stephen Colletti (who cowrote the script with Lafferty) as Seth, Jeremy’s best friend, and Cariba Heine as Izzy, Andrea’s bestie and Seth’s ex. All four stars of the show are close friends in real life, which Park says allows them to have a “real care” that she’s “never experienced before” on a set.
“We’re so lucky because we’re able to reach a different level of connection because of that care we have built in with the person you’re working with,” she continues. “That’s incredibly special and something we do not take for granted and value very highly. It can’t be made. Usually, you’re on a TV show, you meet someone for the first time, and that’s when you really use your acting skills to try and create that connection. But we’re really lucky that we get to go further than that.”
In Season 2, Jeremy and Andrea are still separated and “looking forward to continuing as friends and leaving their history behind,” Park reveals. However, “things change” and “suddenly we’re not so sure” of where things are going to go.
“Andrea’s got a lot going on that she didn’t see coming and she’s leaning on Jeremy in ways that perhaps she thought she was done with leaning on him,” Park teases. “You sort of realize who’s there for you when you’re going through something. I think things change in life and the bottom line is that Andrea adores Jeremy, and she always has. I think they’ve got two personalities, as you can see in the first season, but they love each other and Andrea really loves Jeremy for many different reasons. We do see her leaning on him possibly more than she anticipated and expected in the second season, due to the curveballs of life, and I think that’s a lovely dynamic to explore between them.”
Everyone Is Doing Great, Season 2, May 11, Netflix
