Apple TV+’s upcoming action movie The Family Plan makes perfect use of Mark Wahlberg’s charms, turning him into a suburban dad trying to wrangle his teenage kids as well as an infant. Dan’s idyllic albeit dull life with his wife Jessica (Michelle Monaghan Echoes) contains no flaws outside of the mundane — until his past as an assassin returns in the form of old enemies attempting to track him down. Suddenly, Dan is forced to take his family on an impromptu road trip to save their lives, and hopefully spice up his marriage in the process.
The Family Plan trailer indicates that the action-adventure movie, directed by Simon Cellan Jones from a screenplay by David Coggeshall, will see everyone from Jessica to newborn baby Max participate in the shenanigans. But they must first say farewell to their regular lives, which include eldest daughter Nina’s (Zoe Colletti) frowned-upon relationship with her college boyfriend and son Kyle’s (Van Crosby) even more frowned-upon pro-gaming hobby. The movie also stars Saïd Taghmaoui, Maggie Q, and Ciarán Hinds in roles that highlight their action skills.
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Screen Rant interviewed Zoe Colletti and Van Crosby about getting to work with Mark Wahlberg in The Family Plan, developing the cast chemistry, and learning to act with a baby in tow.
Zoe Colletti & Van Crosby Talk The Family Plan
Screen Rant: The family chemistry is so palpable onscreen. It really elevates the movie. Did you guys get to hang out with your on-screen, parents offset, and how do you build that lived-in, comfortable dynamic?
Zoe Colletti: We did. Before we started shooting, we did have a few days of rehearsals where we got to kind of meet each other for the first time, read through the script and kind of just get comfortable with each other and comfortable being these characters with each other. And then we also had a dinner all together.
Obviously, there’s so much time on set that you get to actually spend just kind of sitting around hanging out together that I do think that that just kind of naturally happened as well as great dialogue that was written and also the freedom to improv a lot, I think made it feel really natural as well.
Van, I love that you’re out here representing gaming and its real-life applications. How much of a gamer are you in life and then when you’re shooting those scenes with the keyboard, what’s actually happening for you?
Van Crosby: I am very much a gamer in real life. Me and Kyle play the same game. During the audition, I had no idea what game it was going to be, and then I found out it was going to be Valorant. I was like, “I play that game. I know that game.” So that was great. And then when we were playing on screen, what’s happening in front of me is generally prerecorded footage, but I’m doing my best. I’m pretending. I’m trying. They try to keep the camera away from my hands, so that helps.
Zoe Colletti: The people would see, they’d know.
Van Crosby: They would know. They’d like, “He moved his mouse to the left an inch and didn’t move on the camera.”
Nina and Kyle find out their life is actually a mystery wrapped in an enigma, but I think the biggest mystery is what does Nina see in her college boyfriend? Can you defend her and her emotional state at the start of the film?
Zoe Colletti: Frankly, I don’t know. They did not give enough backstory for anyone to care about him or want her to be with him whatsoever, which is of course part of the plot and on purpose. I don’t know. Nina clearly has something going on because that is not the right thing to be doing, that is not the right person to be changing schools for. I don’t know what she was doing clearly. Maybe it was first love for her. You do get a little bit blinded by first love. So I think she probably was just a little bit silly and in love.
Even though it is a family affair, you guys are still in an action movie with Mark Wahlberg. I imagine you pick up a few skills through osmosis. What was that like and what’s one of the coolest things that each of you either learned or witnessed on set?
Zoe Colletti: Like you said, he’s someone that is so seasoned in the action genre. So not only getting to work with him in general as an actor, but also working with him in that genre is the perfect situation because he really does; he dominates the action genre. He really does. It’s really the first time I ever worked in just a fully-fledged action film, so what a way to be introduced into it with Mark Wahlberg playing your dad is one of the coolest thing. It’s all I could ever ask for. But he’s super, super dedicated and really committed to his work, and so getting to be around that and feed off of that was really cool.
Van Crosby: Yeah, for sure. Osmosis. He’s so dedicated to what he does, and you can see that happening and you can admire that and you can bring that into yourself, and it’s like he leads by example for sure.
The fifth member of your family is stealing some of those scenes. Baby Max is on top of it every time. What’s that for both of you filming with babies, and how do they react appropriately?
Zoe Colletti: It was a learning experience. Probably the most difficult learning experience of the whole job. I’ve never worked with a baby before, ever. Maybe in small increments, but never in where those babies filmed more days than we did. They were always there.
They’re babies, and they’re – what – 19 months old? You could not communicate with them. If they’re like, “I’m off,” you can’t be like, “But don’t be.” They’ll just look at you like, “No, I’m angry.” Trying to get them to work in the scene was actually more about just trying to build as good of a personal relationship with them as you could so that they gravitated towards wanting to be with you. By midway through the shoot, the babies would be running up to me and reaching for me to pick them up, which I mean ended up kind of being a double-edged sword, because they’re like, “Okay, well she likes you so you can hold her in all the scenes.” And I’m like, “Oh, okay.”
But I loved them. They were the cutest, sweetest little things on the planet earth. I miss them so much, I can’t wait to see them, and I am sure they’re going to be in tiny little dresses at the premiere, which is going to be so precious. But it was a learning experience, but it was a fun one because I love kids, so I was like, give them to me.
Van, I love that father and son kind of realize they have more in common than they thought. Can you talk about the arc of your character and really kind of seeing who your dad really is?
Van Crosby: Right. I think when Kyle starts off, they have this sort of relationship that I feel like every son goes through that kind of relationship with his dad at some point. And over the course of the movie, Kyle sort of comes out of his shell and he learns these things about his dad. And obviously, initially he’s surprised, angry, and all the stages of grief that he has to go through to learn that about his dad. But I think once they have had time to process it and learn about what’s going on, I think he learns to love his dad for what he’s done for the family for all these years. Yeah.
Another father-child relationship I love is from Only Murders in the Building. Zoe, I loved you in season 2. Do you think there’s any chance that Lucy will come back and visit in season four?
Zoe Colletti: I wish I had an answer for you on that. That is up to the writing gods. I would love the opportunity to get to work with them again. Phenomenal casts and just genuinely such great people, and another amazing group to learn from, especially in the comedy genre. So I’m very, very fortunate for that. And who knows? Just talk up how much you love Lucy, and then maybe I’ll be back.
About The Family Plan
Dan Morgan (Mark Wahlberg) loves his quiet suburban life as a devoted husband, father of three and successful car salesman. But that’s only half the story. Decades earlier, he was an elite government assassin tasked with eliminating the world’s deadliest threats. When enemies from his past track him down, Dan packs his unsuspecting wife (Michelle Monaghan), angsty teen daughter, pro-gamer teen son, and adorable 10-month-old baby into their minivan and takes off on an impromptu cross-country road trip to Las Vegas. Determined to protect his family — while treating them to the vacation of a lifetime — Dan must put his long-dormant skills into action, without revealing his true identity.
Check back soon for our other interview with director Simon Cellan Jones.
The Family Plan
The Family Plan is an AppleTV+ original action comedy movie starring Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Monaghan. The film revolves around a former assassin named Dan who is forced to go on the run with his family after the dangers of his career catch up to him. The Family Plan is directed by Simon Cellan Jones and written by David Coggeshall.
- Release Date
- December 15, 2024
- Director
- Simon Cellan Jones
- Cast
- Mark Wahlberg , Michelle Monaghan , Zoe Colletti , Van Crosby , Saïd Taghmaoui , Maggie Q , Ciarán Hinds
- Rating
- PG-13
- Genres
- Action , Comedy
- Writers
- David Coggeshall
- Studio(s)
- Apple , Skydance , Municipal Pictures
- Distributor(s)
- Apple
