'A Friend of the Family' Cast on Retelling the Broberg Family's 'Terrifying' Abduction Story (Exclusive)

etonline.com:

is the star-studded true-crime saga depicting the unbelievably real story about what happened to the Brobergs when the neighbor of their dreams turned out to be a living nightmare and drove their family apart. “It’s truly something else,” says Mckenna Grace, who portrays Jan Broberg, who was 12 years old when she was first kidnapped and brainwashed by Robert “B” Berchtold (Jake Lacy) in 1974.

Despite her safe return, it wasn’t the last time she would be abducted by Berchtold, who also manipulated and seduced both of her unassuming parents, Bob and Mary Ann (Colin Hanks and Anna Paquin).  “To me, this story is so much scarier than any fabricated horror film or anything like that,” Grace continues, explaining to ET’s Matt Cohen that this man that they trusted turned out to be “a master manipulator, and that’s terrifying.” “The man who did this to this family is an evil guy, and it was all premeditated.

He knew exactly what he was doing,” Hanks says. And Lacy agrees, saying, “He knew what to look for and how to force people into positions where they were compromised.”Adapted for the screen by showrunner Nick Antosca (, ), the nine-part limited series is also produced by Jan and Mary Ann Broberg, who both wanted to lend their experiences to this harrowing cautionary tale after first sharing their stories in the 2019 docuseries, .

Not only that, but the two worked closely with the cast to give them insight into how one person preyed on their family by building trust and creating special relationships before separating them psychologically.