Judy Greer, Nat Faxon, Jenny Slate and Brett Gelman star in FX's Married
When you look at marriages on TV, a lot of them are extremes — either way too shiny-happy-perfect or tragically beyond repair. FX's Married (premieres Thursday, July 17 at 10 p.m.) is a more realistic look at being married with kids that ends up feeling pretty perfect because it's a bit depressing.
Married stars Judy Green and Nat Faxon as Lina and Russ, a couple who used to have a very specific idea about what their life together would be like, and then, three kids later, reality set in. Their friends Jess (Jenny Slate) and AJ (Brett Gelman) aren't having the best luck in the love department either, with Jess sabotaging her own marriage to a much older man and Brett spiraling out of control post-divorce.
Sounds hilarious, right? Trust us, it actually is, thanks to the decision to cast comedic character actors in each of the roles. They all have that "where do I know you from?" quality which helps the gritty comedy feel more authentic, bu t they can also all make you laugh with just a look — they're not cast in everything for nothing.
Yahoo TV visited the Married set in Los Angeles to get Greer, Faxon, Slate, and Gelman to talk about the show's first season, making things super relatable, and the difference between playing a d--- and a b----.
Are Lina and Russ Happy?
Faxon: "I think they are — I think they're just disconnected. They've been together for a long time, they're raising three kids, and their marriage has become about scheduling and day-to-day struggle and not about staying in love and having sex. Russ is obviously frustrated that they don't have sex more, but the disconnect goes deeper — they've lost a little bit of the bond. They are clearly best friends, and they have so much in common. There are moments within the season where you see that for sure... it's just a lot of work. And that's the way marriage is! It's a battle — it's a long road to be with someone. Peaks, valleys, all the clichés, but this is a very honest portrayal of two people who've said 'till death do us part.' They're going to make that work."
Greer: "The main note I get all the time is to act less in love with Nat, and I'm like, 'That's depressing! Is she terrible? Is that how it's gonna be?' [Laughs.] I feel like they're the kind of couple that was super bohemian and in love and thought, let's have a baby. So they did, and it was fine, and then they had another one. And then another one. So they sold their surf shop and moved to the valley because the public schools are better and before you know it, you've turned into the person who you promised you'd never be. You say you'd never make compromise, but you end up doing it, and they both feel like they've had to compromise the most. But they are in love."
Judy Greer as Lina, Nat Faxon as Russ 
Are They Still in Love?
Faxon: "Russ and Lina are very much in love — I just don't think they're in the happiest place. It's got a bit of an All in the Family or Married With Children vibe, in that bickering relationship sense, but those were the extreme network version. This feels like the present reality. It feels really relatable. It's not forced, it's not glossy, it's just gritty and dark and tragic a lot of times. It takes the pressure off being funny. I remember doing one of the early table reads for the show and not getting a lot of laughs, and then you sort of realize it's not really that kind of show. It's nice to play it real... anything that feels slightly fake is immediately yanked."
And About Their Damaged Friends
Gelman: "AJ is maybe their most troubled friend — I'm in somewhat of a downward spiral in Season 1. I'm newly divorced and I haven't been taking the divorce very well. He uses things to take away or hide the pain... but he does it in a really fun way. His downward spiral is probably as fun as a downward spiral can be. He only dates like 19-year-old women — it's a total midlife crisis. He's punishing himself. He feels empty because his wife is gone, so he's going to make himself feel even emptier. I was a mentally absent dad. Not great. But so fun to play — it's really fun to play a character that's super f---ed up.
Slate: "Jess is one of the most complicated characters I've played so far. She is funny and she is quick-witted, but she is upset by a lot and is really trying to figure out her place, and she's pretty destructive sometimes and totally without a filter. She has major daddy issues and a confused sense about if her sexuality is empowering or her only tool. When does it become cheap to use your sexuality? When are you actually turned on and when are you just desperate?
"I know a lot of people who are genuinely flawed or damaged, but that doesn't mean it's the masthead they fly every day. It's part of their condition, like a little limp or a twitch. Sometimes Jess is like, 'Stop looking at my limp!' She's aware that people think she's f---ed up. Part of her is like, 'Oh, you think I'm f---ed up? Let me show you f----ed up.' And part of her is like, no, I married a man and I have a baby. They have a two-year-old... who's cared for mostly by a nanny."
But She's Not a B----
Slate: "Jess is a little bit of a d---. She's also just complicated, which is a nice change from just playing an outright b----y lady. I'm b----y on Parks and Rec, I'm b----y on House of Lies, I'm b----y on Bob's Burgers, I'm b----y on Kroll Show, I was b----y on Hello Ladies. Yeah. I do think it's a trend in comedy — a lot of these b----y characters that are played really brightly so they're not scary, and hopefully there's a bit of an origin al take on them, but this is different because she's really a damaged person."
Brett Gelman as AJ, Jenny Slate as Jess
Russ on His Friends
Faxon: "AJ and Russ and Jess and Russ have been friends for a long time, and Lina became friends with them through Russ. AJ is going through a bit of a crisis in his life, so Russ acts as his sounding board and he's the realist when it comes to dealing with his friends' eccentric behavior.
"Russ and Jess have a really nice male-female friendship that they've had for a very long time. They never hooked up. They're just two people who are probably too similar to be together. Jess has probably settled a bit in her relationship with her husband [played by Paul Reiser]. There are things that she likes about it — he steadies the wheel for her — but there's also part of her that would probably love to have more excitement in her life and not be weighed down by that commitment."
Paul Reiser!
Slate: "She jokes that she thought she married him for his money, but when he lost his job she realized the sick, sad truth that she really is into him. He's her dad's friend, but she really does love him, even if he's 30 years older. I imagine that they're kind of like a grosser, darker Monica and Richard [from Friends], if that makes sense. [Laughs.]"
And More!
Gelman: "Regina Hall plays my ex-wife, which was really fun. There are so many great guest stars in this first season, like Paul Reiser, John Hodgman, Michaela Watkins, Ike Barinholtz. Amazing actors. And they all have the same kind of thing as the four of us — 'Oh it's those guys! From that thing!' [Laughs.] That's what this show should be called."
The Hard Sell
Greer:" There's an episode where Russ gets a vasectomy and there's such a funny scene where he has to jerk it into a cup and he can't do it because the porn at the place is so terrible, so he calls to have phone sex with Lina, but in his phone sex he's like, 'I'm going to make you pregnant!' And Lina's like, 'No you're not! No you're not!' I just don't even want to play that fantasy anymore, and I think people can relate to that."
Slate: "A lot of TV is just jokes. Low-hanging fruit. Not this show."
Gelman: "I think if you like good things, you'll like this. If you like bad things, you won't."
Married premieres Thursday, July 17 at 10 p.m. on FX.
- Arts & Entertainment
- Family & Relationships
- Nat Faxon
- Brett Gelman
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