‘True Story’: Ed Helms and Randall Park on Their Feel-Good Peacock Series
Preview
If you miss the days of a good old-fashioned storytime session, Peacock’s new series True Story with Ed and Randall is the perfect remedy.
Premiering Thursday, January 20, True Story puts pals Ed Helms and Randall Park in the listener’s seat as they absorb tales shared by everyday individuals from all walks of life. As these stories unfold, dramatizations of the events being described are brought to comedic life through clips featuring famous performers — think Drunk History without the booze.
(Credit: Richie Knapp/Peacock)
“I loved the idea of connecting with real people about real stories in their lives,” Helms says of the Peacock show. The actor who is known for The Office and his other Peacock series Rutherford Falls looked no further than his close friend for his co-host. “There was just no question that Randall Park would be the perfect guy.”
When Park heard the pitch for True Story, he couldn’t believe his ears. “It was too good to be true,” the actor who has won hearts as Jimmy Woo in Marvel’s WandaVision and Ant-Man movies gushes. “We show up and hear these stories for the first time from people who are just so different,” adds Park who is thrilled about the biopic aspect of the show’s structure.
(Credit: Richie Knapp/Peacock)
“To be able to give these people their own biopic in a way, and to create these reenactments that elevate and honor these stories just felt like we were giving such a great gift to these storytellers,” Park marvels. “And they’re giving us such a great gift by being so vulnerable and sharing these stories from their lives.” Viewers will truly be sucked into these fascinating stories that range from unbelievable to triumphant.
But don’t expect Helms and Park to be silent observers. The comedic actors know when to chime in over the course of each episode, despite how engrossing these stories are. “It was the most natural and organic interaction,” Helms notes. “The storyteller starts telling the story and then we have questions,” he says, adding, “very quickly we built a rapport and dynamic.”
To put the stories that viewers will hear into perspective, Park teases, “I definitely have stories and things that have happened in my life that I like to tell friends, but some of these stories are just so unbelievable that it made me think of my life as boring in comparison.”
While Helms promises “that there’s laughter in every story,” they aren’t all funny. “Every story is somebody sharing something very vulnerable,” he reveals. It is through the storyteller’s openness that the reenactments and other enhancing elements are able to come together.
“The storytellers are just so generous in laughing at themselves and about these stories oftentimes, and I just find that so endearing,” Helms acknowledges. His co-host, Park echoes this sentiment as he acknowledges the funnier side of the show but also notes, “there’s just so much heart in a lot of these stories.”
Park says that “there are definitely some stories of heartache and some tearful moments, but ultimately I think you come out of these stories feeling good.” Dive into the warm and cozy comfort of some engaging stories moderated by Helms and Park when True Story with Ed and Randall arrives on Peacock.
True Story with Ed and Randall, Series Premiere, Thursday, January 20, Peacock
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