At San Diego Comic-Con 2024, the cast and creators of Peacock’s new horror series, Teacup, took the stage of Ballroom 20 to discuss their new series, which hits the streaming service on October 10.
Moderated by Damian Holbrook, the panel featured executive producers Ian McCullough (Yellowstone) and James Wan (Insidious), alongside actors Yvonne Strahovski, Scott Speedman, and Chaske Spencer. The panel showcased the first look footage from the upcoming series, including several clips, including a particularly graphic set piece that even heavily censored for the Comic-Con crowd, was fairly upsetting. For the sake of spoilers, we can’t talk about what happened, but will say that it was quite harrowing.
Holbrook described the moment as so disturbing that the other journalists who previewed the uncensored scene were appalled at what they saw. “I saw things that I can’t talk about, except in therapy,” Holbrook told the crowd. McCollough explained that, “When we do lean into the horror, we want it to be something you don’t forget,” adding, “you have to earn the horror. Having a family you relate to and being thrown into their dynamic allows you to care for them before things go wrong.”
Wan, who produced the Teacup series under his company Atomic Monster, delved into why this was the right series. “It was a perfect fit for the story we wanted to tell. It’s a big scale, but intimate. It was the best version to tell a succinct story. Very precise and surgical. The scary stuff; the smart thing is using it in the right way to tell the story. It hits you in a very strong way. They know when to bring it and when to dial it back.”
McCullough called the series a “keyhole epic,” while also admitting that the series is a loose adaptation of the 1988 best selling novel Stinger by Robert McCammon. “It’s the same story through a small lens, grounded spectacle with momentum.” Holbrook also sold the crowd on the show by revealing that the season consists of eight 30 minute episodes, with McCollough adding that the timeframe of the season only takes place over 48 hours.
Strahovski, who plays Maggie Chenoweth Teacup, compared the challenging nature of the series to another show she has starred in, The Handmaid’s Tale. “I didn’t think anything would be as emotionally challenging as that. I thought, this will be easy! You already enter a high stakes situation and you’re with these characters in real time. It’s a really tight knit story.”
Speedman added, “Horror, when it’s executed correctly, can be cinematic and one of the best genres. It reminds me of The Strangers, where the tone leaps off the page.” He also dived into his character, James Chenoweth, Maggie’s husband, and admitted that, “we meet him in deep conflict.” Spencer also added that his character, Ruben, knows the Chenoweth family from the small community of the town they live in and that Ruben and James have to come together under duress.
Strahovski also spoke highly of the two child actors playing Maggie and James’s children. “Caleb and Emily bring so much spirit to this story,” with McCullough adding, “When it told Emily what was going to happen later, her eyes lit up and she said, I’ve wanted to do this my whole life.” Strahovski disclosed that Maggie is trying to “protect my kids from emotional turmoil and then the whole family gets involved in this situation.”
Teacup premieres on Peacock with the first two episodes on Thursday, October 10, followed by two episodes weekly through Halloween.
