In Manuel Gonzales’ short story, ‘The Miniature Wife’, the plot unfolds entirely from the husband’s point of view — leaving the wife unnamed, voiceless, and essentially without an identity. That absence became the spark for co-creators Jennifer Ames and Steve Turner to concoct Peacock’s latest dark comedy series of the same name.
“It really got us thinking about who hasn't felt small in a relationship? And thinking [more] about the power dynamics,” explains Ames.
As the show’s co-creators say, the original story leans into deeply dark territory, but the duo saw an opportunity to reframe it. They instead opted to lean into a tonal blend inspired by films like ‘Home Alone’, ‘Big’, ‘The Money Pit’, ‘Romancing the Stone’, and ‘Groundhog Day’.
“What we love about those movies is that, as dark as they can get, as light as they can get, there's kind of an optimism to them. We wanted to really say that, look, yes, things can get a little dark in a relationship, but at the same time, foundationally, if it's been built on love, you could bounce back. You could find that balance again,” Ames continues.
Peacock’s version of ‘The Miniature Wife’ sees Lindy Littlejohn (Elizabeth Banks) shrunk down in size after a mishap with one of her husband’s (played by Matthew Macfadyen) inventions. And to create a large part of that plot took the right team of creatives to implement its complexities.
“To me, the biggest thing you can do and the best thing you can do when trying to hit the tone is to hire the right people. It's a giant team effort,” adds Turner. “We’ve got our visual effects supervisor, our production designer and props, and we all literally would sit in a room and go: How are we going to do this? Then ideas start forming between the different departments, and we just had the best crew. They jumped in with both feet on every single one of these scenes. We couldn't be more thrilled.”
Rounding out the rest of the cast, the show also features O-T Fagbenle as Richard, an ambitious colleague who goes on his own twisted journey, and Zoe Lister-Jones as Vivienne, the chief scientist behind the story’s central technology. There’s also Sofia Rosinsky as Lulu Littlejohn, the couple’s daughter, who is put between her parents and their problems.
“Lulu is, I'd say, an exact split between her two parents. She has their wit, their intelligence, but she also has all of their flaws. She's very dramatic and she can tend to be narcissistic and self-destructive. And she's kind of the result of this marriage that's been facing a lot of turbulence,” says Rosinsky. “So I think that it's very beautiful to see how that runoff happens and how it affects a young person in this family dynamic. But it also shows the opportunity for growth and seeing someone grow up and realize that they can change by using their parents as a good example.”
For Fagbenle, stepping into the world of 'The Miniature Wife' featured a process he describes as letting go and committing to the ride, embracing the story’s increasingly surreal turns. Lister-Jones similarly pointed out the show’s carefully calibrated tone as its strength.
“I feel like, as an actor, the script is the Bible. It’s the kind of thing that lets you know where to go. We're so lucky to have Greg Mottola, our incredible director. It just puts you in really safe hands. You've got a great script, you've got a great director, and you’re able to let go of the ride and go for it,” says Fagbenle.
“I credit our directors and the writing, but I think the show is really tonally specific,” adds Lister-Jones. “My favorite things to watch are ones that allow themselves to take big swings and also stay grounded. And I think that was my intention going into this — to be able to really be wild and outrageous, but also stay in touch with the heart of the character.”
All episodes of The Miniature Wife are now on Peacock.
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