Alfred Enoch and Eleanor Tomlinson's relationship is on the brink of destruction in The Couple Next Door. The two actors star as Pete and Evie, a couple that move into a new neighborhood with the ambition of making a home and starting a family. Their dreams are put to the test when they meet their neighbors, Danny (Sam Heughan) and his wife Becka (Jessica De Gouw), a married pair that alters the trajectory of Pete and Evie's partnership.
The Couple Next Door represents the latest series lead role for Enoch. The London native previously fronted television programs like How To Get Away With Murder and Trust Me while also featuring in a recurring role in Apple TV+'s Emmy-nominated series Foundation. Enoch's stardom began in the wizarding world, as he portrayed Dean Thomas throughout the Harry Potter franchise. Tomlinson also has a colossal catalog of notable televised programs to her filmography, as she has appeared in hit shows like Arrow, Dracula, and Pennyworth.
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The Couple Next Door Review
The Couple Next Door goes down a rabbit hole as a young couple sparks an innocent friendship with the neighbors before things get complicated fast.
In celebration of The Couple Next Door arriving on STARZ, ScreenRant spoke with Enoch and Tomlinson to discuss where Pete went wrong in his relationship, what makes Evie susceptible to Danny's advances, whether Enoch would return to Harry Potter in the upcoming reboot, and what the upcoming season 2 could have in store for Pete and Becka.
The Couple Next Door Arrives On STARZ Over One Year After Its Premiere
"I feel like we've been waiting for ages for the American audience to see this..."
ScreenRant: This show originally premiered in Fall 2023 on Channel 4. Here we are a year and a half later, bringing it to American audiences and international audiences who have STARZ. What does it feel like now to get to share this with such a bigger platform?
Eleanor Tomlinson: It's just so exciting. I feel like we've been waiting for ages for the American audience to see this. I think it's really going to appeal. I hope it does. It's a really fun show, so it is just so nice that finally it's coming out.
Alfred Enoch: Yeah, likewise, very excited that friends in the States get to have it and it's having an extended life. I suppose that's the nature of filming anything, right? You shoot it and then post-production happens, but it's nice that it's come back to life for a whole new audience. That's a bit of a gift.
Pete & Evie's Relationship Is Put To The Test In The Couple Next Door
"She is feeling rebellious, and she's out to kind of hate herself..."
Alfred, your character of Pete frustrated me quite a bit because of his lack of presence in his relationship with Evie. Do you think that's intentional? Do you think he's aware of that lack of presence or is he growing distant in the relationship and he's not even aware of it?
Alfred Enoch: I think it's not just a lack of presence in his relationship, it's in his life. I think he's quite a passive person and I found that quite interesting. I think he's in a situation where I think he basically thought he was set and thought things would continue the way they were going.
I thought he was lucky to have found this beautiful, wonderful woman and he is set and things were going to progress and then nothing quite flourished the way he expected it to, and it all required a bit more tending than he was able to do. Then all of a sudden he blinks and he's like, 'Well, hang on. I didn't want to be here and I didn't want it to be like this,' but he hasn't taken continued responsibility over the course of his life for his relationship, for his work, and so finds himself in a position where he's floating and all of a sudden he realizes he'd rather be over there, but it's a bit too late for him.
Eleanor, to talk about Evie a little bit here, what makes her so susceptible to Dan's advances?
Eleanor Tomlinson: I think with everything that Evie's been through, I think she's feeling particularly lost at that stage and I think that she loves having this attention thrown on her. She's been with Pete since they were at university, and I think that that relationship is loving and caring, but I think it's lost its spark for her, particularly after this kind of awful event that they've both been through. So I think that she is just feeling rebellious, and she's out to kind of hate herself and hate her life, and there is this man who is the opposite of Pete and she finds him kind of exciting because of that.
Alfred Enoch Entertains Harry Potter Return
"That's only a one-season job, isn't it?"
Alfred, I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you about Harry Potter. The reboot is active right now and I know it's a completely new cast, but if there was an option for you to come back as a professor, as a new character, serve as a mentor this time as opposed to being a student, is that something you'd be interested in?
Alfred Enoch: Oh Liam, I wish I could say I learned enough to be a mentor to anyone, but I think probably they'd have to find someone else for that.
I don't know. I think you'd be a pretty solid professor at Hogwarts. I think you could teach defense against the dark arts. I think that'd be up your alley.
Alfred Enoch: I'd love that. That's good. That's only a one-season job, isn't it?
Would Enoch & Tomlinson Return For The Couple Next Door Season 2?
"It would depend on what the scripts were like for me..."
I know we're getting a second season of The Couple Next Door, and it's being treated like an anthology series. We're getting a whole new cast of characters, a whole new batch of stories in season 2. That being said, if there was an option for you guys to continue the stories of Evie and Pete, I know neither of you're in tip-top shape health-wise when it comes to the end of this season, but do you think that there's more to explore with each of your characters in this show?
Eleanor Tomlinson: I think personally for me, I think we kind of had the best of Pete and Evie. I think that their characters going forward, what would that look like? It would depend on what the scripts were like for me.
Alfred Enoch: I think it's a difficult position that they find themselves at the end to come back from. I remember reading in the scripts early on and thinking there's something almost like a bit of a Jacobean tragedy in this. There's a reason why at the end of those great tragedies, they all ended up dead because it's quite hard to pick up and do Hamlet 2 or whatever. It's sort of like where do they go? It's such a cataclysmic breakdown, but I think that's good. It's nice to leave them in the whole of their own making.
About The Couple Next Door Season 1
The grass isn’t always greener in this seemingly idyllic neighborhood where danger lurks behind twitching curtains and secret fantasies and desires don’t stay hidden for long. “The Couple Next Door” explores the claustrophobia of suburbia and the fallout of chasing your deepest desires. When Evie and Pete move into the upscale neighborhood with the dream of starting a family, they soon find friendship in the shape of the couple next door, alpha traffic cop Danny and his wife, glamorous yoga instructor Becka. As time goes on, these two couples get increasingly close to each other and, one fateful night, become sexually entangled in a way that will change their lives forever.
The Couple Next Door is now streaming on STARZ.
Source: ScreenRant Plus
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The Couple Next Door
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Drama
Thriller
Based on the Dutch television series New Neighbors, The Couple Next Door is a dramatic thriller series created for Starz. When Evie and her boyfriend, Pete, move in to a new neighborhood and meet their new neighbors, Danny and Becka, an affair begins between Evie and Danny. However, secrets lie buried deep, and Evie's new affair may unearth one too many.
- Release Date
- November 27, 2023
- Finale Year
- November 30, 2022
- Network
- Starz
- Cast
- Eleanor Tomlinson, Sam Heughan, Alfred Enoch, Jessica De Gouw
- Character(s)
- Pete Thomas, Sgt. McGinn, Alan, Gary Hudson, Noddy, Evie Greenwood, Kyle, Lawrie, Jas Atha, Danny Whitwell, Becka Whitwell, Sophie Foxton, Jean Richardson, Gloria, Lena, Robbie Spencer, Susan, Brian, Rachel, Teacher, Yvonne, John, Lars, Mike, DC Collins
- Producers
- Bert Hamelinck, Dimitri Verbeeck, Robin Kerremans
- Seasons
- 1
- Writers
- David Allison
- Directors
- Dries Vos
- Showrunner
- David Allison
