Actors like Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke are one of a kind — which is why casting their younger counterparts in friendship drama Firefly Lane was a major challenge. Heigl and Chalke play best friends Tully and Kate, who forged a lifelong bond while growing up together on picturesque Firefly Lane. The series follows their friendship through the decades beginning with their teenage years in the 1970s, when they were just two girls next door (well, technically across the street from each other), and into their career- and family-driven lives in the ’80s, ’90s and beyond.
Creator Maggie Friedman tells Tudum that after casting Heigl and Chalke, she and the production team began looking for actors in Vancouver, where the show was filmed. “I was honestly super worried that we wouldn’t be able to find a good match for each of them in the right age range, who also felt like they could be friends with each other,” she says.
Luckily, local actors Ali Skovbye and Roan Curtis “walked in and were incredible,” says Friedman. “Roan is so funny and she does that awkward thing that Sarah Chalke does, and it was amazing. And then I could not believe how much Ali resembles a young Katherine Heigl. It’s crazy. There’s something about her that’s so still and confident, and yet there’s this depth there and sadness.”
The best part: The duo already knew each other and were friendly, thanks to the small Vancouver acting world. “They already had an established rapport, and then they just got closer as the show went on,” says Friedman. “They’re amazing together. They’re both so great.”
Just how great? Watch their audition tapes and then tune in to the first part of Firefly Lane Season 2, with the second part coming on June 8, 2023.
