Justin Theroux, Melissa George, Logan Polish and Gabriel Bateman lead the new series The Mosquito Coast, debuting on Apple TV+ April 30. The drama is based on the bestselling novel, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
Created and executive produced by award-winning novelist Neil Cross, the series is a gripping adventure and layered character drama that follows the dangerous journey of radical idealist and brilliant inventor Allie Fox (Theroux), who uproots his family for Mexico when they suddenly find themselves on the run from the U.S. government.
Theroux is actually the nephew of Paul Theroux, who wrote the novel, which has also been adapted into a 1986 film starring Harrison Ford. So, in prepping to portray the main character, the actor naturally reached out to the person who would have the best insights.
“I have a long history with the novel only insofar as that I read it when I was a kid. I was only probably, I don’t know, 12 or 13, when it came out. And there’s been a movie made of it so I’ve obviously, seen many iterations of it. And this was just one of those happy accidents that the stars aligned and we were able to do it,” Theroux says. “I absolutely called my Uncle Paul, you know, because it would be foolish not to sort of dip my cup into the well of the source material and the man who wrote it.
“I also, sort of anecdotally, have an intimate knowledge of certain aspects of Allie Fox, because it’s our suspicion — or my suspicion, and it’s been corroborated — that it’s based loosely on certain members of our family, my grandfather, who had a certain thriftiness to him. So, yeah, I had several long conversations with Paul once I got the script, and I started preparing the character.”
The Mosquito Coast
Stream on Apple TV+
First Two Episodes Available April 30; Subsequent Episodes Available Fridays