Joey King and Logan Lerman have always been truth tellers. After all, Veracity is part of the business of being an actor – and with a combined four decades of film acting experience between these Young Hollywood A-listers, it’s proven to be a great fit.
It was their shared instinct to run toward the truth — even when it was difficult and dark — that drew King and Lerman to their latest starring roles in Hulu’s Holocaust drama “We Were the Lucky Ones.”
Based on Georgia Hunter’s 2017 book of the same name, which documents her family’s struggle for survival and unity as the Nazi persecution of Jews gripped Poland during World War II, the Erica Lipez-created limited series of eight episodes chart the lives of the Kurc family. incredible true story. The Kurcs, who were forcibly dispersed around the world after the German invasion in 1939 and eventually reunited at the end of the war, open the series as a prosperous Jewish clan from Radom sitting down to the table for Passover and end as that same family – nine years older, battle-scarred and bruised – once again sits down for the Seder.
For TheWrap’s digital cover story presented by Hulu, Lerman, in conversation with King, said that while he generally has a “tough time” with stories about the Holocaust and World War II because “they can easily exploit” the Jewish experience, “we “Were the Lucky Ones” felt like it was contributing to the canon in new and resonant ways. This was especially seen in the family-driven struggle outside the concentration camps in the series and because his character, Addy, was a refugee in Paris and later Brazil.
“It was really compelling to explore the Jewish refugee experience, which I really hadn’t seen before,” he told TheWrap. “There’s something universal at the heart of this: it’s about people at the center of these conflicts and the real human stories and human suffering that goes on in the middle of an event like this. So if we can find angles that haven’t been explored before and find ways to tell these stories, I think we should tell them.”
He added: “But it’s hard to find those stories, especially ones as beautifully written as this one.”
King, Lerman’s longtime friend and former “Bullet Train” costar, agreed that “We Were the Lucky Ones” “felt like we were adding to the history of Holocaust dramas” by exploring the visceral, heartbreaking experience showing a family torn apart by war and hating it.
Her character, Halina, is the youngest of the family and shares an especially strong bond with Addy, even while he was in Paris pursuing a career as a composer and musician. While Nazi soldiers occupy their town, she stays with her parents, who refuse to flee despite mounting pressure and apparent threats to their safety. Hiding her identity and presenting herself as an Aryan, Halina also felt like a unique voice in a market that had already seen some definitive renditions of the Holocaust and World War II.
“She hides her identity, and a lot of Jewish people had to do that,” King said of her role. “It’s not a story about a family in concentration camps. It’s a story in which they somehow maneuver their way through Europe. It’s just miracle after miracle – that’s why it’s called ‘We Were the Lucky Ones’, because it’s just crazy that this happened. It’s really wonderful. And so I think that every new experience as a true story that is told about this time adds something.”
Logan LermanTo see the real family members of the people we portray…added another level of connection to the material and to the experience”
There’s a segment in the series finale of “We Were the Lucky Ones,” titled “Rio,” in which Halina’s longstanding strategy of hiding in plain sight is thwarted by a former neighbor who turns her in to the local authorities. Halina is beaten down, bloodied and broken by her arresting officers and held in a cold, lightless cell with other suspected Jews. As she stares into the middle distance from the cement ground and the blood pools around her, it is a years-long reminder of her brother Addy’s promise to wait for her from earlier in the series that keeps her looking toward the future.
King reflected that her own personal relationship with Lerman over the past eleven years allowed her to truly fulfill that desire to be with him again, especially when she was stuck filming many of the series’ most dramatic traumas in isolation. She remembered reading the prison cell scene from the finale and hoped it meant Lerman would be filming with her that day.
“I found out he wasn’t going to be on set because it was supposed to be a flashback of something we’d shot before, and it was funny because I got so sad about missing Logan. I’ve been seeing him a lot lately,” King said. “I love Logan so much and I feel very connected to Logan in this way, where I was like, he’s one of my best friends, I haven’t seen him in forever, and I felt the pain of missing him. And I was like, this is actually kind of helpful because Halina misses her brother so much and Logan has become like family to me. I was like, ‘Oh wow, this is just a tiny fraction of the pain of missing out that Halina must be feeling.’
That direct connection to the material was palpable in all aspects of the production, thanks in large part to author Hunter’s consistent presence and involvement on set with her family. King and Lerman never forgot that they were telling both the horrific and inspiring true story of one’s bloodline.
Joey King Whenever I get the opportunity to tell a story like this, it always feels timely”
Lerman said having Hunter and her family available as a resource and support “transcends production.”
“To see the real family members of the people we portray there, to look at us, to see us in our wardrobe, to see us go through these scenes, walk through sets that were a reproduction of their family’s lives, that added another level of connection to the material and to the experience,” he said.
As for the real-world repercussions of telling the Kurc family’s story today, it’s not lost on the stars of the Hulu series that it debuted as anti-Semitism continues to rise across the country and the conflict in the Central East between Israel and Hamas makes headlines every day and sows division. all over the world. Highlighting the Jewish people’s varied history of persecution and hardship is the artist’s way of combating such tensions.
In other words, they continue to tell the truth even as they are confronted with it.
“How can it not be relevant to tell a story like this?” Lerman posed.
“The state of the world is in a very difficult situation right now. Racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism – it’s all common, it’s really sad… Whenever I get the opportunity to tell a story like this, it always feels timely,” King said.
“As actors we don’t always get to hear material that is close to us. A lot of times we’re playing people we have absolutely nothing in common with, which is the coolest thing about acting. But it is very beautiful and rare that we can do something that resonates here,” she added, pointing to her heart.
Dessi Gomez contributed to this story.
Credits:
Creative director and photographer: Jeff Vespa
Video production: Thadd Williams
Joey King’s Wardrobe: Suit by Cong Tri, Earrings by Hugo Kreit, Ring by Dries Criel Jewelry, Ring by Type Jewelry, Shoes by Andrea Wazen
Stylist: Jared Eng Studios
Hair: Rena Calhoun
Nails: Thuy Nguyen
Makeup: Allan Avendano
Logan Lerman’s wardrobe: All Saints jacket, Prada sweater, Hanes shirt, vintage Levi’s jeans, Omega watch
Post ‘We Were the Lucky Ones’ features Joey King and Logan Lerman on resilience, heartbreak and the power of the human spirit | Digital Cover first appeared on TheWrap.
