Highdee Kuan is excited to finally be able to share her new Apple TV+ show Brothers with the world.
“We started going into production a year ago, so it feels like it’s nice to usher this into the world,” actress says. “We just had such a great time in Austin with the cast and crew, so it just feels like watching it, reliving really special and fun times with everyone.”
The series stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as fictionalized versions of themselves, as they decide to live together with their families. Kuan plays Harrelson’s eldest daughter, Olive, in the show.
In the show’s most recent episode, Kuan’s character Olive goes on a sleuthing quest to help her father clarify if he and McConaughey are indeed brothers — the main question behind Brothers. It’s a turning point for the show, and it’s a turning point for Olive, whose broken engagement kicks off the series. It’s her very own True Detective moment, as her character puts it.
“This is good for Olive,” she says. “We’re seeing her go from heartbreak into the thought ‘Maybe I do have a purpose here. Maybe I can have agency in life again.'”
Below, Kuan speaks with THR about playing Harrelson’s daughter, their relationship in show and how she came to join the series.
What was it about Brothers that drew you in?
As an actor, you get the thing in your inbox and you’re just like, “OK, cool.” But with this, it’s Woody, Haroldson and Matthew McConaughey. Immediately, you think that’s never going to happen. I was in Kyoto, [Japan] when I got the audition. I was traveling and was thinking — I don’t want to tape this. I’m going through the bamboo forest. But I threw it on tape [when] I was in Korea in a hotel room. I thought, “You know what? If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.”
What was the moment on set where things started to become real for you?
It oscillates. Sometimes, it’s fight or flight in the beginning, where you’re like, “Oh my God, this can’t be true.” I think we were at the table read. Just hearing everyone bounce off of each other, and Holland Taylor was just… She’s so funny. Everyone’s just incredible. I was sitting there. It was a Monday morning and I’m like, “Whoa.” Also, five minutes in, you’re like, “OK, these are just my colleagues in a way.” Day one of shooting, it’s again, a little bit of terror, but then it comes and goes. By a couple weeks, we were throwing footballs in between takes, so how can you not just be good.
You’re acting alongside two people playing heightened versions of themselves. What’s it like acting off of that?
At first, I wanted to be mindful that I wasn’t trying to create a character that was emulating someone that either did or didn’t exist in a way. The writing is so funny. What Matthew and Woody do so well is create a space where you can just play, and there’s no right or wrong in that sense. Everything is just in service of story and character. It’s not historically accurate, a period piece or something like that. You definitely can take some liberties. It’s actually better to have a little bit of distance between who these real life people are and just to protect your sanity in a way.
Episode four in particular is fun for your character. You’re sleuthing and going on a mission.
She’s sort of moving through grief in a way that feels exciting to her because as much as she likes to sit in her feelings, I also think she’s down for a bit of mischievous sleuthing. It’s nice to have that arc. When she gets called out for being avoidant was on the phone with Brad [the call center rep], she realizes she maybe does have issues to work on as well. It’s not so that everyone else is doing everything wrong. It’s a nice little way to move through grief into a different character arc.
Do you see this as a turning point for the character, this episode?
Yeah. It gets her out of her head a little and more mission-based. As a character, that’s good, but also as humans, we need to have a goal.
What has been the most enjoyable part about playing Olive for you?
To just to be part of a family dynamic that is so different than my own in a way. My family, for what it’s worth, I love them dearly, but it was not what Olive is experiencing in a way. That gives me perspective. A lot of scenes with Woody, they’re about father-daughter relationships, and that’s something that I, even as an adult, am trying to navigate. I told Woody this too, I think after we wrapped, I said something like, “This was also in a way sort of healing for me, but in a very fun and safe way.” That’s always nice, so I think that was the most joyous thing. Also, just working with everyone there — we truly did become a little dysfunctional family. That’s always really, really, really nice to get.
I’d love to hear more about the father-daughter relationship. That moment at the end where you’re talking to one another is quite nice. Exploring that relationship through comedy seems quite interesting.
This is probably a quote that exists somewhere, but comedy is pain and pain is life. I do tend to — both in the characters I play sometimes and my own life — operate from a place of suffering and pain. That is easy for me to access in a way. Playing really big comedy is really fun, but I think it always needs to be grounded in: What are the relationships? What are the truths that hit home for me in a way?
When you’re playing opposite someone like Woody, all you have to do is really just look into his face, and he’s so earnest and present. How can you not buy into everything? He’s also so deeply funny and talented. You’re just along for the ride.” Woody’s also so great because he really just brought us into his real life family as well. Laura [Louie], his wife, and his daughter were on set. There was never really a [time] when you can’t blend into the realness of what the real family is. They’re very impressive. Through osmosis, you really just get to see what a loving family that is.
What are the kind of things you are typically drawn to when you get a role or you get a script?
I’m interested in moral ambiguity, in terms of characters. Everything exists in a really gray space, [and] that is both liberating and sometimes scary. I think where I’m at in my life right now, I want to be able to hold as many opposing thoughts as possible. I don’t need to be judging characters or feel like I need to be likable in certain ways. As long as there’s an in for me, in a way that I feel like it delves deeper into a human psyche or understanding of the world, then let’s do it. Every project sometimes feels a bit self-indulgent, but if I can learn something through it, then yeah, I’m in. Not to be so philosophical.