Sam Heughan and Jessica De Gouw are causing mischief in The Couple Next Door. The duo star as Danny and Becka Whitwell, the titular “couple next door” that await Pete Thomas (Alfred Enoch) and Evie Greenwood (Eleanor Tomlinson) when they move into the neighborhood. Danny specifically gets quite close to Becka, sparking a relationship that permanently alters the course of all four’s lives.
Heughan is best known for fronting Outlander, starring in the historical drama as Jamie Fraser. He has held feature film roles in various genres, like action-comedy The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018) and comic book movie Bloodshot (2020). De Gouw has also had her share of superhero spotlight, having portrayed Huntress in Arrow. Her notable credits also include NBC’s Dracula and Netflix’s The Union.
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The Couple Next Door Cast & Character Guide
The Starz psychological thriller, The Couple Next Door, includes an ensemble of talented actors who have had impressive careers in film and TV.
In celebration of The Couple Next Door premiering on STARZ, ScreenRant spoke with Heughan and De Gouw to discuss if Danny is aware of his manipulative tactics, where Becka finds herself in all the drama, whether either of them would reprise their roles for Season 2, and what’s next for Heughan on Outlander.
Is Sam Heughan’s Danny Truly The Villain?
“Morally ambiguous, but certainly I do think he’s a good guy…”
ScreenRant: Sam, I want to talk about your character of Danny. I get the feeling that he is manipulative, and he knows he’s manipulative. Is any part of him coming from a good place?
Sam Heughan: I think he’s juggling a lot of balls, so to speak. Look, he’s just making decisions all the time that are having terrible consequences, but I do believe that he is a good guy. His choices are bad and he’s trying to do the right thing. I mean, we find out that he’s been doing these jobs to make money to protect his son, and there’s this history that he just hasn’t been truthful about. But yes, morally ambiguous, but certainly I do think he’s a good guy. In the end though, I think people’s initial impressions are probably that he’s not.
Where Does Jessica De Gouw’s Becka Stand?
“We’ve met them at maybe a point of disconnection…”
Jessica, Becka almost feels like a pawn in Danny’s game at points, but at other points she does feel like her own person. What are Becka’s goals here?
Jessica De Gouw: Well, I feel a little differently. I think they have a very interesting, complex relationship, but it really has been built on a big, deep love, and I think they’re trying to live life on their own terms with their own rules in a way. And at this point, we’ve met them, I guess at maybe a point of disconnection, a difficult season. And so the rules that used to exist for them need to evolve in order for them to maintain a healthy relationship. So we meet them and it’s not at that point, but I think that’s the journey for them. And the journey for her is I think she thinks that she’s sort of very aware and very in charge, but I think has become quite disconnected and quite isolated. I don’t think she’s in any way a victim of him or the situation. I think she’s very much driven this, and we just meet them in a difficult season, and I think that is the beautiful thing about this series is their love story and they’re refinding each other.
Sam Heughan Has Already Shot Outlander Season 8
“There’s big stuff happening…”
Sam, January 17th is a big day for you because The Couple Next Door is coming to STARZ, but also Outlander Season 7 is airing its finale. I know Season 8 has already been confirmed and some of the episodes are getting written. Do you know when you’re going to go into production on that?
Sam Heughan: We’ve actually shot it. Season 8 is in the can. It’s done, yeah, I’m officially, I guess unemployed now, but yeah. There’s big stuff happening that all then have repercussions in Season 8.
Will Heughan & De Gouw Return For Season 2?
“It feels like such a moment in time…”
Guys, I know that they renewed the show for a second season and a whole new cast is coming in. Neither of your characters are exactly in top health going into a Season 2, might I say, but still, if there was room to continue your stories, is that something you’d be interested in?
Jessica De Gouw: I mean, I think the way that the story is told, it wraps up pretty in a pretty interesting way for our characters. Obviously, there are cliffhanger moments, but I think it’s a very interesting thing that you get to in the next season, meet an entirely different set of couples. I like when shows do that as well, when you have the opportunity to continue and sort of overarching story that meet new people. So I don’t know, I think we had such a beautiful time. Can you recreate that? It feels like such a moment in time that we just loved so much and gave it our best crack.
Sam Heughan: As Jess said, I think also the idea was this is a morality tale and you could drop down into any suburban town, any street and find a story, a similar story or a different one. So yeah, it’ll be exciting to see what they do with it. For sure.
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.
Check out our other The Couple Next Door interview with Alfred Enoch & Eleanor Tomlinson.
The Couple Next Door is now streaming on STARZ.
Source: ScreenRant Plus
The Couple Next Door
- Release Date
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2023 – 2022
- Showrunner
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David Allison
- Directors
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Dries Vos
- Writers
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David Allison