The stars of Apple TV+’s comedy whodunit “The Afterparty” still laugh at how wrong their friends and family members were in guessing the show’s killer.
“My brother said Tiffany,” says star Sam Richardson, referring to Tiffany Haddish, who plays the police detective investigating the crime. “He was like, ‘Oh, interesting. She knows all the clues!’ And I’m like, that’s what a detective does.”
Haddish said friends were sending her direct messages, also asking if her character did it. “They were like, ‘no, you did it. Tiffany. I know you did it!’ I’m like, sure.”
Ben Schwartz says his father thought it was the child of the characters played by Ike Barinholtz and Zoë Chao. “He thought was the kid. He said it the whole way from the first episode,” Schwartz says. “A bunch of people in the beginning said it was me, and then they lost that and they went somewhere else. A lot of people thought it was Zoë.”
Adds Richardson: “I think a lot of Walt [Jamie Demetriou] earlier, like right up until Walt’s episode. I think Walt was a great red herring, verybody had their theory that it was like kind of hidden right in plain sight, but like, but obvious enough so people would bite on to Walt. My dad guessed Mr. Shapiro.”
Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast recently spoke with “The Afterparty” stars Tiffany Haddish, Sam Richardson and Ben Schwartz about shooting this very unique show. Spoiler alert if you don’t know the ending to Season 1, as it is discussed heavily — as is whether that murderer will show up in Season 2.
But first, our Awards Circuit roundtable is back, and discussing the Emmy comedy and limited series categories and much more. Listen below!
“The Afterparty,” from Chris Miller and Phil Lord, is a comedic murder mystery that takes place after a high school reunion, as pop star alum Xavier (Dave Franco) invites his former classmates to an afterparty at his mansion. But when Xavier falls to his death, everyone there becomes a suspect in his murder. Haddish plays Det. Danner, who shows up and interrogates Xavier’s classmates one by one, starting with Aniq (Richardson), who becomes the primary suspect but is really there to reconnect to his high school crush Zoë (Chao). Each episode takes on a different kind of film genre, including a musical edition starring Schwartz as Yasper, who still aspires to a music carrer that never took off.
“People were emotionally invested,” Schwartz says. “Will Tiffany get the person? Is it Sam? Is it me? And so it was very exciting through that limelight that people were really obsessed with.”
Haddish says the appeal of Lord and Miller brought her to the project. “I just love working with those guys. So when they hit me with this first script, I read it and I was like yeah. Because first of all, I don’t think anyone has seen me in that light. And I felt like it was an opportunity for me, especially with everything that was going on in the world at the time when we were shooting, to show a detective from my point of view and from my community. And then the opportunity to work with everybody to do a scene with everybody was the best.”
The cast remains close, and maintains an active text chain. “So many things. We’ve celebrated through text messages together. A baby has come through. OK guys, I have a baby. I’m not supposed to tell everybody but I bought a baby.”
That’s just a taste of the raucous conversation between Haddish, Richardson and Schwartz in this edition.
Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast, produced by Michael Schneider, is your one-stop listen for lively conversations about the best in film and television. Each week “Awards Circuit” features interviews with top film and TV talent and creatives; discussions and debates about awards races and industry headlines; and much, much more. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or anywhere you download podcasts. New episodes post every Thursday and Friday.
