There is an indescribable joy that comes with parenthood, but it’s one that comes hand in hand with the sheer, utter chaos that follows it too. Often enough, the portrayal of one of the two might outweigh the other in typical media, but Apple TV’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles proves to be a witty, darling piece of television that manages to hold all of the messy feelings that comes with the experience of bringing someone into this world, all in the same court. It certainly has Rufi Thorpe’s wonderfully-written novel as its source material to begin with, but there’s something else entirely about the way its stellar cast of Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer and Nick Offerman bring their interpretations of the characters to the screen.
Each one of them—Fanning as Margo; Pfeiffer as Margot’s mother Shyanne; and Offerman as Jinx, Margo’s father—treat the show’s characters and its relationships delicately, yet precisely. Be it the new mother trying to find grace in a world that will reject her simply because she chose the path lesser travelled for her newborn, a mother who is trying to process the life her daughter has chosen whilst contending with her own guilt, or a father, who was mostly absent in his own daughter’s life, trying to make up for it by being there in her newfound parenthood. There is so much complexity weaved into each relationship layer that span the eight episodes, but what really captured them—and us both—would be the genuine, very real sort of feelings that underscore each one. Gut-wrenching accusations are flung around, friction stirs, and hard decisions have to be made. Relying on a punchy, unconventional approach to portraying ‘single mothers’ and sex work, what lies beneath the dramatic comedy is a tenderness that rings throughout. One borne simply from Margo’s choice to choose love.
“Single mums are just a category that we just don’t talk about enough. They’re a sort of heroic category,” quips Offerman, who joins Pfeiffer in opening up to Vogue Singapore about the emotional weight the show holds in today’s society, why they were so taken by the original narrative of Margo’s Got Money Troubles and their own personal favourite moments from set.
What drew you both to the script for Margo’s Got Money Troubles?
Nick Offerman: Well, the trappings of the job were what drew me—like when I am lucky enough to get offered a job, and they say, and here are the other all stars on the baseball team, and we’d like you to come play third base. So that immediately drew me in, but I always choose my job because the writing really inspires me and scares me. This role and this show; I thought it was challenging, and I didn’t know if I could do a good enough job to fill out the relationships in this show. But I would still much rather do this and take a chance at trying to grow and con tinue becoming a better artist, you know? I had a lot of fun, but also a lot of butterflies going into a lot of my scenes, so I’m glad that they still have me here talking to you. I must have pulled it off.
Michelle Pfeiffer: Butterflies are a good thing. No, they’re a good thing. When you don’t have butterflies, it’s time to hang it up.
NO: Yeah, it is.
MP: That’s what they say.
NO: Life is boring without butterflies.
What about you, Michelle? What enticed you first?
MP: Yeah, I fell in love. My husband optioned the book with Elle, and it was lying around on our kitchen counter for the longest time. I kept walking by it, and I said, “Oh, what’s this?” And he said, “Oh, that’s this book we’ve optioned, and I think you’d really like it. And actually, there’s a part in there that everyone thinks you should play.” So she comes in right in the beginning, Shyanne. I don’t know if there’s even 10 pages of her, but then she disappears.
I just fell in love with her, and I fell in love with the book. I fell in love with the writing. I fell in love with a lot of the characters in the show that are actually not in the book, but the characters that were in the book—Jinx being one of them—I fell in love with. I grew up in Orange County; I know this woman, I grew up with these women, and in some ways I’ve been waiting my whole life to play Shyanne. She’s complicated, she’s vibrant and she’s kind of a loose cannon. These kinds of roles are just really fun, and the whole group is just the most talented group of people. And then he (Offerman) came on board, which was really icing on the cake. We were all so excited.
So this show, it’s really centred around motherhood. Margo’s a new mum struggling against all odds; Shyanne doesn’t want history to repeat itself—but still wants to support her. How did you bring the complexities of Shyanne to life?
MP: You know, the writing is so strong, and these scenes are so strong. All you really need to do is learn your lines and show up. And being a mum, you know, there are certain things that I can just innately understand, and I think it’s very real.
It’s really a story about single mums as well. I think the relationship with your children when you’re a single mum is a particular kind of relationship, and there’s a lot of guilt in Shyanne’s case; a lot of shame, a lot of guilt for not being able to give Margo the life that that she feels she deserves, and thinking, okay, I’m out of the woods now. Oh, great, she’s going to college and going to make something of herself, and then now she, here she is, following in my footsteps, so I’m not very happy. It’s messy, and it’s complicated, and you know, there are a million different ways to talk about it. It’s just confusing. But love trumps all in the end.
Nick—on the other hand, Jinx is trying to make amends with Margo, whom he wasn’t very present for when she was growing up. What was the most important thing for you to showcase when working on this show?
NO: Well, I would start by saying that as a population, single mums are just a category that we just don’t talk about enough. They’re a sort of heroic category. A friend of mine just had his second baby with his wife, and he’s had to take care of the three year old these few weeks because the baby is having trouble sleeping. Recently, he called me and said, “Dude, I’m going crazy. I’ve been with the three year old for 11 days, and this is so hard.”
I said, “Well you know I’m here for you, and just keep breathing, be patient. But also think about who is taking care of the three year old the other 1000 days that she’s been alive.” So put that into the context of this show; to imagine doing that as a single mum? You know, seeing the portraits painted of Shyanne and Margo; just these heroic, but also beautiful, flawed, hilarious human beings, I find it really inspiring, and I love helping paint that picture. Instead of, you know, a bunch of wrestlers. We’ve seen that show, we’ve seen enough of a bunch of guys and their troubles.
What would be your all time favourite scenes to shoot or moments from set?
MP: There’s so many. There’s so many. One of my favorites with Nick is the cake scene.
NO: That was mine too.
MP: The other one is when Bodhi is crying, and you’re telling me to bend my knees. That’s not the same scene, is it?
NO: It is!
MP: Oh, it’s a long one.
VS: So the kid steals the show.
NO: Yeah, we were really lucky with the babies we had on set, River and Graham.
Margo’s Got Money Troubles has been renewed for Season 2 on Apple TV.
