Jesse Eisenberg, Finn Wolfhard, and Kaitlyn Dever are leading the voice cast of new audio drama When You Finish Saving The World, which is also heading to the big screen.
The five-hour drama, written by The Social Network star Jesse, dropped on Tuesday (August 4, 2020) on Audible, Amazon’s spoken-word audio site, and was inspired by a real conversation Jesse had with a pal, who admitted he wasn’t bonding with his new baby.
“He was mortified and felt terribly guilty,” the Zombieland actor tells the New York Times. “I thought this was an interesting dynamic to explore. Then I met these great producers who told me about a new format which is fiction created exclusively for audio. The internal struggle of a character who is emotionally a bit stifled seemed perfect for that medium.”
Jesse plays the new dad in a story that spans 30 years, while Finn plays the child, Ziggy, as a teenager, and Unbelievable star Kaitlyn is student Rachel. Each character shares their most intimate thoughts on tape, with each person’s words intended for a different recipient – Nathan’s for a therapist, Ziggy’s for a robot therapist he has been instructed to see, and Rachel’s for her high school boyfriend, who is about to ship out to serve in Afghanistan.
When the COVID crisis ended the cast’s plans to record the series together, Jesse had to record his part in New York, before connecting with Finn and working together on scenes in a Vancouver, Canada studio owned by musician Bryan Adams.
“It was therapeutic,” the Stranger Things star says. “I got to be kind of a brat for a change. Hopefully, I’m not as much of one in real life.”
The series is now set for the big screen, with Julianne Moore slated for the role of Rachel.
