The beloved literary characters The Hardy Boys are returning to television with a new television series on Hulu. Based on the novel series by Edward Stratemeyer, the television reimagining has brothers Frank and Joe Hardy move with their father Denton to the small coastal town of Bridgeport after enduring a family tragedy. As the brothers acclimate to their new surroundings, they quickly discover that the town has some dark secrets of its own to be explored.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Alexander Elliot (Joe), Rohan Campbell (Frank) and James Tupper (Denton) discuss bringing their characters to life, how quickly they formed their on-screen families and adding their own voices to the young adult mystery genre.
This series opens with your characters on the worst day of their lives. How was it developing that trust and that emotional intensity playing off each other?
Rohan Campbell: We worked hard on it. We didn't have a lot of rehearsal time but it was something that we definitely talked about a lot with our showrunner and [director Jason Stone]. And we worked on getting as close as possible as fast as possible and because we get such a short period of time with the family and the family is so fun in the fifteen minutes of that show and then it just gets torn apart. It's so interesting to watch three different versions of masculinity deal with that loss. But, like you said, we really do meet these guys on one of the worst days of their lives. [Laughs]
Alexander Elliot: We got together real fast and really developed this insane bond that only progressed through the season and I feel like, with scenes like that, everybody in the cast really brought their A-game. And everybody is just phenomenal this season, I don't feel like there was a weak link in the chain.
James Tupper: Are you sure? I thought it was me! [Laughs]
Elliot: No way, you're the coolest Hardy dad. [Laughs]
Tupper: The thing is, they gave us the time to do it right. It's not a network show where we're speeding along running, they're given thirteen episodes, it's mystery, you solve it, they figured it out and wrote it, they gave us time to rehearse it and get to know each other. They did all the things you do if you really want to make a show work and I think that chemistry shows up on the screen. Also, I think we got really fortunate with these two young actors because they're phenomenal, in my opinion; I'm their dad, of course, so I'm biased. They did a terrific job and they really grounded the series. They brought this reality and the boyhood courage it took to solve this mystery.
You guys are filming in gorgeous Ontario, a lot of the episodes capture that small town, coastal feel. How was it grounding and basing your performance on that setting?
Elliot: We shot in some beautiful places and one of the towns that we shot in is where they shot the It movies and I'm a massive fan of those movies and I was fanboying everywhere. [Laughs] And in some of the backdrops you'll see in autumn, with the leaves everywhere, it's just absolutely beautiful. And with [cinematographer] Fraser Brown, the way he lit some of the rooms and areas is just phenomenal, it makes it look cinematic and dramatic and amazing; it's a really beautiful-looking show.
Campbell: It was a fascinating thing: We do the table read, we read the scripts, you think you know the show and then everybody is ready to go and then Fraser shoots the camera test, which was me and Alex in the attic of the Hardy house. I look at the frames and I'm like "Oh! We're shooting that show!" And we suddenly realize that Fraser has got this scope that's Spielberg-esque and like Adventure Time with these golds and greens and these '80s feelings. It does a lot of the work for you as an actor to realize what sort of world you're in. We were happy to shoot in Ontario with a whole Canadian cast and Canadian directors as well.
We're in the middle of this renaissance of young adult mystery television that you see in shows like Riverdale and all that. What did you want to add to that genre with your performance and this show?
Elliot: I feel like we got there regardless because we had so much creative freedom on set. You could go to the director and go "Hey, maybe we can do this and maybe we can do this" and I feel like the mentality always was "We'll try one and, if it works, we'll keep it." It was always free for any ideas that we had and, to be able to have that creative freedom on a show like this, it just adds a whole new level and makes it so much more natural and it makes all the actors feel like they left their mark on the show. It's not just the writers did the writing and the actors did the acting, we all participated in every aspect of this show and it brought us all closer together.
Campbell: We were all incredibly lucky on this one. You really want to choose work that feels honest and realistic and everybody really set out to do that on this show and that was a gift. I feel like Alex and I are way too lucky this early on in our career to find a group of people that were willing to risk that and create that universe and take a swing at it. Hopefully, it lands with people!
Based on the beloved book series, The Hardy Boys stars Alexander Elliot as Joe Hardy, Rohan Campbell as Frank Hardy, James Tupper as Denton Hardy, Jennifer Hsiung as Jesse Hooper, Keana Lyn as Callie Shaw, Riley O'Donnell as Biff Hooper and Bea Santos as Trudy Hardy. The series will be available to stream Dec. 4 on Hulu.