Jennifer Garner, who is also a producer, Ed Helms, Emma Myers, and Brady Noon make up the Walker family in Family Switch! The new holiday movie, based on the book Bedtime For Mommy, is now streaming on Netflix.
Jess and Bill Walker are doing their best to keep their family connected as their children grow older, more independent, and more distant. When a chance encounter with an astrological reader causes the family to wake up to a full body switch, on the morning of the most important day of each of their lives, can the Walkers unite to land a promotion, college interview, record deal and soccer tryout?
“I really do feel like this is a movie that, you know, we have a vision of families cuddled up on the couch over the holidays, over the weekend, watching again and again, and discovering different moments that help them connect and that’s the whole point,” Garner, who stars as Jess, expressed. “That’s the whole reason we made this is so that all of us could just take another think about what it would be like to be our daughter, our mother, our son, our father, and just kind of even thinking about it helps you respect each other and connect more.”
Myers, who plays CC, added, “Yeah, just understanding one another is important. So I think this will [help] parents understanding their teens and teens understanding their parents.”
“Personally, when I played Ed, I mean, I kind of had to step into that parental role and really figure that out, so I think it was a really good experience,” Noon, who brings the character of Wyatt to life, shared. “I think it’s gonna show another side of almost a kid’s perspective to a parent and really, hopefully, they can come to terms on some things and maybe find the passion to have a conversation with their parents or something like that.”
Helms, who portrays Bill, explained, “We did spend a lot of time kind of dialing in our own character’s physicality and then sharing it with each other. We had a movement coach, who kind of helped us find the little quirks and specific details about each other’s mannerisms, and then, yeah, we just kind of studied each other.”
I spoke with the talented cast about who they would each want to switch with, the conversations they hope that the story inspires, their approach to sharing characters, and more.
Watch my full interviews below:
