A Man on the Inside star Stephanie Beatriz is opening up about how her role as a nursing home administrator on the show helped her to build bridges with her own older family members.
Sitting down with Decider to talk about the Netflix series from the mind of Michael Schur, the Brooklyn Nine-Nine alum shared that for her, the series offered a chance to find peace within even the more “tenuous” personal relationships.
The series follows Charles (Danson), who takes a job as a private investigative assistant inside a San Francisco retirement community to look into the disappearance of one resident’s priceless family heirloom. At face value, the eight-episode comedy is a show like Schur’s others (i.e. The Good Place and Parks and Recreation), but not so deep below the surface, A Man on the Inside tells a bittersweet story about watching the ones we love get older.
For Beatriz — who lost her own father in 2022 to cancer — the show about the elderly, community, and the importance of spending time with loved ones hit home. As the show begs viewers to check in and reach out to those in their own lives, the actress says it did something powerful for her own relationship with her aging mother.
“My mom and I have, like many women that I know, a contentious, tender, sometimes tenuous relationship,” she said. “Parents are so tricky. They are the people that love us the most in the whole world. And yet, also, the relationship is so fraught and delicate and painful sometimes.”
The show’s timing could not be more clandestine, too. Beatriz told Decider that with the country more divided than ever and families dealing with deep rifts, she is hopeful that A Man on the Inside others will mend fences where able.
“Especially because of the timing of when this show comes out, I hope that people watch this with their families. And if they don’t, I hope it inspires them to reach out to their families and to their loved ones,” Beatriz explained. “Because as far as some of those relationships are, some of them are still really full of love. Really, really full of love.”
As for her own “tender” relationship with her mom, the show’s themes were not the only suturing factor in the mix. Beatriz was able to bring her mom to the set during filming and make a bonding experience out of it. They even took a picture together that made it into Didi’s office.
All in all, Beatriz told Decider that she believes their bittersweet show will help to remind viewers what’s important in life, even if the journey to get there is the difficult part.
“Sometimes they just don’t know how to love each other very well. I think that that’s what this show explores,” the Twisted Metal star said. “How can we love and learn to love each other just a little bit better before we go?”
The entire first season of A Man on the Inside is currently streaming on Netflix.