Actor Jake Cannavale says working alongside his father, Bobby Cannavale, on a new television series strengthened their personal and professional relationships.
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The father-son duo collaborated on the upcoming crime thriller series Scarpetta, which premieres on Amazon Prime Video. In the series, Bobby Cannavale plays former detective Pete Marino in the present day, while Jake Cannavale portrays a younger version of the same character in flashback scenes.
Although the actors play the same character at different stages of life and do not share scenes together on screen, Jake Cannavale said the collaboration allowed them to work closely behind the scenes. They spent time discussing the character’s motivations, personality, and emotional arc in order to create a consistent portrayal across timelines.
Speaking at the show’s New York City premiere, the younger Cannavale described the process as both intellectual and emotional when speaking to PEOPLE.
Jake Cannavale Has A New Appreciation For His Father
“The preparation was, honestly, it was pretty cerebral,” he said. “We worked together 15 years ago playing father and son, and all of our scenes were together, but this time we don’t have any scenes together.”
“It would get really deep and cathartic and philosophical, and sometimes we’d just be laughing our ass off like we were at a bar or something,” he continued. “So, you know, we got a whole spectrum of collaboration, which is really awesome to see my dad in that light.”
The experience has ultimately brought Jake closer to his father. “There’s this very sort of, dare I say, mature understanding that happens as the son of anybody when you realize what your parent does to feel this sense of purpose.”
“My dad was an actor before he was a dad, and he’ll always be both of those things, but really seeing the thing that gave him drive in this life now as a young man and not just his son was really cool and really humbling and definitely enhanced our relationship and made me a better artist, I’d say.”