Rashida Jones has returned to our screens in the mystery thriller series, Sunny. Worlds away from her roles in The Office and Parks and Recreation, the ten-parter marks a change of pace for the actress, who stars as Suzie.
An American woman living in Kyoto, Japan, Suzie's life is turned upside down after her husband and son disappear in a plane crash. As she mourns the loss of her family, Suzie is given Sunny – a new kind of domestic robot made by her husband's electronics company – as a consolation. Suzie and Sunny get off to a rough start at first but an unlikely friendship blossoms, leading the pair to investigate what really happened to Suzie's family.
Joining HELLO! for an exclusive interview, leading lady Rashida revealed what drew her to the role of Suzie. "I got sent a beautiful mood board and playlist and a bunch of scripts. So, by the time I had read everything it was a very fully concocted world," she began.
"I thought it had a lot of heart – it was strange and original and it was like nothing that I had ever played before. I loved the idea of playing an outsider, I've never really gotten to do that before.
"There were a lot of interesting motifs that come up in the show and I like the way that they're dealt with, that dark humour and a bit of wryness. Also, I just like the mystery thriller…it's a genre that I really like and I've never gotten to do that."
After landing the role of Suzie, Rashida was introduced to her co-star, Hidetoshi Nishijima, who also joined us for a chat. Cast as her on-screen husband, Masa, the Japanese actor first met Rashida via Zoom, before establishing a sweet friendship.
Asked how they established their on-screen chemistry, Rashida joked: "Well we lived together for a year…no I'm just kidding!
"We got to know each other just a little bit over Zoom because it was still mid-Covid when we met. And then didn't meet in person until…I think we met the week you [Hidetoshi] came out for the Oscars. But I don't know, it's not one of those things that you can always explain. I think immediately we felt connected and that doesn't always happen that way."
For Hidetoshi, the feeling was mutual. "It's very strange. Through Zoom we're very remote and we only talked via screens but I was able to understand and capture Rashida's personality, talent, passion and her generosity as a person," he told HELLO!.
"Our first encounter was on Zoom but we mingled from then and were kind of like giggling and bursting out in laughter but we really connected."
Sunny is available to stream on Apple TV+