The Big Leap: Creator Says Series ‘Doubles Down on Hope’ | ATX Television Festival
Among the highlights of this year’s virtual ATX Television Festival was the screening of the upcoming FOX series The Big Leap, which was followed by a panel featuring creator and executive producer Liz Heldens, executive producer and director Jason Winer, and cast members Scott Foley, Teri Polo, Ser’Darius Blain, and Simone Recasner.
The feel-good drama is described as “a modern tale about second chances, chasing your dreams and taking back what’s yours.” It follows a group of diverse characters who decide to participate in a new reality dance series that will build up to a live production of Swan Lake.
Heldens explained that the series, which is based on a British reality television show from 2014, was a long time in the making. “I wrote it like six years ago,” she said, noting that after that, it was something the network asked about every so often until she re-wrote it in 2019.
“I re-wrote it in 2019, and we were greenlit in like March 2020, and then, of course, the world ended,” she said. “It’s been a long road.”
“I think it’s doing what we wanted it to do, which is be a show that doubled down on hope, and was funny, and was about dancing. I think it’s working like we hoped it would.”
For Teri Polo, working on the series is a bit of a dream come true because it offers her a chance to dance again. It’s also a character she relates to.
“I used to be a dancer and I’m coming to this point in my life, 52, and struggling with some of the things that Julia is struggling with,” Polo said.
Polo and Scott Foley also noted that they’ve known each other for years.
“Teri’s known me for twenty plus years and she, if you ever want the real deal, she’ll give you the dirt,” Foley said. The two both worked on Felicity, though they weren’t sure they ever shared scenes together.
“But I’ve known you before that, even,” Foley added. “We’ve known each other socially for years and years and years. And that’s what terrifies me about working with you now,” he joked.
For Simone Recasner, who plays Gabby on the series, everything about working on The Big Leap is new.
“Have I been on TV before? No. Have I danced professionally? No. So there’s a lot here,” Recasner laughed. Winer interjected to also asked if she’s ever done an interview. That answer was also no, and in a sweet moment, everyone on the panel cheered for it being her first one.
“It’s been amazing to jump into this world that I have revered from afar,” Recasner added, noting that she also didn’t have time to overly prepare for the dancing portion of the series.
“Me and Simone are in the same boat. I’m not a dancer. There’s a difference between ‘moves well,’ ‘has rhythm’ and actually being a dancer,” Ser’Darius Blain said of his own dance experience. “So it was a little daunting.”
“These guys are selling themselves short,” Winer said. “There is maybe one, maybe two shots of a double in the entire pilot.”
He added that doubles were there just in case they were needed for the pilot episode, which turned out to be less than expected.
While Polo, Recasner, and Blain’s characters all dance on the series, Foley’s character doesn’t necessarily have to. But that doesn’t mean he won’t, apparently. When asked if Foley would dance, Heldens immediately replied, “I’m working on it. I have some ideas.”
“What?! We didn’t talk about that,” Foley responded. He then began trying to get out of it by offering his own explanation as to why his character, Nick, definitely wouldn’t dance.
“In my character work that I’ve been doing on Nick, I really delved into whether he had a dance background or not,” he joked. I’ve sort of concluded that there’s no, you know it wouldn’t work character-wise if he was a secret dancer.”
“I don’t know. It seems like it wants to happen!” Heldens said.
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The Big Leap will air Mondays at 9/8c, this Fall on FOX.
Check out all of our coverage of the ATX Television Festival’s virtual event right here.
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Ashley Bissette Sumerel
Ashley Bissette Sumerel is a television and film critic living in Wilmington, North Carolina. She is editor-in-chief of Tell-Tale TV as well as Eulalie Magazine. Ashley has also written for outlets such as Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, and Insider. Ashley has been a member of the Critics Choice Association since 2017 and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. In addition to her work as an editor and critic, Ashley teaches Entertainment Journalism, Composition, and Literature at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.