AnnaSophia Robb Was "Locked In" After Reading Grosse Pointe Garden Society's Script
The accomplished actress and child star instantly knew she wanted to play Alice in NBC's new sexy murder mystery.
As one of the stars of NBC's juicy new drama Grosse Pointe Garden Society, AnnaSophia Robb is about to hook a legion of new fans — but you've likely seen some of her work already. She's already an industry veteran, having begun her career as a child actress, and has a host of interesting credits to her name.
Now, Robb is set to portray Alice, a dreamer, high school English teacher, and longtime member of the Grosse Pointe Garden Society. Created by Jenna Bans and Bill Krebs, the series also stars Melissa Fumero, Aja Naomi King, and Ben Rappaport.
“I read the script. I thought, ‘Oh, this is so fun.’ I loved Alice. She's married, she's a young woman, career, pressure to have babies — that sort of conversation is what my generation, myself included, is going through," Robb told NBC Insider, giving credit to a kismet wildflower. "I remember memorizing the audition scene and it was the voiceover of, ‘geraniums are meant to run wild in a meadow.’ I live in New York, but I was in LA at the time, and I saw a geranium plant in the Echo Park Hills. I thought, ‘This is crazy.’”
How AnnaSophia Robb got the part of Alice on Grosse Pointe Garden Society
The 31-year-old explained that the casting process was so smooth, she could barely believe it. “When I'm looking at projects, it always starts with the script and the quality of the characters and the writing. For this particular show, it felt very fresh. I was locked in… I auditioned, but usually with network TV it goes so slow, it's such a process of testing and chem reads and it's this lengthy process. But I had worked with Maggie Kylie, our pilot director before. I had done Dr. Death. And it was just a very quick process, I guess, of approval.”
“So the next call I got from my representative, it's like your phone rings and it says CAA, and everybody's on the phone and it's like, ‘oh God, oh my God, what's gonna happen? Is this good news? Is this bad news?’ Everybody's talking on top of each other. And they said that I got it," she continued.
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Luckily, this quick and decisive strategy was indicative of the Grosse Pointe culture. "I was so in shock…I was getting ready for a month-long back and forth of coming back in and waiting and all of that. [But] it was an immediate celebration. I think that's the good energy of this show is it does feel like decisions are made. They know the tone. Like Jenna and Bill just get it. Every script feels so streamlined and every time they bring in a new actor and new character, it feels very on brand.”
Robb was a child movie and TV star
The actress hit the ground running with a starring role in Samantha Parkington: An American Girl Holiday in 2004. "Playing the live-action version of my favorite doll was a pinch me moment'!" Robb later reflected. This was followed by two major theatrical releases in 2005: Because of Winn-Dixie and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In the latter, she played the pushy Violet Beauregard, who memorably turns into a giant blueberry.
It always starts with the script and the quality of the characters and the writing. For this particular show, it felt very fresh. I was locked in.”
Robb continued to star in family films, like the 2007 tearjerker Bridge to Terabithia alongside Josh Hutcherson, and Race to Witch Mountain in 2009, which co-starred The Rock.
In 2011, Robb played real-life surfer and shark attack victim Bethany Hamilton in Soul Surfer. Two years later, she portrayed the protagonist's love interest in the Sundance pick The Way Way Back and began her two-season run as the star of The Carrie Diaries, a Sex and the City prequel about the young adventures of Carrie Bradshaw (Robb).
How Robb became a primetime player
The former child actress officially entered the prestige television game with the acclaimed mini series The Act in 2019. In 2020, she portrayed the younger version of Elena, played by Reese Witherspoon, in Little Fires Everywhere, and in 2021 she appeared in five episodes of Dr. Death, which you can stream now on Peacock.
In 2019, she also achieved another career milestone: making her theatrical debut in an all-female production of Shakespeare's Macbeth, which she called "a dream." And most recently, she added the action thriller Rebel Ridge to her impressive CV.
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Watch the Grosse Pointe Garden Society series premiere on Sunday, February 23 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and the next day on Peacock.
Reporting by McKenzie Jean-Philippe
