The frenzy of true-crime dramas is still getting devoured by the masses at a rapid pace. Consuming terrifying real-life events has proven to be irresistible to television audiences, and every major streaming service has been on the hunt for new monsters to expose. In 2022 alone there have been countless true-crime series. Netflix has premiered the controversial series Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Hulu released the critically acclaimed limited series Under the Banner of Heaven, and now Peacock has joined the conversation with Friend of the Family.
While some critics of the true-crime genre have brought up concerns about glorifying killers and predators, multiple series have also chosen to give a voice to survivors. Friend of the Family is attempting to do that by telling one survivor’s harrowing story. Based upon the shocking kidnappings of 12-year-old Idaho native Jan Broberg, she was kidnapped twice by neighbor and family friend Robert “B” Berchtold in 1974 and once again at age 14 in 1976. The Peacock original series is just the lasted exploration into the notorious kidnappings that unfolded within the Mormon community, following Netflix’s 2017 true-crime documentary Abducted in Plain Sight, which also explores the case.
Aiming to share the victim’s point of view, the real-life Jan Broberg serves as a producer and even introduces the series in a short clip prior to the first episode. Set in the highly religious Mormon town of Pocatello, Idaho, the series focuses on how Robert Berchtold was able to manipulate and seduce both of Jan’s parents, Bob and Mary Ann Broberg, while also grooming Jan. Containing a total of nine episodes, the Peacock original limited series chronicles the initial fateful meeting between the Berchtold and Broberg families, both kidnappings in 1974 and 1976, and the controversial trials that ensued.
Nick Antosca serves as the series creator for Friend of the Family in addition to being a writer and executive producer. Antosca is no stranger to adapting real-life nightmares into engaging true-crime series, having previously created Hulu original series The Act (2019) and Candy (2022). The first four episodes premiered on Peacock Thursday, October 6, and the last five episodes will be released weekly on Thursdays through its finale on November 10. To watch, the streamer offers various plans, including a premium subscription of $4.99/month, and a premium plus subscription for $9.99/month. To find out more about the infamous kidnapping case and everyone involved, read on to learn about the cast and the real-life characters they’re portraying.
Hendrix Yancey and McKenna Grace as Jan Broberg
Hendrix Yancey stars as 12-year-old Jan Broberg and plays her for 6 episodes as the series depicts how she is groomed through flashbacks and manipulated during the first kidnapping. Initially stating she wasn’t kidnapped, Berchtold convinced Jan that she needed to save a dying alien planet with him, and if she told anyone about it or didn't complete the mission, her family’s lives would be in danger. Yancey has also been featured in the Netflix series Unbelievable and season 4 of Stranger Things, in addition to appearing in the 2021 film, Charming the Hearts of Men.
McKenna Grace plays the older Jan Broberg at age 14 when she is once again kidnapped by Robert Berchtold. A well-known child actress, Grace has appeared in numerous film and television series. Her most notable films include Gifted (2017) and Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), and the Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House (2018). Jan eventually told detectives everything that happened to her after surviving the second kidnapping, and in the years since has gone on to become an advocate for sexual assault survivors. Broberg was continuously met with challenges about her story from Berchtold himself, and she also produced the Netflix documentary Abducted in Plain Sight in addition to A Friend of the Family.
Jake Lacy as Robert “B” Berchtold
Jake Lacy is taking on the role of real-life Robert “B” Berchtold, husband to Gail Berchtold and father to four children. Upon moving to Pocatello in 1972, both the Berchtold and Broberg families attend the same LDS church and Bob instantaneously seeks Jan out to begin grooming her while manipulating her parents. Diagnosed with manic depression, all warning signs are ignored by both his wife and the Brobergs in the lead-up to the first kidnapping. Welcomed back into the church with open arms, Robert Berchtold was sentenced to less than 6 months in a mental institution in the wake of the second kidnapping. He was then charged with the rape of a child in 1986 and served one year in jail. Vehemently denying all Jan’s claims of her abduction and sexual assault since the 70s, he was once again found guilty in 2005 of simple assault after getting into a fight with a BACA (Bikers Against Child Abuse) member and committing suicide before going to jail.
Lacy is best known for his breakout role in the 2020 HBO limited series, The White Lotus, playing privileged vacationer Shane Patton. Lacy received an Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series Emmy Award nomination for his role, and A Friend of the Family marks his first starring role in a television series. Primarily working in television, additional roles include Mrs. America (2020), Fosse/Verdon (2019), High Fidelity (2020), and portraying Pete Miller in the final season of The Office (2005-2013).
Colin Hanks as Bob Broberg
Colin Hanks stars as Jan’s father, Bob Broberg, an initial bystander in his daughter’s kidnapping. Due to their religious beliefs, his wife Mary Ann refers to Bob in all matters related to the family, and they're persuaded by Gail Broberg to not call the police immediately after Jan and Robert's disappearance. When Jan is eventually returned, the Berchtolds blackmail Bob and Marry Ann in various ways to avoid criminal charges, and remain active parts in their lives.
Hanks is the son of Academy Award winner Tom Hanks and followed in his father’s footsteps in pursuing a career in acting. No stranger to taking on a wide assortment of strange characters, Hanks’s breakthrough role came with playing serial killer Travis Marshall in season 5 of the Showtime series Dexter (2006-2013). He went on to star in season 1 of FX’s Fargo (2014), FX’s American Horror Story: Impeachment (2021), and the Paramount Plus original series, The Offer (2022).
Anna Paquin as Mary Ann Broberg
Anna Paquin co-stars as Mary Ann Broberg, mother to Jan Broberg and her two younger sisters, Karen and Susan. The primary caretaker of the family, she’s instantly charmed by Robert Berchtold and the series depicts how he successfully seduces her as he weasels his way into Jan’s life. Continuously pursued by Bob even after the first kidnapping, Mary Ann would go on to write the book Stolen Innocence: The Jan Broberg Story (2003), detailing the rollercoaster ride she and her family experienced.
Paquin is an Academy-Award-winning actress, winning Best Supporting Actress in 1993 for her role in The Piano at age 11, making her the second-youngest recipient in the Awards history. Her other notable film roles include Almost Famous (2000), Margaret (2011), The Irishman (2019), and starring as Rogue in the X-Men film franchise. Paquin is best known for playing the lead role of Sookie Stackhouse in HBO’s vampire fantasy series True Blood (2008-2014), and she has also starred in Netflix’s Alias Grace (2017), and Flack (2019).
Lio Tipton as Gail Berchtold
Portrayed as an arguable bystander in the Jan Broberg kidnapping, Lio Tipton plays Robert Berchtold’s wife Gail Berchtold in Friend of the Family. Mother to three boys and a baby girl, the series reveals the gaslighting techniques Gail uses when Bob and Mary Ann initially contact her an hour after Bob was supposed to drop Jan off from horseback riding. Sensing something is wrong, Gail convinces the parents not to call the police and goes on to further aid her husband with blackmail throughout the first kidnapping trial and subsequent years.
Tipton first came to prominence in cycle 11 of America’s Next Top Model (2003-present) where they placed third overall. They then got their breakthrough starring as high school student Jessica Ripley in the romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011) opposite Steve Carell, and then went on to star in the film Two Night Stand (2014) and the short-lived ABC sitcom Manhattan Love Story (2014).
Austin Stowell as FBI Agent Peter Walsh
Austin Stowell portrays FBI Agent Peter Walsh, the lead detective who comes onto the case and springs into action after receiving the alarming information that the Brobergs waited several days to report their child missing. Making his acting debut in the ABC series The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Stowell has gone on to play various supporting roles in film, most notably as Kyle Connellan in Dolphin Tale (2011) and Francis Gary Powers in Steven Spielberg’s critically acclaimed Bridge of Spies (2015).