Apple TV+'s The Mosquito Coast is now available to stream, and for anyone familiar with the source material or the 1986 movie starring Harrison Ford, they'll notice it's a lot different. Justin Theroux's new series (which is based on a book written by his uncle) took a modern spin on the story with lots of changes from the original book, especially when it comes to characters, as actress Melissa George can attest.
Melissa George spoke to CinemaBlend ahead of the series premiere of The Mosquito Coast about her character Margot and how different her role is compared to the original version of the character, who was only referred to as "Mother." Melissa George spoke to me not just about the significance of enhancing the Mother's presence but why it was necessary the character be expanded on in the series.
Well I think there's a lot gained in having an equal [as a] protagonist as the male in any film or television show. And also this series The Mosquito Coast is a prequel to the book so it gave us this freedom to recreate something new. The Margot that we will come to know is not the same as Mother in the script. The premise is definitely the same, but I don't really think we can get away with calling me "mother" in a show in 2021 unless it's a period piece. I'm not sure that would've gone down well. I mean women have done a lot of work to be equal to men, and men equal to women actually. I think we should flip it in that way. It's a much more interesting approach I think. Especially where I know Margot is going, which is very, very, cool. And also we have the two kids so now we've got like, you know, an equal parental family unit with two adolescent children.
As Melissa George (who also talked to us about her role in Star Trek: Discovery) pointed out, the whole family is really involved in Apple TV+'s version of The Mosquito Coast. In the original novel, the story is told from the perspective of Charlie, but in Season 1, there's an opportunity to open the story up and see how each character views the situation from their own perspective.
I can say one of the most entertaining perspectives of The Mosquito Coast thus far is Margot, whose only real quirk we've seen thus far is that she's married to the eccentric Allie Fox. It's an odd pairing especially given the situation the family is in, though we've only just gotten to know the family in these early episodes. Perhaps, with time, we'll find out exactly why Margot and Allie are thick as thieves in spite of the dangerous situation he's gotten his family into.
New episodes of The Mosquito Coast release on Apple TV+ Fridays. The series is off to an exhilarating start, despite its deviations from the book. For more on that, be sure to check out what Justin Theroux had to say in regard to Harrison Ford's performance when he played Allie Fox.
