The audience at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas, was delighted on Thursday night to be among the first to get a taste of Apple TV’s upcoming family dramedy Margo’s Got Money Troubles on the opening night of SXSW.
The festival screened the first three — that’s right, three — of eight episodes of the adaptation of Rufi Thorpe’s 2024 novel to lots of laughs before a Q&A that included series creator David E. Kelley, executive producer Eva Anderson, stars Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfieffer, Thaddea Graham and more.
“This is our first opportunity as a group to see it with an audience. So we’re really excited about that. You’re going to see three episodes. One quick disclaimer, you’ll have to see three main titles and three end credits, so just bear with that,” Kelley joked while introducing the series.
In Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Fanning plays Margo, the 20-year-old daughter of a former Hooter’s waitress (played by Pfieffer) and an ex-pro wrestler (courtesy of Offerman) who has to figure out a way to make ends meet after her affair with her college professor (Michael Angarano) leads to an unexpected pregnancy. When her professor, predictably, leaves her high and dry, Margo drops out of college and makes an OnlyFans account as a last ditch effort to get some quick cash.
Michelle Pfeiffer and Elle Fanning in Apple TV’s ‘Margo’s Got Money Troubles’
Apple TV
“[Rufi Thorpe] wrote this whole story with these really colorful characters who I think are really loveable but also really messy,” Fanning said during the conversation after the screening. “They’re so singular and distinct.”
She added that Margo’s naiveté leads her to a sense of optimism through her struggles that audiences will have no choice but to be endeared to.
Pfieffer added that she “knew she was going to love” Shyanne, Margo’s mom, whose relationship with her daughter is simultaneously warm and full of friction.
While joking about her obligation to take part in the series, which marks a long-awaited collaboration between Pfieffer and her husband David E. Kelley, the actress teased that she learned “he likes you to take all your questions to the director, and I’m fine with that.”
Also in attendance was Elle Fanning’s sister, Dakota Fanning. They both executive produced the series via their banner Lewellen Pictures. Margo’s Got Money Troubles is produced for Apple TV+ by A24. Kelley serves as writer and showrunner on the eight-episode series. He and Matthew Tinker executive produce for David E. Kelley Productions alongside Elle Fanning, Dakota Fanning and Brittany Kahan Ward for Lewellen Pictures; and Kidman and Per Saari of Blossom Films. Pfeiffer, author Thorpe and Eva Anderson also executive produce.
The series premieres on Apple TV on April 15 with three episodes followed by new episodes weekly through May 20.