Logan Lerman Shares What Made We Were the Lucky Ones Such a ‘Unique Experience’ for Him

In the Hulu limited series We Were the Lucky Ones, Logan Lerman had quite a complicated character to portray. In addition to playing a Polish Jewish refugee during WWII, Lerman played Addy, the grandfather of Georgia Hunter, the author who wrote the novel that started it all.

Talking to Lerman ahead of the series’ sixth episode, which premieres on April 18, the Percy Jackson & The Olympians star admitted that the project brought unprecedented some challenges.

“It was a tall order to play someone who’s a real person, I feel like every character I’ve had in the past I’ve had free range on to create them and give them backstories and develop them,” he tells SheKnows.

With that said, Lerman took the opportunity to do his research, by collecting Addy’s photos, letters and songs. “There was just so much to work with that it kind of made the job a little bit easier for me in that regard,” he reflects. “I knew this person so well.”

Beyond all the papers and photos, Lerman also collaborated with Hunter throughout the process, something that was invaluable for the star. “Georgia was a part of the project from pre-production to post-production so she was on set all the time with her family and they brought so much every day for us to work off of,” Lerman says. “It was just a really unique experience for me and a pleasure to collaborate with her on her family’s history.”

Alongside Lerman on the screen are Henry Lloyd-Hughes and Amit Rahav, who play Addy’s brothers Genek and Jakob, respectively.

Talking to all three, it seems their connection became brotherly both off and onscreen.

“We spent so much amazing quality time I think cheaply because [when Thomas Kail] directed the first episode, he made sure strategically to give us that time as a family to spend time with each other even before the cameras were rolling,” Lloyd-Hughes remembers. “Episode one is all about the love and the bonds that tie these people together and unless you get that right, you don’t care enough about these people to go on the journey with them.”

So, when the cameras weren’t rolling, the cast really made an effort to get to know each other and connect. “Having that time, those endless dinners, and games of tennis that we had in Romania, I think that is value-added and that hopefully, you see that onscreen that these feel like people who could really finish each other’s sentences,” he says.

Rahav, who nodded in agreement, even gave a scoop on the Passover scene in the first episode. “This was totally improvised, the cameras were rolling and Tommy said ‘Just be yourself, just do whatever you want’ and the laughter and the faces it’s all real, it’s us just being us and we did feel like this family,” he says.

“They did cut out all my best jokes though,” Lloyd-Hughes jokes.

To watch all three in the emotional and thought-provoking series, head to Hulu to stream We Were the Lucky Ones today!

Before you go, click here to see the best TV shows and movies about the Jewish experience.