‘Wolf Like Me’ Creator on How Dating as a Single Dad Sparked Idea for the Show

Abe Forsythe pondered an unusual question one day that became the makings of the comedy-drama starring Josh Gad and Isla Fisher that’s now in its second season.

Gary (Josh Gad), Mary (Isla Fisher) and Emma (Ariel Donoghue) in 'Wolf Like Me' season 2 NARELLE PORTANIER/PEACOCK

Like the common werewolf trope in many sci-fi/horror films, the idea for Wolf Like Me came to Australian writer, director and executive producer Abe Forsythe after witnessing a full moon. The creator of the Peacock series that is now in its second season was newly dating a woman as a single father when both a question he thought up and the resulting answer became the premise for the show.

“Everything that this person presented, seemingly, was what I was looking for and one of the times that we were together, it was a full moon and then the next day when I was driving around, coincidentally in L.A., I was thinking about this experience and I was like, ‘What would I do if this person was a werewolf?’” Forsythe tells The Hollywood Reporter. “In my head, I was like, ‘Well, you would just make it work because they seem really right for you, and they seem really right for your child.’”

Such is the reality Gary (Josh Gad) grapples with in Wolf Like Me when a car accident leads to a romantic collision with a woman named Mary (Isla Fisher), who turns into a werewolf every full moon and constantly battles fears of her secret identity hurting Gary or his daughter Emma (Ariel Donoghue), whom he’s raising on his own.

The timing of Forsythe’s lightbulb idea couldn’t have been better. Having already had some meetings set up with production companies in L.A. when he first pondered the aforementioned question, during those conversations, he began test pitching the idea to gauge people’s reaction.

“After like the second meeting, my agent called me up and was like, ‘What are you doing? Are you pitching something?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I just had this idea.’ He said, ‘We’ve already had two calls from people saying they want to make this show with you.’”

Season one of Wolf Like Me, which is produced by Stan in association with NBCUniversal and Peacock, premiered on both streaming platforms on Jan. 13, 2022, and was renewed for a second season just three months later. Shot in Australia, local talent include Joe Kalou, Rachael Blake, Anthony Taufa, Emma Lung and Honour Latukefu.