If you’ve yet to watch Love Me — BINGE Australia‘s first original commission starring Hugo Weaving — it’s one you definitely want to add to your watchlist as soon as possible.
Adapted from the Swedish series Älska Mig, created by Josephine Bornebusch, the much-praised series follows three different generations of the Mathieson family after the death of their wife/mum Christine (Sarah Peirse).
Weaving, surely one of Australia’s most treasured performers, stars in the six-part series as widower Glen, who spent many years caring for Christine prior to her passing after she was involved in a car accident.
“These people are very warm and real,” Weaving told news.com.au. “I liked Glen because he was genuinely a conservative nice guy. He goes on a journey of personal liberation. He made me laugh, Glen, he’s a funny man.”
I, Tonya actor Bojana Novakovic also appears as Clara — a successful anaesthetist in her late 30s hoping to find love.
“She never heard ‘I love you’ from her mum … So when that issue hasn’t been solved, it’s hard to develop intimacy,” Novakovic said in an interview with news.com.au.
“Intimacy is a challenge for her, so the series is her journey from fear and using her humour to put up a wall, to actually being challenged through love and falling in love.”
And, finally, we have Will Lodder as Aaron, a law student in his 20s who is on the brink of launching his professional career, despite his occasionally reckless ways.
After Christine dies, each character deals with their grief in their own, particular way, while also facing the daunting task of finding love at different ages. It is these themes that make Love Me a series that is universally appealing, despite the entire series being set in the heart of Melbourne.
Weaving has perhaps perfectly summed up the relatability of the show, telling news.com.au, “I don’t think it’s that hard to understand falling in love, and what it is like to lose someone. All the characters are universal. Everyone understands what love is and family is.”
BINGE executive director Alison Hurbert-Burns has also explained why Love Me has such wide appeal, during an interview with IF.
“I just felt that Australia needed a love story,” she told the online publication.
“The thing I like about the show is it’s multi-generational. So you’ve got three love stories. One for someone in their 20s, one for someone in their late 30s/early 40s, and one in their 60s. You’ve got an audience range.”
“The show just felt like a warm hug,” added producer Angie Fielder.
Directed by Australian filmmaker Emma Freeman, it should be noted that Love Me is beautifully shot too, showcasing why Aussie content is consistently at the top of its game.
“Part of the brief of the show was to make it a love letter to Melbourne, in terms of the way we shot it, but also part of the brief was that we wanted Melbourne to look and feel like it could be anywhere in the world. It could be New York, London, Paris or Berlin; just a big international city in which these universal stories unfold,” Fielder told IF.
“We were very much focused not on making the ‘Australian version’ or making an Australian show; it was very much about making the English-language version that would sell to all territories.”
Love Me is now streaming only on BINGE.
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