Jason Katims, Connie Britton look for connections in ‘Dear Edward’

While writing the script for “Dear Edward,” a look at the only survivor of a plane crash, he realized one of the characters was just right for Britton.

“From that moment on, she became the only person that I could imagine doing it,” Katims says. “I gave her the script and we started this conversation about this woman and it was so great.”

In the new AppleTV+ series, Britton plays a woman who lost her husband in the crash.

“Something happens with people (in those situations),” she says. “We get caught up in what we think our lives are and we don’t really take them in. We don’t really take action and understand where we can go and how we can fly.”

For Colin O’Brien, who plays Edward, the sole survivor, it was difficult to imagine what his character went through.

“I remember I would sometimes just put my head down and think things through,” he says. “I would close my eyes and take a drink of water. And then I would just try and imagine this.”

O’Brien drew on the death of a grandparent during the pandemic. “We couldn’t have a funeral for him at the time, so I used that to try and make it seem more real.”

Taylor Schilling, who plays Edward’s aunt, says she and O’Brien worked to connect in ways outside the story. The pre-teen was studying rocks in school and he detailed all the different types. “After that, she got me this malachite rock and we’d talk,” he says.

“On the first day of shooting, I told her that I was nervous because this was my first project like this,” O’Brien says. “And she walked me through these breathing exercises and energy things and they were really helpful. “

O’Brien – who next stars in “Wonka,” as the young Willy Wonka – says balance is necessary for a story as intense as “Dear Edward.” “Child actors can definitely handle a lot more than you might think.”

Katims says O’Brien was so determined to understand what was happening, “I would have to remind myself that he’s a child actor. If there ever was a time when he didn’t understand the moment, he would come to me or the director or Taylor and work it through. It’s a lot to have to be responsible for a show called ‘Dear Edward.’”

Naturally, the 10-part series took its toll on the cast and crew.

“When you tell stories like this, you kind of have to open yourself up emotionally,” Katims says. “The most embarrassing thing for me has been in editing rooms, watching cuts of the show and starting to feel emotional in front of the editor. I try to not cry because it’s ridiculous to cry over the words that you wrote.”

“He’s a crier,” Britton confirms.

Thankfully, there were editors from “Friday Night Lights” who knew the shorthand he, Britton and the others were using.

“What I’ve tried to do in whatever project I’m working on is to find that sort of human connection, get underneath the character and write from the inside out,” Katims says. “Our own flaws, our own pasts, our histories sort of go into the equation. But I also just loved people’s voices. I love to listen to the way people talk and how they interact.”