“Only you have the power to change you. Are you ready to change?” asks Rose Byrne in a new teaser for “Physical.” The Apple TV+ series is set in ’80s San Diego and sees the two-time Emmy-nominated actress playing Sheila Rubin, a desperately unhappy and underappreciated stay-at-home mother who is ready for change.
Sheila’s life transforms when she discovers aerobics and begins teaching classes. A wholly unconvincing Sheila claims to be a “big fan of people,” but she seems to be a genuine fan of channeling her anger into punch after punch in her classes.
Byrne received two Emmy nods for her supporting role as Ellen Parsons in “Damages,” an FX/Audience Network legal thriller that premiered in 2007 and concluded in 2012. The “Bridesmaids” star’s more recent credits include “Mrs. America” and “Like a Boss.”
Annie Weisman created “Physical” and serves as showrunner on the dramedy.
“A lot of what we’re exploring in the show is the divide between the external and the internal for so many women,” Weisman has said. “I think one of the ways that Rose inhabits that so beautifully is that you see that. This is true for so many women and not just women in show business, but that no matter how polished and perfect the external gets, there’s a tremendous amount of turmoil under the surface. There is so many internalized feelings of self-hatred, and it’s not about what you see in the mirror, but it’s about what you’ve observed […] from your family and from your experience. And that’s a lot of what we’re exploring in the show is that divide,” the former “Bold Type” and “Desperate Housewives” writer explained.
“Physical” debuts on Apple TV+ June 18. Liza Johnson (“Dead to Me”) and Stephanie Laing (“Made for Love”) are among its directors.