Briana Cuoco spent some time with a butcher before shooting Netflix’s Dead Boy Detectives.
“I kind of shadowed her,” Cuoco, the sister of Kaley Cuoco, told Us Weekly exclusively while promoting the forthcoming series, in which she plays a character aptly named Jenny the Butcher.
“Because of legal reasons, I couldn’t actually do anything,” the 35-year-old actress joked. “There were a few things I did, but I was like, how about we have somebody that knows really what they’re doing and no one’s fingers are going to be chopped off.”
Dead Boy Detectives is a comedy-drama series based on the DC Comics series of the same name, that follows two teenage boys, played by George Rexstrew (Edwin Payne) and Jayden Revri (Charles Rowland), who find each other in death and help solve supernatural crimes on earth.
With an already established fanbase, Cuoco — along with costars Ruth Connell (The Night Nurse) and Jenn Lyon (Esther) — said she “absolutely” feels pressure to live up to fan expectations.
“We all want everyone to love it and [writer] Neil [Gaiman] is so iconic and The Sandman is so iconic and Dead Boys have their own life outside of that,” Cuoco continued. “People really care about them, so we want them to love it.”
There is, however, “a switch up from the original material,” Connell, 45, teased.
“There are a few changes, which did give us more leeway to be more in the modern world that we’re in right now,” the Supernatural alum added. “I think that’s important, and I don’t think it takes away from the essence of the characters, but there’s been more room to wiggle.”
Other than comic book fans, the stars’ families are also excited for the series to finally get its day. (Dead Boy Detectives was initially picked up by Max in 2021, before it was moved to Netflix in 2023.)
“It’s been a really long journey,” Cuoco told Us. “We’ve been talking about the show for years and we found a new home and then the [SAG-AFTRA] strike and all this stuff. But it’s all happening at the time it’s supposed to happen. It’s all happening at the perfect time. So, we’re all very excited.”
Connell chimed in, adding, “Everyone’s excited because they can see it because it’s on Netflix. Everyone can actually see it, that’s one of the best things.”
Dead Boy Detectives is now streaming on Netflix.
