Christopher Knight can’t seem to escape his past as Peter Brady onThe Brady Bunch — and he doesn’t mind one bit.
“It didn’t feel like work,” Knight tells PEOPLE of the heartwarming film (premiering December 12), which was shot in Simi Valley, California, not far from Hermosa Beach, where he lives with his wife of five years, Cara Kokenes. “I say yes to projects that we’re all in not just because of the project, but because it’s an opportunity to catch up and have fun again. Every time we get together, it’s like no time has passed.”
Gene Reed
He adds with a laugh: “We’re like a family who live in different states and get together around the holidays.”
The project was the first for many of the stars amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Knight says, and being able to spend time with friends he’s known for over 50 years was a treat after months of isolation.
The movie seemed like a natural fit for the former Bradys, Knight says, because its plot — two families coming together at the holidays as the protagonists get engaged — is similar to that of the show that made them famous.
“The movie tells the story of these families learning to get along, which is something that seems like, in everyBradyepisode, we had to be reminded of,” he says. Plus, “In the same way that Christmas is evergreen, the Bradys are evergreen. They’re like a comfortable old pair of sweats.”
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“I heard more so last year than previous years how much [adults] foundThe Brady Bunch,” he says. “They put some sweats on and crawled up onto their couch under their comfy blanket and watched a number of episodes, because it was comforting. It was known. It was sweet. It wasn’t chaotic… It gives people some hope that maybe we can get back to that.”
Being a constant source of joy and familiarity in people’s lives wasn’t something Knight or any of his castmates ever considered when they were filmingThe Brady Bunch, he says. But now, it’s one of the greatest honors of his life.
“The show was entertainment, but it actually transcended its initial purpose. It’s become an icon of sorts, a touchstone, a representative of what maybe the quintessential American family ought to be,” he says. “And as often as somebody was watching us because we paralleled their lives, somebody was watching us because they were an only child, and then we became their brothers and sisters. And I fully respect that and enjoy it.”
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“I think it’s comforting for people that we do get along, that we do treat each other as friends,” he says, adding that it’s been “a privilege” to continue to do follow-up projects with them, because it means they have been able to keep up their friendship over the years.
“I have known them for nearly as long as I’ve known my own kin, and no one longer,” he says. “This Brady thing, which happens to be as alive today as it was 50 years ago, hasn’t allowed us to be apart. That makes us family, and that’s the common ingredient.”
source: people.com
