Prime Video's A League of Their Own serves as a new take on the original 1992 film of the same name. Based on the true story of women's professional baseball in the 1940s, the series follows the Rockford Peaches all-women baseball team, who took to the field during World War II as part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
Expanding its storytelling to Black Americans in baseball, as well as to members of the LGBTQ+ community, Prime Video's A League of Their Own puts forth a wide-spanning narrative comprised of complex individual arcs. D'Arcy Carden and Melanie Field play Greta Gill and Jo De Luca, a pair of friends who join the Peaches. Their relationship takes a new turn when the duo crosses paths with Abbi Jacobson's Carson Shaw and the rest of the team. Over the course of the show's first season, Greta and Jo learn to live outside of the boundaries they had set for themselves, a development that begins to drive them apart.
Prior to joining A League of Their Own, Carden starred in The Good Place, Barry, and Broad City. Field has appeared in Heathers, You, Florida Girls, and The Alienist. Prime Video's A League of Their Own is co-created and executive-produced by Jacobson and Will Graham. The series additionally stars Chanté Adams, Roberta Colindrez, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Kelly McCormack, Priscilla Delgado, Molly Ephraim, Kate Berlant, and Saidah Arrika Ekulona.
Screen Rant spoke with Carden and Field about their characters' close bond in A League of Their Own and how they prepared to play baseball in front of the camera.
Screen Rant: Greta initially doesn’t allow herself to take risks and has set rules that she follows. How would you describe her inner struggle and how she overcomes that?
D'Arcy Carden: Greta and Jo together have created this set of rules. Greta and Jo have really lived life. They've lived all over the world, they've been on adventures, they've had highs and lows, they've had successes and failures, and they have learned what works for them — and it frickin' works for them. So, it's like you don't deviate from these rules that we've created for ourselves. When Greta meets Carson, much to her surprise I think, everything sort of goes a little wonky and the rules matter less. She even has ups and downs with her relationship with the rules, with a lot of help from Jo. I think it highlights the love that she has for Carson, the feelings she has for Carson that she would be willing to deviate from her rules.
We learn early on that Jo and Greta have a close relationship. Melanie, how does the dynamic between the two impact Jo, specifically, as they join their teammates on the Peaches?
Melanie Field: They come into the team as a pre-existing team. Even in filming, they'd be standing next to each other, they're always hanging on each other, and they're super tight. As time goes on, Jo, specifically, is really stepping into her own identity sans Greta and I think that's very exciting for her. It's also a little bit scary for her. It's definitely scary for Greta. Jo is definitely Greta's security blanket, so being in this environment where Jo can be really good and really good at what she does and get this limelight on her for once, she kind of takes that and wants to run with it. So, it does put some pressure and tension on their pre-existing bond, but I think that — I mean, I don't know what's gonna happen in the future — but I have this very strong feeling and knowledge that these are forever friends and they're just navigating this transitional time in their lives.
Do either of you have a background in sports? What was the filming process like?
D'Arcy Carden: Yeah, both of us played [baseball] as kids. I played through high school and sort of whenever I could. So, I kind of came into the show feeling like, maybe cocky, maybe confident. A little like, "I know what I'm doing." We worked with these incredible coaches and baseball players that helped us every step of the way and I sort of realized, "Oh yeah, they're good. They know what they're doing."
Melanie Field: They were so generous.
D'Arcy Carden: Yeah. One thing that I realized is when you play sports as a kid, you basically learn how to play sports based on whatever dad is the coach.
Melanie Field: Who told you how to swing.
D'Arcy Carden: However he swings or whatever he thinks is right, and what we learned with these coaches is —
Melanie Field: "That's incorrect." [laughs] "That doesn't look professional."
D'Arcy Carden: Right. So, they were very patient and generous with us. And Melanie played as a kid too.
Melanie Field: Yeah, I played as a kid. [I] wasn't very good, but I played, I knew the game, I know how it's played. But the coaches, the professional players that they had come in were just so generous of their time, of their talents. They were patient with us.
D'Arcy Carden: Supportive, [they] wanted us to win and wanted us to look right. We got to train together for months leading up to the pilot and then again leading up to the actual show. So, the cast really bonded. The team really bonded before we even got to act together. It was sort of remarkable.
Greta and Jo are both fascinating characters. In what ways do each of you relate to the character you play?
D'Arcy Carden: This isn't exactly what you asked, but I will say that Jo and Greta's friendship, which is so deep and almost like family, is a hard thing for two actors who have never met each other to fake. But Melanie and I lucked out with this instant bond and sort of undeniable chemistry that we found in the audition room. Upon meeting each other, we fell in love at first sight. I think it was very, very easy to play the friendship. It was never a forced chemistry, it was so natural. So, that is not exactly what you're asking.
Melanie Field: Well, I think we found our characters greatly in the context of this friendship and how they relate to each other. That's where we got a lot of information, and later in how they start to break apart. I think you're right. The friendship that we formed beforehand, during, the chemistry made our jobs really easy.
A League Of Their Own Synopsis
A League of Their Own evokes the joyful spirit of Penny Marshall's beloved classic, while widening the lens to tell the story of an entire generation of women who dreamed of playing professional baseball, both in and outside of the AAGPBL. The show follows Carson (Abbi Jacobson) and Max (Chanté Adams) and a new ensemble of sharp and hilarious characters as they carve their paths toward the field, along the way finding their teams and themselves.
Check back throughout the week for the rest of our interviews with the cast of A League of Their Own, as well as with EPs Will Graham & Desta Tedros Reff.
Join Amazon Prime - Watch Thousands of Movies & TV Shows Anytime
All eight episodes of A League of Their Own season 1 are available to stream on Friday, August 12 on Prime Video.