You would be forgiven for not remembering the Fox TV series “Get Real.” The 1999 drama followed the Green family: Parents Mitch (Jon Tenney) and Mary (Debrah Farentino) were struggling to reintroduce a spark into their marriage, while their three kids were each suffering under the weight of adolescence. But the show was still notable as the vehicle by which future superstars Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg made their onscreen debuts.
Hathaway played eldest daughter Meghan, an overachieving class valedictorian on her way to college at the prestigious UC Berkeley, but who threw it all away to try and find herself. Middle child Cameron, played by “NCIS: Los Angeles” star Eric Christian Olsen, was the slacker in the family, content to drive fast and sleep around to escape the family drama. And youngest son Kenny, as played by Eisenberg, found himself on the receiving end of a beating by the school bully. But this brush with death also taught him a lesson to stop being so afraid of what life had to throw at him.
“Get Real” gave audiences an early glimpse of Hathaway and Eisenberg’s onscreen personas. Hathaway brought an air of grace to her portrayal of Meghan, with a simmering existential crisis bubbling under the surface. And Kenny was a classic Eisenberg protagonist: Nervous, stammering, talking a mile-a-minute but lasting less than 30 seconds in a fight, Kenny bore all the hallmarks of many of Eisenberg’s future roles.
Unfortunately, very few people saw “Get Real.” The series premiered around the same time as “The West Wing” on NBC and “Roswell” on The WB and faltered in the ratings before being canceled with its final two episodes going unaired.
The two actors have gone onto long careers, but have only reunited for one surprising project
After the series was canceled, Hathaway pivoted to feature films, beginning in 2001 with “The Princess Diaries.” Four years later, she co-starred in the Oscar-winning “Brokeback Mountain.” Eisenberg moved into independent features with his breakout role in Noah Baumbach’s “The Squid and the Whale,” where he once again played a son trapped in the middle of a crumbling marriage.
As for series creator Clyde Phillips, he transitioned to an entirely different style of TV after “Get Real” by serving as the showrunner on the serial killer drama “Dexter.” Philips worked on the show’s landmark first four seasons before returning to oversee its future, first with the sequel series “New Blood,” the prequel “Original Sin,” and a second sequel, “Resurrection,” which has turned into one of Showtime’s biggest streaming hits of all time.
“Get Real” might have been the first time Eisenberg and Hathaway appeared on TV, but it would also prove to be pretty much their last — not counting guest-star spots — for several years. The two have only recently returned to the small screen, with Eisenberg starring in “Fleishman Is In Trouble” for FX in 2022 for Eisenberg and Hathaway leading Apple TV’s “WeCrashed” that same year.
And while the two have not appeared on screen together since “Get Real” over 25 years ago, they did reunite for the animated film “Rio” in 2011.
