IN CONVERSATION WITH KALEY CUOCO

interview by JANA LETONJA and MAREK BARTEK

Kaley Cuoco has long been a familiar face on our screens, but with Vanished, she steps into darker territory. Swapping sitcom timing for psychological tension, she leads the MGM+ thriller as Alice — a woman forced to confront how little she may truly know about the person she loves. Set against the sun-drenched backdrops of Marseille and Paris, the series unravels into a sharp, fast-paced exploration of trust, disappearance, and self-discovery. Vanished premiered on 1st February and is now available on MGM+ in the Netherlands.

The show starts as a romantic getaway and then takes a turn and quickly evolves into a thriller. Tell me about the character of Alice, what drew you to it?

You know, it's the type of television I love watching — very thriller-esque. I’m drawn to characters where the world is spinning around them and they have to stay reactive and really present in the moment. When I read the scripts, I truly didn’t know what was going to happen next. There were a lot of fun twists, which I loved. And the fact that it was four episodes made it feel really snappy and tight. And with the backdrop of France — which honestly felt like a whole other character in the show — it was so stunning. That added something really special to the experience. It was just a total pleasure, and I genuinely had fun playing this role.

Alice is forced to reevaluate everything that she thought she knew about her partner. How did you approach portraying this type of betrayal and unravelling of situations?

Yeah, I asked myself that a lot while we were shooting. I kept thinking, wow, what if this actually happened to me? It’s a very real thing. You’re taking a completely normal person and placing them in a crazy, almost insane situation.

I kept imagining being with someone you truly believe is exactly who you think they are, and then they just disappear. I feel like I would stay and want to find out what happened. There’s no way you want to believe the worst — that they chose to leave, or that they’ve been living some kind of double life. I think our brains and our hearts naturally resist those possibilities. So in that sense, it felt very believable to me.

At the same time, it scared me. I’m personally not a great traveler — I get anxious. So I kept thinking about Alice being alone in France, without her person, not knowing anyone. That would be such a frightening situation.

all images courtesy of MGM+

You’ve already mentioned the France — and I think it's very interesting contrast because we usually view France in very idyllic, romantic way, yet you're telling a story that's very dark.

Yeah, I think that’s exactly why the beginning of the show is so beautiful. They’re on this stunning vacation, and they’re both big travellers — that’s part of their lifestyle. They’re used to meeting up in these romantic, sexy locations like Marseille or Paris. So it all feels very idyllic at first.

And then suddenly, something dark happens in that setting. I guess it unlocks some new fears like taking a train somewhere and realising someone could just disappear off a moving train. That’s definitely a new fear unlocked for me.

But I do think France becomes a whole other character in the show. It was so beautifully shot, and the backdrop is almost distractingly idyllic at times. There were moments when it looked so perfect that I kept thinking people might assume it was a set, because it felt almost too beautiful to be real. That contrast between the romance of the location and the darkness of the story makes it even more unsettling.

You are both a lead actor and the producer of the show. How involved were you in shaping the journey of Alice and the overall tone of it?

Honestly, not really at all. This was one of those projects that was pretty much ready to go, which was really nice. Of course, there were conversations about what it was going to be and what it would look like, but it already had a clear shape. I loved our director — he was so easy to collaborate with and work with. And Sam (Claflin) was the same. It felt very fluid and natural. It’s actually rare these days to have a project land on your lap that’s ready to go. It’s harder and harder to get things made, so this felt like a gift. We were able to shoot it, and now it’s airing, so I just felt very grateful for that.

The first time I saw you on television was when I watched Charmed, and the world just fell in love with you as Penny on The Big Bang Theory — but those are more lighthearted, comedy roles. You've tapped into different genres but this feels like the biggest departure from how we all know you as an actor. Why was it important for you to take this leap and really challenge how audience sees you?

There wasn’t a huge conscious decision behind it in terms of choosing something so different. This project just came at the right time. It checked a lot of boxes, especially when it came to the people I wanted to work with. I really fell in love with the director and his son, who wrote it — it was kind of a family affair in a way. Their dream was to shoot in Marseille, which is why it’s set there. That energy and passion were really infectious.

It just felt like the right fit at the right moment. I also have my own little family, so the timing worked out for me to leave and figure that out, which I’d never really had to do before. Everything aligned on this one.

Going back to the story — the series explores the idea that you never really truly know the people that are closest to you. What do you think the show ultimately says about trust and intimacy?

This is obviously an extreme situation. He has a secret that, in his line of work, kind of has to exist. In his mind, he’s doing it for the greater good — he thinks he’s trying to change the world in some way. But unfortunately, people are going to get hurt. I don’t think you can go through life assuming that everyone has some awful secret. That would be a pretty terrible way to live. This is a very specific circumstance, and I definitely don’t live my life like that. But the show does raise that question — do you really know the person you’re with? And I think that’s what makes it eerie.

What do you hope people feel for Alice by the end of the show?

I’ve seen mixed reactions to the ending and to how people feel about it, which I actually think is really cool. I think what you really see is her growth — from the beginning, where she’s just his girlfriend with her head in the clouds, to someone who has her feet firmly on the ground and is making her own decisions.

She starts standing up for herself. She gets into fights. She really tries to hold her ground and find the confidence to go on this journey to look for him and the truth, even knowing that what she might discover could be painful for her. So I hope people see that evolution and feel that strength in her by the end.