Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Little House on the Prairie, which is currently streaming on Netflix.
‘Palm Royale’ star Crosby Fitzgerald watched a lot of streamer ‘American Primeval’ before he was cast, and vowed to ’embody’ the role of Caroline ‘Mar’ Ingalls in Netflix’s new ‘Little House on the Prairie.’
“Ever since that era, I just wanted to be in a production like that, and really the next day I got an email about Little House on the Prairie,” Fitzgerald told Variety.
The “Crime 101” actress has been auditioning continuously and mostly babysitting for the past 10 years, but says she initially wasn’t sure if she could embody Ma’s “proper woman” vibe. However, after reading creator Rebecca Sonnenshein’s script, Fitzgerald realized, “This is not a metaphorical story from the 1800s,” and threw his all into the role.
“I think Caroline Ingalls is Ma. A lot of people understand her as this type of person,” Fitzgerald says. “And the approach they took in the script was so great, it’s a marriage of equals.”
Based on the novel “Little House” by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Netflix’s “Little House on the Prairie” reboot follows Caroline and Charles Ingalls (Luke Bracey) and their daughters Laura (Alice Halsey) and Mary (Skywalker Hughes) as they move from their home in the “Big Woods” of Wisconsin to start a new life in the Kansas frontier.
“It’s very risky, and our story is that it’s a risk that Charles is willing to take,” Fitzgerald says. “I think back then, it was something you did with a lot of people, a lot of families. It’s really rare to go alone, especially with two young daughters. And I think her fear reflects that. Why do we do this alone? Why not wait for the family? Ultimately… , they have to do that because of what’s going on at home. From my perspective, there’s a part of them that needed a push on their backs to take this really risky move, and being with their extended family makes them feel like maybe it’s time to go their own way.”
Early in the first season of Netflix’s Little House on the Prairie, a pregnant Caroline questions Charles’ choices and insists that he has the right to take them back to Wisconsin if he won’t be honest about his finances and the realities of life on the prairie.
“Charles married her because he thinks he respects her opinion, and I think she married him because he respects her opinion,” Fitzgerald says. “Her goal throughout the show is to keep her kids safe, so she’ll do it at any cost. If that means telling her husband he’s an idiot, that’s what it means. In that moment, it’s hard for her to put her feelings into words and keep her kids safe.” I don’t think it was difficult for her to think that she would do whatever it took. She had a tumultuous life and she didn’t want that to happen to her children. I don’t think it was really difficult for her to stand up to her husband.”
By the season 1 finale, the entire Ingalls family, including newborn baby Grace, had just settled into their lives in Independence, Kansas, until a devastating fire destroyed their crops and forced them to move elsewhere. This time, they head to Plum Creek, which viewers remember as the main setting for NBC’s iconic Little House on the Prairie series from the ’70s and ’80s. This is where the Ingall family builds their new home and where Laura’s coming-of-age story truly begins.
At the time of this interview, Fitzgerald was on set for Season 2 of Little House with his on-screen family and newly added cast members, including Willa Dunn, who plays the iconic villain Nellie Olson.
“I think people are going to love Nellie Olson the same way they loved Nellie Olson back in the day,” Fitzgerald says. “And similarly, I think this second season, which we’re currently filming, has all the main elements that we loved about the ‘On the Banks of Plum Creek’ books, plus some fun additions to the story that I don’t think people will like as much.
“But listen, there are cows,” Fitzgerald continues. “I get to spend every day with cows and baby cows. So that’s what I’m focused on.”
