While some viewers might not be familiar Jake McLaughlin and Johnny Sequoyah, the stars of the new supernatural show "Believe," film and television fans will no doubt know a couple of the big names behind the scenes — such as Alfonso Cuarón and J.J. Abrams. They're what make the show so special, according to McLaughlin.
"That's the icing on the cake, 'cause those guys, they're unreal," the actor boasted during a Monday morning visit to TODAY.
And it's easy to see what he means. Cuarón, who serves as creator and co-executive producer for "Believe," is the Oscar-winning director from "Gravity." Abrams, the show's other executive producer, is the brains behind "Lost" and "Revolution," and of course, he's the director of the highly successful rebooted "Star Trek" film franchise. Together they seem like an unbeatable duo.
But what about the on-screen duo? Viewers are sure to fall for them and the unique chemistry between their characters.
"So this little one right here," McLaughlin said, gesturing to his young co-star, "(she) was born with special powers. And now that she's 10 years old, her powers have ... come into fruition a little bit more. She's stronger now. And so there's a group of people that are after her, code name Orchestra, that's run by Kyle MacLachlan (Skouras). They want to exploit her for these powers, so Delroy Lindo's character (Winter) brings an unlikely person, myself, out of death row to come help protect her."
And thus an unusual buddy drama with a fantasy twist is born — one that has Sequoyah thrilled.
"I'm very excited about it," said the girl who got her acting start when her parents decided to put her in a film they were working on rather than send her to summer camp.
"Can we send her to summer camp now?" McLaughlin joked.
Get to know the pair even better when the series premiere of "Believe" airs Monday night at 10 p.m. on NBC.