NEED TO KNOW
Adam Scott is opening up about his family and his first big purchase in an upcoming docuseries and film.
Scott has partnered with Volvo Cars for The Family Car: An American Love Story, the Severance actor exclusively revealed to PEOPLE. Premiering Nov. 7 on Fire TV, Amazon.com and YouTube, the four-episode docuseries directed by Emmy-winner Chris Wilcha (Flipside) and shot by Igor Martinović (House of Cards), follows four artists, including Scott, as they share their family stories while traveling through different corners of the country.
The four-part series, developed in part with Amazon Ads Brand Innovation Lab, will be followed by a feature film of the same name that weaves together the entire docuseries and streams on Prime Video on Dec. 12.
“The first new car I ever got was a Volvo,” Scott, 52, tells PEOPLE of fulfilling a childhood dream with his first big Hollywood paycheck after getting hired for 2002’s ABC series The Court, starring Sally Field. “I grew up living vicariously through movies — a lot of people do — and always saw the Volvo as this sign of intellectual sophistication and a certain kind of brainy success as a kid.”
“It was the S60,” Scott recalls. “I leased it, and whatever it was that I put down was the biggest check I’d written. I really kind of sweated my way through it. And then right after I made the biggest purchase of my life, I promptly got fired from the job.”
Volvo Cars
ABC went on to make the one-season show with Field and a different cast. “The first version had Brian Cox and Billy Burke in it,” he says. “We went to D.C. and shot it. It was really fun. Sally Field was terrific. She was so cool.”
“But I was happy to be left with this car, and the car kind of made me feel great,” Scott says. “We were fired so last minute that they had to pay us for the whole season. I think that’s what happened. So I was able to float my fancy new car for a while.”
Scott briefly recounts the story of buying his first car in his episode, out Dec. 5.
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The other three episodes will feature the following:
Gus Powell (Photographer): Nov. 7Jah Landis (Music Producer): Nov. 14Erin French (Chef & Author): Nov. 21
“These are real stories from real Volvo owners about the experiences that matter most,” says Janique Helson, Head of Brand Marketing, Content & Creative Services at Volvo Car USA. “We’re proud to share them through our partnership with Amazon Ads.”
Volvo Cars
For Scott, it’s the perfect partnership, as Volvo’s been a part of his life through various milestones, including his first car and a big drive across the country with a friend. It’s also how he and his wife Naomi, 44, brought both of their children — Graham, 19, and Frankie, 16 — home from the hospital. (Even his Severance character, Mark Scout, drives a ’90s Volvo—something Scott says” was just a coincidence.”)
It’s also the vehicle he’s planning to give to his daughter Frankie, who’s also featured in the docuseries and film alongside her dad, once she starts driving. In his episode, the Parks and Recreation star admits that his youngest getting behind the wheel on her own is a bit “terrifying” for him.
“She’s a really good parallel parker, which is bizarre. That took me years to perfect,” Scott says of Frankie, who’s preparing to get her license in January. “It’s nerve-racking to have your kid driving, and it’ll be frightening the day she just drives away when she gets her license. But she’s a responsible driver.”
Volvo Cars
A lot of his concern comes from the use of electronic devices on the road.
“The one thing that I, and I’m sure most parents, worry about right now is phones,” the father of two says. “Just this morning, I was driving her to school, and there’s someone in front of us, clearly on their phone, swerving into oncoming traffic. People cannot put their phones down.”
“As a parent, that’s the number one worry and the number one thing we won’t shut up about: You cannot look at your phone while you’re driving.”
Looking back on the project, Scott says the best part of the partnership was “getting to spend time with Frankie at work,” since it will soon be tough to have as much father-daughter time once she’s out in the world driving.
Volvo Cars
“Now, we have this memento of us together, and I just love it,” he says. “It’s really moving for me to watch.”
The Family Car: An American Love Story will be available to stream starting Nov. 7. You can watch a teaser for the series below.
