Colin Hanks has long proven that he is more than just Tom Hanks’ son and the equally talented actor looks unrecognizable in trailer for Peacock’s Crime Thriller A Friend of the Family. The series is based on true story of the abduction and abuse of Jan Broberg from the ages of 12-16 wherein Colin Hanks plays family patriarch Bob Broberg. It is a harrowing tale of how obsessive family friend Robert Berchtold (Jake Lacy) manipulated the Broberg family to take his daughter, Jan, convincing her into believing she was an alien hybrid on a perverse mission to save a faraway planet. Jan Broberg serves as a producer on the show, alongside her mother. In a stunning statement, Broberg wrote:

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What is perhaps even more stunning, in due course, both of Jan’s parents had sexual relationships with Berchtold.

“In 1972, her family met “the nicest new family at church,” and a years-long friendship ensued. Then on a normal afternoon, the father kidnapped me — and from age 12 to 16 I was sexually assaulted and severely brainwashed by this man who I trusted."

The trailer shows Bob sensing there is something wrong with his neighbor’s relationship with his wife, Mary Ann (Anna Paquin) and his daughter, Jan, who, from her younger days is portrayed by Hendrix Yancey, to her teenage years (McKenna Grace). Soon, federal agents arrive at the Broberg’s home to interrogate them about their relationship with Berchtold. Mary Ann tells them,

Agent Pete Welsh (Austin Stowell) replies:

“He’s practically a member of the family.”

Jan Broberg Hopes Her Dark Story Will Help Raise Awareness of These Types of Abuse

     Erika Doss/Peacock

Members of the same congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Berchtold became a fixture in the Brobergs’ home, spending lots of time with parents Mary Ann and Bob as well as their daughters Jan, Karen and Susan. Jan Broberg does not blame her mother Mary Ann, 81, or father, Bob, who died in 2021. In fact, she’s been very vocal about viewing them as victims as well, calling Berchtold “a master manipulator who said and did all the right things, “getting everyone wrapped around his little finger.”

“No one thinks that their best friend is a monster. But he has all the hallmarks of a psychopathic personality.”

Showrunner Nick Antosca called it a “wrenching, complicated story to work on” and thanked the entire Broberg family, and Jan in particular, for their openness throughout the process. Robert Berchtold died by suicide in 2005 and eventually served a year behind bars for the rape of a child, in an unrelated case.

A Friend of the Family premieres on Oct. 6 on Peacock.