Britten family
The Brittens are a family of fictional characters featured in the American television police procedural fantasy drama Awake. The Brittens are a nuclear family consisting of the married couple Michael and Hannah and their child son Rex. The family was involved in a car crash, which caused Michael, to live in two separate realities, one in which his wife Hannah was killed in the crash, and in the other his son Rex was killed.
The main characters reside in Los Angeles, California, in the United States, and were created by series executive producer and writer Kyle Killen, who conceived the idea after creating and developing Lone Star for the Fox network. The portrayal of the Britten family was praised by television critics. Alongside the three main family members, several other characters were mentioned.
Main family
The Brittens are a family who live in Los Angeles, California, in the United States, at an unknown address. Michael, the father, works at the Los Angeles Police Department as a police detective, alongside his partner Isaiah Freeman, who he calls Bird. After a car crash, Michael, the father, has to live in two separate realities, one in which his wife Hannah was killed in the crash, and in the other his son Rex was the one killed. Also, in one reality, his now works with a new rookie partner Efrem Vega, where Isaiah goes to work in the Western Division with Ed Hawkins. In the other reality, he is still partnered with Bird. He sees two separate therapists: Dr. John Lee in one reality, and Dr. Judith Evans in the other. Michael is married to Hannah, an American housewife and mother. They have one son child: Rex, a school teenager who is very emotional, rude, and gets low grades after Hannah's death in that reality. His best friend is Cole, whom he works on a motorbike with. The family owns a Chevrolet as a vehicle.Creation
Killen conceived of the idea for the Brittens after creating and developing Lone Star for the Fox network. NBC had encouraged Killen to conceive a concept for a future television series after Lone Star cancellation. Within a few weeks, Killen sent a rough draft of the script to his agent Marc Korman. "It was 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning, and I remember I was so freaked out by the script that I went upstairs to our guest bedroom where my wife was sick with the flu and I got into bed with her," recalled Korman. "I called Jen and said: 'I'm telling you, this script is remarkable. I've never read a pilot like this, and for a guy who has never written a procedural show in his life, he's actually making two cases work". Initially, Salke and Korman looked to sell acquisition rights to Fox.The Britten family debuted on March 1, 2012, in "Pilot", on the American police procedural drama television series Awake, which is a one-hour series broadcast on NBC. They last appeared on television on the same network, on May 24, 2012, in "Turtles All the Way Down".
Casting
In February 2011, Jason Isaacs obtained the role of Michael Britten, the central character of the series. Gordon summated the premise of the character: "He's a guy who goes to sleep, wakes up, he’s with his wife, goes to sleep, wakes up, and he's with his son. And so — and he's a cop who sees clues and details that crossover from one world to the next, and he uses that insight to solve crimes." Killen thought that the premise behind the series would be relatable to audiences, making it easier to broader his fanbase. "I think there were aspects of Lone Star that were more difficult to get a wider, broader audience interested in," he articulated. " was somebody that you couldn’t decide if you liked or hated, and I think that Britten's dilemma is something that we’re not only sympathetic for, but somehow we want him to win." The succeeding month, Laura Allen was approached by producers to play Hannah Britten. Michaela McManus initially received the role, but was later given the role of Tara, whom Allen originally auditioned to play.In March 2011, Dylan Minnette was cast as Rex Britten. Minnette commended the episode's script, and noted the auditioning sequence was fast. He stated, "The process of getting the job actually went by really fast because the first audition Kyle Killen was in the room, Jason was in the room, the cast director was in the room and the director was in the room. David Slade. And they were all there, for the first audition and I was like 'Wow! Okay.'" Minnette received the role two weeks after his audition.