“Mare of Easttown” writer Brad Ingelsby already has made amends with the fact that he’s going betray his fellow Villanova Wildcats on Friday.
He doesn’t apologize for it either.
He’s pledged his loyalty to his big brother, Martin Ingelsby, head coach of the men’s basketball team at the University of Delaware.
The No. 2 ranked Wildcats are going to face the No. 15 ranked Blue Hens in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Pittsburgh at PPG Paints Arena.
“It’s a bittersweet game because I went to Villanova, my dad went to Villanova, my sister Chrissi and my brother Tommy. We have a long history with Villanova,” Brad, 41, a native of Berwyn, Pennsylvania, who now lives in California, told Delaware Online / The News Journal.
“I’m just so excited for the kids of Delaware to get to play against a program like Villanova, which has national championships, on a huge stage like this.”
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The “Mare” writer said his father played basketball at Villanova and used to coach him and Martin at Archbishop John Carroll High School in Radnor, Pennsylvania.
Martin, 43, has fond memories of playing basketball with his little brother.
“He used to foul the heck out of me when we played 1 on 1 in the driveway. He always knew how to get under my skin,” the Blue Hens coach said.
“I felt like I was I was making him a tougher, more resilient player,” the “Mare” writer said of Martin, with a laugh. “And maybe, perhaps, I wanted to win the game a little, too.”
Unless he’s spending time with his children, Brad said he watches all of his brother’s basketball games, which often keep him on the edge of his seat.
And that has gives Brad a little taste of his own medicine, because the writer left audiences hanging, wondering whether his Delco-based crime thriller will return for a second season on HBO.
“The door’s certainly not closed,” he said about the Emmy-winning series starring Kate Winslet (Marianne “Mare” Sheehan) as a detective in a Philly suburb who’s tasked with solving a cold case involving the murder of a teen mom.
“I think what Kate and I have always said to each other is if we had a great story that we felt honored the first season, expanded it in a way that felt like it was necessary, then we would do it,” he said.
The tricky issue, Brad explained, is the character Mare already has experienced a lot of trauma, which includes losing her son to suicide. Then you throw in the fact that a teenager was murdered.
Trying to create a second season that feels compelling, but believable, is a big challenge.
“God, this woman went through so much in season one. lf we just came back and said, ‘Oh, her daughter died and someone killed her,’ it would just seem like it wouldn’t be honoring what the show was, which was a very honest and grounded story,” Brad said.
But more importantly, “How does it change Mare’s life?” he asked. “That’s the trickier part that we have to come up with.”
Devil’s in the details
“Mare of Easttown” featured lots of Delco Easter eggs such as references to Wawa, hoagies, Cheez Wiz and Rolling Rock.
“I was so glad that people appreciated that because it was so important to all of us, especially, Kate, to get the details.”
She was the one that was captaining that effort and wanted to “do the [Philly] accent and wanted to wear the T-shirts and wanted to wear Ocean City sweatshirts,” the writer said.
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“As we all know, it starts from the top. If Kate’s doing the work, everyone else is gonna do the work. And so I credit Kate for going all in on the details.”
The show won numerous awards and has been nominated for even more.
Most recently “Mare of Easttown” was nominated for four Critics Choice Awards, and won two on Sunday for Best Limited Series, and Best Actress in a Limited Series (Kate Winslet).
Early in the series Brad tried to avoid reading news articles about the show. But eventually it got to the point where he couldn’t block out the news.
He didn’t realize “Mare” was doing great until it was parodied by “Saturday Night Live” in a skit titled “Murdur Durdur,” which pokes fun at the Philly accent.
Watch Saturday Night Live Highlight: Murdur Durdur – NBC.com
“I remember going out to dinner and people were texting me,” Brad explained about the “SNL” skit. “I didn’t even see it until much later that night. Then we kind of thought, ‘Oh my God, people are really watching this thing. Because at that time, we were still working on the show.”
Looking ahead, Brad said he’s under contract with HBO to pitch other TV projects. Both sides have talked about a couple of things, he said, but nothing is set in stone. He’s also still interested in working in film and is currently writing one.
Despite the success of “Mare,” Brad said nothing is guaranteed in his business. So he’s thankful anytime he can work on a new project.
‘Heck out of this one’
His Blue Hen-coaching brother Martin said Brad’s humility is one of his favorite qualities about him. “He’s a down-to-earth guy who loves his family and spending time with them,” Martin said.
“The best quality about Brad is that he is a great friend. He will do anything for you and is always there in good times and bad.”
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That includes cheering against his fellow Wildcats in hopes that his little brother can coach the Blue Hens to victory over them on Friday.
Watching Selection Sunday and seeing Martin team made it into March Madness was special to Brad.
“I felt pride that Mart had taken a team and done what every coach dreams of doing, which is, being the coach of the team that gets to hear their name announced on Selection Sunday,” he said.
“I hope they do it many more times. But we’re gonna enjoy the heck out of this one.”
The Blue Hens will play the Villanova Wildcats at 2:45 p.m., Friday on CBS. For more info, visit cbsnews.com.
‘Mare of Easttown’ is streamed at hbo.com, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube TV.
Andre Lamar is the features/lifestyle reporter. If you have an interesting story idea, email Andre Lamar at alamar@gannett.com
