James Lafferty Explores Fame & Male Friendship in ‘Everyone Is Doing Great': 'We Wanted This to Be Like 'Girls' for Guys' (Exclusive)

More than a decade after first developing the idea, James Lafferty is finally seeing his passion project, Everyone Is Doing Great, reach its biggest audience yet.

The independently made comedy-drama, which the California native 40, created alongside longtime friend and One Tree Hill costar Stephen Colletti, recently found a new home on Netflix after years of self-financing, producing, and navigating an ever-changing television landscape. "This whole thing started with a pilot episode, self-financed by our team back in the spring of 2017," Lafferty exclusively tells Men's Journal. "Since then, we funded a first season and got that out, then came back to the independent model for Season 2."

Getting there took far longer than they expected - especially between shifts in streaming platforms and the realities of marketing an indie series in an oversaturated industry. There were moments when the future of the project felt uncertain, but Lafferty says that didn't deter them from pushing forward. "We just hung out at the train station until our train came," Lafferty says. "We didn't rely completely on timing, we didn't rely completely on hard work, we didn't rely completely on luck - it was a combination."

The series, which stars both Lafferty and Colletti, 40, as former teen TV actors navigating adulthood, identity, friendship, and fading fame in Hollywood, pulls heavily from the pair's own experiences. "The show has been our kind of therapy," Lafferty says with a laugh. "We've seen a lot of outrageous things in this industry. A lot of times, the truth is stranger than fiction."

But behind Hollywood satire and self-awareness, Lafferty says Everyone Is Doing Great is ultimately about friendship, masculinity, and just figuring your s--t out. "We wanted this to be like Girls for guys," he tells MJ. "We wanted to take the raw honesty and heart of Girls and put it against the backdrop of Hollywood."

Lafferty says he hopes the series resonates with male viewers navigating uncertainty in adulthood and relationships. "I think the next leap for the show is getting it in front of a male audience so they can see that it is a show about male friendship," he says. "One of our favorite reviews called it a ‘stealth exploration of male friendship.'"

That emotional depth has become even more meaningful as both Lafferty and Colletti have entered new phases of life off-screen as first-time fathers. Lafferty welcomed son River with wife and Everyone Is Doing Great costar Alexandra Park in December 2025, while Colletti and wife Alex Weaver recently welcomed their son, Rhodes, in May 2026. "This show being on Netflix is the most amazing thing that's happened to us professionally," he says. "But nothing professionally can compare to the new little guys in our lives."

The process of making Everyone Is Doing Great also pushed Lafferty beyond acting. While many fans still know him best from the teen drama One Tree Hill, he says directing and producing now excite him in ways acting once did earlier in his career. "At this point in my life, I'm more excited about being behind the camera," he says. "I feel like I'm just getting started as a filmmaker."

Lafferty admits there was an adjustment period transitioning from actor to director and producer, especially stepping onto sets where he had to earn trust in a very different role. "The answer is just putting your head down and doing a good job," he says.

Now, after years of persistence (and patience), the show is finally finding a larger audience through Netflix, which Lafferty finds surreal. "It's a dream come true," he says. "It's the biggest audience in the world. And it's really cool that the biggest streamer is looking our way as a little independent TV show."

As for whether there's more story left to tell, he says the team is already thinking ahead. "We're already breaking story," he reveals of a potential third season. "The show's performance on Netflix is going to be the biggest indicator of whether or not we can come back."

In the meantime, Lafferty is encouraging viewers to support the series however they can - including through Netflix's rating system. "Apparently hitting that double thumbs up on Netflix is a huge deal," he says. "People really have the power to help determine our future here."

Everyone Is Doing Great is now streaming on Netflix.

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This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 12:23 PM.