Panic – a new series now streaming on Amazon Prime Video is guaranteed to make you squirm! 

Panic is based on the best selling young adult book of the same name written by Lauren Oliver. It centers around a group of teens, each with their own set of personal problems. Every summer, a small Texas town has a tradition. The graduating seniors compete in a series of challenges in the game of Panic. Panic, they believe, is their only chance to escape their circumstances and make their lives better. The stunts are so dangerous the teenagers are basically risking their lives to compete for the cash prize.

Lauren Oliver also wrote and developed the series for Amazon. In doing so, she worked with her stunt team to adapt the Panic challenges to the screen. And in some cases, the stunt department made the challenges more dangerous than she had originally written. Oliver says the inspiration for Panic came from  stunts her sister’s friends pulled when they were in high school.

Stars Olivia Welch and Jessica Sula who plays best friends and game players, say the games represent the danger teenagers feel as they enter adulthood.

Welch stars as,  Heather Nill a seemingly good girl who enters the Panic game at the last minute when she loses her savings for college. Heather had previously tried to talk her friends out of competing, so her entry represents a drastic change of heart.

The 23-year-old Welch, who graduated high school in 2016, says she still relates to that post-grad feeling with which Heather is coping. “The fears of not knowing what you’re going to do next and who you really are — those are things that never really go away.” 

Those fears turn into reality when Panic challenges Heather and friends to jump off a cliff into a lake, or walk a balance beam over 100 feet above ground. In the story, past competitors have died attempting Panic challenges.

Co-star Jessica Sula is quick to admit that Stunt men and women performed the most dangerous challenges. For close-ups, the stars performed much safer versions.  Both girls also admit that what they do in the series is something they would NEVER attempt in real life. And they strongly point out that none of what people watch on this show should ever be tried at home! 

Welch says she understands how anxiety and depression are two emotions with which her character Heather is coping. And she strongly urges anyone who is feeling low must seek professional help. 

Our Bonnie Laufer spoke with stars Olivia Welch and Jessica Sula about their addictive new series now streaming on Amazon Prime.