Blossom (Paramount Plus Original Series)

Blossom is a musical, fantasy, comedy, family television miniseries produced and directed by John Krasinski for the streaming service Paramount+. It is a spin-off of the 2024 film, IF, which focused on a 12-year-old girl named Bea forming an uneasy alliance with her reluctant neighbor to reunite a cast of Imaginary Friends with the kids that have left them behind after growing up. The series itself focuses on Blossom, one of the film's characters, who was voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Waller-Bridge reprises her role as Blossom in the series, with Ewan McGregor, Emilia Jones, Hayley Atwell, Naomi Watts, Emma Thompson, Hannah Waddingham, Mark Hamill, Andy Serkis, David Thewlis, Henry Cavill, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ian McKellen, Tom Hiddleston, Emily Watson and Helena Bonham Carter joining the cast. Fiona Shaw, Ryan Reynolds and Steve Carell also appear in the show, reprising their roles as Margaret, Cal and Blue, respectively. The show will have a run of 8 episodes and will premiere on December 24, 2025.
== Premise ==
Several months after Bea helped her reunite with her kid, Blossom (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), the lovable and kind-hearted IF of Bea's grandmother, has returned for a marvelous new adventure in the amazing magical world of imagination and real-life. And she...has absolutely no idea what to do next. It is 8 days before Christmas, and Blossom is trying to figure out what plans she might have for the holidays. She has spent over 6 decades finding a new kid, or at the very least, trying to get her old kid to remember her, that she hasn't really thought of what she is going to do when she got her friend. And now that she's been reunited with Margaret, Blossom doesn't know what to do next or what will happen next. At the suggestion of Margaret and two of Blossom's other friends, Cal and Blue, Blossom takes a little stroll through New York City to clear her head. But when she arrives at the subway, Blossom accidentally steps onto the Imagination Express, a special train built to take IFs to a desired location...and the train has taken her to her birthtown, London, England. Blossom believes the train brought her here for a reason, which comes easily answered when she drinks a special herbal tea that alters her physical form, making her all too real, figuratively and literally, and crosses paths with Oliver Townsley (Ewan McGregor), who mentions that his daughter, Madaline, is preparing herself for her performance as the main character of the classic Christmas ballet, The Nutcracker, which is also Blossom's favorite play. Seeing that Oliver can't get anywhere near her daughter, due to a restraining order filed out by his disillusioned ex-wife, Winifred, Blossom volunteers to help Madeline prepare for her performance, and potentially reunite Oliver with his former mistress. In a magical and spectacular adventure full of amazing songs and daring twists and turns, Blossom will meet an amazing cast of brand new characters, real people and IFs alike, and forge new relationships that will help her find that helping others in need might be the purpose she is looking for...and will change her life as an Imaginary Friend forever.
== Cast ==
* Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Blossom, an elegant, mild-mannered, polite, sophisticated anthropomorphic rubber-hose-styled cartoon butterfly who has a big love for dancing and ballet and was the Imaginary Friend of Margaret. She is currently trying to figure out her place in the world following the events of IF.
* Ewan McGregor as Oliver Townsley, a troubled and depressed man who forms an uneasy partnership with Blossom after encountering her in a local diner in London. Oliver was resigned to a miserable life in a disgusting, low-rent apartment in the lower slums of London following his divorce and the loss of his job and people's trust in him after he resorted to petty theft for a Christmas bonus over 15 years prior. His first meeting with Blossom gives him hope that his spirits, and the way he lives, will be risen up.
* Emilia Jones as Madaline Townsley, a ballet dancer-in-training who is Oliver and Winifred's daughter. She has difficulty trying to focus on her practice as she is too busy thinking about her father and how he must be living...and especially the pressure her current dance instructor is giving her. That changes when Blossom agrees to be her new dancing mentor, and starts displaying a more kinder teaching method towards her.
* Hayley Atwell as Sally Roberts, Oliver's closest and bestest friend. Sally is the only one that stuck by Oliver's side following his divorce and restriction of contact with his family. She is even supportive of Oliver's decision to have Blossom prepare his daughter for the play, even if she believes Blossom to be an extraterrestrial life-form and not an Imaginary Friend. 
* Naomi Watts as Winifred Townsley, an overworked businesswoman who is Oliver's ex-wife and Madaline's mother. Winifred divorced from Oliver because he was arrested for stealing $300 from his greedy boss to pay for Christmas resources, and was threatened by her own brother into filing a restraining order against him. Despite her disappointment, Winifred still cares for Oliver a bit, but doesn't show any trust towards him right now.
* Emma Thompson as Minerva Dolores Robbington, a strict, cruel, cold-hearted dancing teacher who is Madaline's current ballet instructor. Minerva is the kind of person who expects every one of her students to be the most perfect and flawless dancers in the world, and will go to any resort to make them that way, no matter how harsh she has to be to do it. She constantly berates Madaline for her inability to progress, not realizing her own soul-crushing teachings are the real problem. She is also majorly disliked by Blossom, mostly because Minerva's mother, Deliah Robbington, was Margaret's dance instructor when she was a kid...and Deliah was a sweetheart, which Blossom never had a problem with, but Minerva is determined to be better than her mother, which Blossom absolutely does have a problem with, since Minerva's harsh teachings are an insult to her mother's memory.
* Hannah Waddingham as Victoria, an anthropomorphic dancing swan who was the Imaginary Friend of Eleanor, and is a frequent rival of Blossom's. Victoria is the opposite of Blossom in personality. While Blossom is kind-hearted, polite and sweet, Victoria is rather rude, mean-spirited, brash, prideful and obnoxious, though she means well and can be nice sometimes. Victoria is living proof that not all IFs are good, and that there are some IFs that are created from the minds of those with hearts of meanness...or worse, evil.
* Mark Hamill as William Tarrot, the very talented and very proud theater director of the Nutcracker at the Royal Opera House.
* Andy Serkis as SiuMai, the strange cryptic salesman that gave Oliver the RealiTea, the strange herbal drink that altered Blossom's physical form when she herself drank it.
* David Thewlis as Collin Charles, a doctor who is Sally Roberts' husband. He knows that Blossom is an IF, but doesn't tell because he likes to "keep people guessing".
*Henry Cavill as Lionel, a smartly-dressed anthropomorphic lion who was the Imaginary Friend of Collin. Like his former kid, Lionel is a highly-skilled medical professional, and is really enthusiastic about history.
*Benedict Cumberbatch as Theodore Simmons, an attorney who represents Winifred. He doesn't believe Collin to be capable of any malicious intent, but still has to make sure he doesn't cause trouble regardless.
*Tom Hiddleston as Montague Ramsley, a callous and egocentric aristocrat who is Winifred's older brother. Montague treats himself as superior due to his huge wealth, power and leverage over London's legal system. He harbors a major dislike towards Oliver, but is more crueler towards his own sister.
*Emily Watson as Masque, a white-dressed, dark-skinned woman in a double-sided theater mask who is the Imaginary Friend of William Tarrot. Masque shares Tarrot's love for theater and music. She also has a case of split personality disorder, due to her double-sided mask, thus having an extra face on the back of her head. When Masque wears her happy theater on her first face, she is happy, joyful, energenic and peppy. But when she turns her head to her second face and wears the sad theater mask on that face, she becomes a dramatic, crying, blubbering mess who makes a big deal about everything.
*Helena Bonham Carter as Eleanor Watson, a retired ballet dancer who was a former rival of Margaret's. At a young age, Eleanor was bratty and prideful and determined to prove herself as a superior dancer. But as she grew up, she became more nicer and grew out of her mean-spirited phase. She is now the manager of the Royal Opera House. 
*Fiona Shaw as Margaret, Bea's grandmother and Blossom's former kid who reunited with her with help from Bea.
*Ryan Reynolds as Cal, a carnival performer who is Bea's next-door neighbor and also her IF.
*Steve Carell as Blue, a giant, purple, friendly, kid-like monster who was Jeremy's IF.
== Trivia ==
* This TV series will serve as a potential stepping stone to IF earning a franchise.
* Mark Hamill, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Ryan Reynolds, Steve Carell, Benedict Cumberbatch, Helena Bonham Carter, Tom Hiddleston, Andy Serkis, Hayley Atwell and Ewan McGregor all previously played roles in movies developed by Disney.
* The series will dive deeper into Blossom's backstory and what she went through in the time her kid forgot about her and before she met Cal, Blue and Bea.
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Category:Spin-Offs
Category:Christmas
Category:TV Series
Category:Live-Action