NEW YORK — The rise and fall of WeWork is the subject of a new series called “WeCrashed,” starring Jared Leto, Anne Hathaway, and Kyle Marvin. Leto and Hathaway play Adam and Rebekah Newmann, the couple at the center of the shared workspace empire in New York City.

Leto, who plays Adam Newmann, said the series is not a take-down piece about the couple or company but an examination of the couple’s humanity.

"They have an enviable relationship, you know, loyalty, love, family, there's a lot to admire there,” said Leto. “They were partners in this wild journey, the building a company from absolutely nothing to a $47 billion empire. It's not just the takedown piece, you know. We were really looking at examining the humanity of both these characters. And I think that that makes a richer story and a more fulfilling experience, not just for me, but for for the audiences too.”

Hathaway said it was important to her not to demonize the characters they play.

“They're human beings. And I've spent a lot of time thinking about this. I've done a lot of research into this. And you know, I can't speak to the entire story. But I can tell you that from my character's perspective, I think she had really good intentions,” Hathaway said. "I think she meant everything she said. And I think that there's a real, there's real sadness in wanting something having such big ambitions to do good, and to fall short of that. So I really felt for her and in that sense, and then I also just feel at the end of the day, they're human beings, and nobody's better than anybody else. And our job was not to judge anybody. It was to understand and try to portray truthfully the conditions, you know, our best understanding of what the conditions are, that could have led someone to do some of the things they did.”

Miguel McKelvey and Adam Newmann co-founded WeWork in Soho in 2010. By 2016, the company was called a unicorn – a startup company valued at more than $1 billion.

Kyle Marvin, who plays McKelvey, said the entire cast wanted to tell a story beyond success and failure.

“The interesting thing is like what's going on with human beings in between, they're really clear black and white sort of headlines, there's all this gray area of emotion and challenge and sort of suffering and joy,” said Marvin. 

The series “WeCrashed” shows how Newmann’s lavish lifestyle and extravagant work parties led to his demise as C.E.O. Leto said he wanted to understand everything about Newmann to portray him.

“You become a detective of sorts, writer, you know, part-time journalist, I guess. I have an insatiable appetite to understand these people that I'm playing. So, you know, I want to know, you know, which hand they use the brush their teeth, I want to know what their favorite foods are, I want to know everything I can about them. No detail's too small. And, in this case, it was really interesting, because the story is so new and so fresh. And these people are just remarkable characters,” said Leto. 

Hathaway said her interest went beyond the character she plays.

”One of the things that really fascinated me was this whole idea of fake it 'til you make it,” Hathaway said. “And how when someone does that, and in times in my own life when I've done that, and it goes well, it's seen as something to be applauded, but when it goes badly, then it's questioned. And, you know, this is New York, there's a lot of people here doing that very thing. So I'm just very interested in that.”