Apple TV’s ‘Me’ Inspired by Ann Arbor Writer’s Time at Greenhills

ANN ARBOR, MI — Barry Levy felt uneasy when he stepped into Ann Arbor.

Levy moved from Boston to Greenhills School as a high school student in the late 1980s. He described himself at the time as short, exceptionally overweight, with acne on his face and a heavy accent.

“That was just the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “Learning to acclimatize and find myself was a challenge.”

More than three decades later, Levy is a gifted Hollywood screenwriter best known for the 2008 film “Vantage Point.” His latest work is the streaming show “Me” on Apple TV+, a coming-of-age show inspired by his time at Greenhills and being one of its longest-tenured teachers.

The show follows a high school student named Ben as he adjusts to a blended family, bullies, crushes, and school dances, all while realizing he has superpowers. While Levy can’t fly or shoot lightning from his hands, his real-life teenage struggles are in the show’s DNA.

“We were basically telling the story of moving, the fish out of water and the isolation,” Levy said, adding that one scene shows the main character struggling to eat in the cafeteria because of the anxiety of a new place.

Trailer shared with permission.

Born in Newton, just outside Boston, Levy moved to Ann Arbor when he was in ninth grade and quickly became aware of his family’s Boston accent.

“I remember the first month I moved there, a friend called me from the neighborhood in Ann Arbor, and my mom picked up the phone, hung it up and said, ‘Barry, it’s for you,’” Levy said, sounding a bit like Ben Affleck from “Good Will Hunting.”

“When I answered the phone, (my friend) was crying with laughter,” Levy said.

Levy enrolled in the private Greenhills School and the class of 42 students, where he says you either find your people or you don’t. The classes were intimidating, too, he said, especially the college-level textbooks, even as a ninth-grader.

Bruce Zellers, a fixture at the school for 41 years, taught one of those classes. The class combined English and history, but it really threw Levy into the fire of learning and writing.

“It was learning to write, because writing in his class wouldn’t be enough if I just tried to lean into what I was comfortable with,” Levy said. “He challenged us in his own way to find those answers with him.”

Zellers remembers Levy as a demanding, sophisticated student with a lot of ambition and desire. Now he is primarily an administrator in the school’s admissions office, and Zellers believes that the most important role of a teacher is to harness the positive qualities he sees in students.

“We’re kind of inspiring,” Levy said. “We’re trying to be challenging and thoughtful and trying to push students forward in their thinking. That’s always been my hope for my students in my classroom.”

Levy remembers Zellers and his brown beard, and also his consistent wardrobe of a jacket and tie. Consistency is the word Levy associates with Zellers and why Levy got along so well with him.

“Mr. Zellers is going to tolerate this, he’s not going to tolerate that,” Levy recalls students telling each other. “Mr. Zellers is going to play his A-game. We need to play our A-game. Mr. Zellers is going to be passionate and share answers with you, and you need to pay attention because those answers are going to be priceless.”

Levy tried to apply that consistency to the adult characters in Zellers-inspired “Me.” Media is full of mentor characters from “Dead Poets Society” to “Superman” because it’s important to highlight the people who help us become who we are, Levy said.

“He’s a trainer, a coach, someone who brings leadership,” Levy said.

Levy said he found his niche in high school in the 10th grade, eventually attending Washington University in St. Louis and the prestigious film school at the University of Southern California.

Levy stayed in touch with Zellers over the years, but said he still called his mentor “Mr. Zellers” well into his 40s. He met Zellers on a trip to Ann Arbor and realized from the conversation that he was no longer the angsty Boston teen.

“It was this realization that (Zellers) no longer saw me as a student, but as an adult,” Levy said, “and yet there was a kind of deep care and concern.”

Zellers is flattered to be portrayed in part in a show. Although he thought Levy would become a lawyer, he is happy to see him as a screenwriter.

“Barry wanted to be successful,” Zellers said. “He wanted to do well in this class. Helping him do that is an important aspect of teaching. Maybe the central aspect.”

“Me” is currently streaming on Apple TV+.

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