Are Cocoa Puffs Maria Sten’s Favorite Cereal? The ‘Reacher’ and ‘Neagley’ Star Sets The Record Straight: “I Have to Make Clarifications”

Maria Sten‘s Frances Neagley might be cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs in Prime Video‘s Reacher, but the actress, who now leads the streamer’s Reacher spinoff Neagley, is setting the record straight on what her cereal of choice is IRL.

Those who have tuned in to the first three seasons of Reacher are well aware of the private investigator’s affinity for cereal: specifically, Cocoa Puffs. During a visit to DECIDER’s studio alongside her Neagley co-stars Greyston Holt, Adeline Rudolph, and Jasper Jones, Sten addressed whether Cocoa Puffs are still in fact her favorite cereal.

“So I have to make clarifications,” Sten teased. “So Cocoa Puffs is the American version, but I grew up in Denmark and we have Coco Pops, which is a different thing. You actually don’t have them in America. [They are] these little cocoa shells. If I had cereal growing up, that was 100% what I was eating. But, in this country, Cocoa Puffs, yes.”

For those anxiously awaiting Neagley, which centers on Sten’s beloved character’s work as a P.I. in Chicago, one thing is for certain: Neagley will still be munching on some cereal. As for why Neagley’s love of cereal is so strong, Sten offered up an explanation.

Jasper Jones, Maria Sten, Greyston Holt, and Adeline Rudolph
Photo: Brian Zak/NY Post

“I think Neagley has a little bit of a stunted development,” she shared. “She didn’t have a lot of a childhood. She’s been taking care of her dad all her life. Her mother passed away [when] she was very young. Now that Neagley is an adult and can call the shots of her life and has financial security, she allows herself the pleasures of childhood that she didn’t get to have back then. So the t-shirts, the Looney Tunes watch, the cereal… it’s cute, but also it’s a nostalgia thing for her. She’s indulging in these childish things that she didn’t get to have.”

As for what else is in store, Sten assured Reacher viewers that there are “little Easter eggs” throughout the new series, noting that “there are definitely things that you’ll pick up on in Neagley.”

“And of course, the biggest question is answering why Neagley has haphephobia, why she’s afraid of touching people,” she added. “We are still a part of this world that we’ve created, the foundation, the Reacher show, but of course branching out on our own.”

More from our conversation with the Neagley cast to come!

All eight episodes of Neagley drop on Prime Video on Wednesday, Sept. 16, as does the Season 4 finale of Reacher.

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