The Obsession Cast

[Margaretha Palone]

Fouryears ago, I founded Finex, a cast iron cookware company in Portland, Oregon. The day we launched, we were the second-largest in America because there was only one other in the country. We make around 100 to 200 skillets a day if we get up early enough in the morning.

I started the company because I couldn't find what I wanted in the world of cookware. I really like comfort food like chilaquiles and things that are crisp-tender: home fries, cornbread, pancakes. However, around the time I started Finex, my wife and I were trying to get pregnant, so she audited our whole lifestyle for anything that wasn't considered healthy.

This meant eventually getting rid of all of our mystery non-stick pans, because there are a lot of rumors and conspiracy theories out there about non-stick pans and health. While I don't know if any of them are true, I do know that bad things start to happen when you heat up non-stick pans beyond 500 degrees, which happens to be the temperature when all the good stuff happens in food, like searing a good steak or getting a good crust on something.

I always say that Finex could have only happened In Portland. It is a wonderful little town because we love eating breakfast here. If you wake up at 1 PM, it is usually still breakfast-y weather outside. There is a lot of support for small, local businesses in the community. I mean, we even have our own salt. The West Coast is good for cast iron cooking in general because we have access to great produce.

I grew up in my dad's metal welding shop. He basically got me out of bed on Saturday mornings kicking and screaming to watch him put a radiator in the car or watch him fix this and that. He never gave me many toys growing up, but I did have full tool chest so I wouldn't have to ever borrow his. I've worked at Boeing and for other metal fabrication workshops where they make parts for aircrafts and trucks. I've seen metal transform into many things and endure.

There was a time when every kitchen in the US had a cast iron skillet in it. You had a stove, a sink, an outhouse, and a cast iron skillet. But then aluminum pans arrived in the 1940s and everybody wanted the new shiny stuff.

When you tell your friends that you want to start a cast iron cookware company, they all will tell you that it is a dumb idea. I Kickstarted my way to the first stages of the business and while it is awesome to wake up one day and magically have $211,000 (I usually have $50), it also hit me that I now owed 4,000 people cast iron cookware in the next 30 days. So I quit my day job, got a landline and gave up my direct deposit by quitting my day job. Fortunately, I've had a few lucky breaks, even after breaking all of the design rules with our eight-sided cast iron pan and putting wound-up springs everywhere, too.

When it comes to a cast iron skillet, there is something beautiful and simple about it. It is a simple and elegant solution for cooking, and it is really forgiving surface to cook on. Making something that is useful and outlasts us all is truly fulfilling, especially when it is something that people connect with over food. I'm not talking about someone DMing you or texting. I'm talking about when people tell you how much better their days are after having some cast iron-baked cornbread.

Mike Whitehead is the founder of Finex Cast Iron Cookware. He lives in a one-room cabin in Portland, Oregon with his wife and two dogs. He challenges anyone to a hand-to-hand cast iron show and tell contest. For more info visit Finex's website.

Where have I seen Richard Armitage before? Armitage is known for his various roles in television and film, most notably in The Hobbit, North & South, The Crucible, Hannibal, Spooks, Strike Back, and Robin Hood. Of course, Armitage will be recognisable to many Netflix thriller fans as he has starred in two of Harlan Coben's adaptations, including The Stranger and Stay Close.

Who is Anna Barton? Anna works for the foreign office and one night at a parliamentary event, locks eyes with William for the first time. Sparks fly and soon, they realise their connection to each other: that Anna is the mysterious girlfriend that William's son Jay has been excitedly talking about.

Where have I seen Charlie Murphy before? The Irish actress is perhaps best known for her roles as Jessie Eden in Peaky Blinders and her moving portrayal as Ann Gallagher in BBC's Happy Valley, a role she held throughout all three seasons. She has also starred in 2022 thriller Deadline, Halo and The Capture season 2.

Who is Ingrid Farrow? Ingrid is William's wife and is in a high-flying career of her own as a barrister. She's intrigued by Anna, who Jay happily brings home to meet his parents one weekend and only wants the best for her children.

Where have I seen Indira Varma before? This certainly isn't the first strong character Varma has played, with past roles of hers including Elaria Sand in Game of Thrones, Zoe Luther in Luther and more recently as Khadija Khan in The Capture season 2. She has also starred in Extrapolations, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Carnival Row and Spitting Image.

Who is Jay Farrow? William and Ingrid's son, Jay is a junior doctor following in his father's major career footsteps. He seeks his father's approval and validation, but his focus is centred on his latest obsession: Anna. She's older, exciting and soon, Jay is completely in love with her, unknowing of her and his father's secret.

Where have I seen Rish Shah before? Shah had his breakout role in Ms Marvel as super-powered teenager Kamran but has also more recently starred in Netflix's Do Revenge and Riz Ahmed's The Long Goodbye. He has also appeared in British soaps like Emmerdale, Casualty and Doctors.

Who is Sally Farrow? Sally is Jay's sister and William and Ingrid's daughter. She and her brother have a loving relationship and she takes great pleasure in teasing him about his new love interest, Anna.

Where have I seen Sonera Angel before? Angel has appeared in series such as Red Velvet Revolution, Casualty, The Third Day and short films like Without Warning, The Castle: Two Against One, and Zaara.

Where have I seen Marion Bailey before? Bailey is a renowned stage actress and has regularly appeared in the films of director Mike Leigh, including Vera Drake and Peterloo. The actress has been a television regular for the past few decades but is likely best known for her role as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in the third and fourth seasons of The Crown.

Where have I seen Anil Goutam before? The actor has starred in Citizen Khan, Top Boy, This Is Going To Hurt and The Witchfinder. Goutam recently portrayed the villainous Ranveer Gulati in EastEnders, the adopted father of bad boy Ravi Gulati.

Who is Peggy? Peggy is a friend of Anna's and one of her only links back to her complicated past. She is Anna's confidante and knows all about her past, but what will she think of Anna and William's growing relationship?

Where have I seen Pippa Bennett-Warner before? Bennett-Warner has starred in various things both on stage and on the screen, including standout performances in Richard II and The Witness. As for TV, she is perhaps best known for her role as Shannon Dumani in Gangs of London, as well as in River, See How They Run, Chloe and Roadkill.

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