Stephen Colletti is gearing up to welcome his first baby with wife Alex Weaver — and he’s been turning to friend, collaborator and new dad James Lafferty for advice.
“I have been leaning on him,” Colletti, 40, told Us Weekly exclusively ahead of the season 2 premiere of his and Lafferty’s show Everyone Is Doing Great. “I’ve been watching him forge the path of fatherhood, and I’ve been so impressed with what he and [his wife] Alex together have been doing. It’s just so cool to see your best friends go through that journey and to be right behind them and getting excited here for my wife and I.”
Lafferty, 40, announced on April 17 that he and his wife, Alexandra Park, welcomed their first baby. “Love has new meaning. River Jay Lafferty – 12/4/2025,” they captioned an Instagram photo of their newborn’s hands along with their own, revealing their son’s name and birthdate.
Colletti and Weaver, meanwhile, shared their pregnancy news in January, three months after tying the knot.
One Tree Hill’s James Lafferty and Wife Alexandra Park Welcome 1st Baby
These exciting developments in the One Tree Hill alums’ personal lives are coming in tandem with a big professional win as well: Netflix has picked up the rights for their show Everyone Is Doing Great, and season 2 will premiere on the streamer alongside season 1 on Monday, May 11.
“Talk about a unique opportunity, to be able to work on this show with some of [my] best friends and to celebrate these wins of Sony selling our show to Netflix and getting it on the air worldwide,” Colletti gushed to Us. “To have those professional paths aligned as well as personal right now is incredibly rare. We know that. And we’re feeling very, very fortunate for it.”
And of course, the Laguna Beach alum has a built-in mentor in Lafferty to help him prep for fatherhood.
“We’ve had multiple long phone conversations about certain needs,” Colletti shared. “What do we need? What do we not need? What are all the details of certain supplies and what am I going to need going forward here?”
He continued: “I’ve definitely been leaning on him, and he’s been a great resource.”
Colletti and Lafferty play former costars grappling with the realities of Hollywood and young adulthood years after their hit teen TV show comes to an end — sound familiar? — in the comedy-drama series, which they created and wrote together.
The self-referential series draws on the actors’ own experiences following the conclusion of their own hit show, One Tree Hill, which came to an end in 2012. The lines between fiction and reality are blurred even more with Lafferty’s real-life wife, Park, playing his wife on the show as well. Fellow Aussie actress Cariba Heine rounds out the quad of friends and lovers at the center of the series.
“There’s so much happening at once [and] so much to be thankful for with our son being here and the show making it to Netflix,” Lafferty told Us of their big year, personally and professionally. “When it rains, it pours.”
Park added: “We sort of have to take moments and ask, ‘Is this real? Is this actually happening?’”
While the duo may not be totally well-rested — “Absolutely not. No sleep,” Lafferty joked when asked if they’re catching any shut-eye — they definitely are relishing in the joys of new parenthood.
“It’s been the greatest gift. It has been completely paradigm-shifting and mind-blowing and beautiful in every single way,” Lafferty told Us of becoming a father. “It’s so crazy that it’s coinciding with this moment as well.”
He added: “In some ways, we feel like we are barely holding it together, and in other ways, we could not be more grateful or happy.”
Everyone Is Doing Great seasons 1 and 2 will be streaming on Netflix starting Monday, May 11.
