Hot on the heels of confirming an early season three renewal ahead of the debut of season two, Apple TV hosted the stars of Your Friends and Neighbors at its inaugural press day at Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar on Tuesday.
The show’s creator and executive Jonathan Tropper got tasked with moderating a panel discussion that featured Jon Hamm, Amanda Peet, Olivia Munn, Hoon Le, Mark Tallman, Aimee Carrero and the buzz worthy new addition to the cast in James Marsden. The actor is featured prominently in a new teaser that dropped this week, showing a pointed interaction with Hamm’s character, Andrew “Coop” Cooper. Per Apple, “Coop” is set on doubling on his life as an unlikely suburban thief until the arrival of a new neighbor “threatens to expose his secrets and place his family at risk.” Marsden plays the neighbor, Owen Ashe.
Near the top of the discussion, Tropper asked his actors how they would characterize season two versus season one, and Hamm went first. “Deeper? Darker? Different? What’s another d-word,” pondered the star and executive producer. “The first season of a show establishes the world, and then the second season expands that world, expands those characters. This, especially with adding a chaos agent in the form of Mr. Marsden, makes it… we already have the rules of the game set up as we’ve established in season one, and in season two, we can just play the game at a higher level.”
Hamm added that Marsden plays a character who “is living life in a very broad and out loud way, and it’s very attractive to want to be a part of that world, but at what cost is the question?”
Marsden’s presence had an impact not only on the storyline but also on set. “Not only the cast but the crew, everyone’s in love with James,” Carrero explained. “When I had my first fitting, everyone was, like, ‘Have you met James yet? Have you met James? Have you met James?’ Everyone was a titter about you, and you don’t disappoint.”
Tallman said he was curious who would play Owen Ash long before he knew it was Marsden. “I remember reading [the script,] and wondering the whole time who was going to play Owen Ashe,” the actor explained. “Once we learned it was James, my goodness. There really is this energy he brings with him that permeates [on set]. It felt like everyone was like, ‘We have to level up, we have to level up.’”
For his part, Marsden said he was stoked to join the cast as he was already a fan of the show.
“The first season was super juicy. The second season just feels so much more juicy,” he praised. “I’m the new guy on the block in many ways. I got to watch the first season, and I fell in love with the show and fell in love with the characters. Then I got to step into it with this great family who welcomed me with open arms, and I got to play this magnificently wonderful and delicious role as the guy just doesn’t know how to stop. He’s constantly an engine that is churning at a very high RPM, and it’s fun to play, but it’s also exhausting.”
The second season of Your Friends and Neighbors returns Friday, April 3, on Apple TV with the first episode, followed by a weekly drop until a June 12 finale.
Read the full article here
