“Flight Attendant” Starring Kaylee Cuoco and Zosia Mamet in Season Two Ante: “Everything About Him Was Ten Times”

The second season of HBO Max Flight attendant Bigger, deeper and real, say stars Kyle Cuoco and Zosia Mamet THRThey sat next to each other on the couch at Kuoko’s house, where they lived together during the production of the second season. The two true friends play best friends in a show that follows pilot Casey Bowden in the second round as he becomes a CIA asset, but he soon realizes that the woman addicted to him is spreading across the world.

Kuoko and Mamet talk THR On how they melded with the show’s real life (including Cuoco filing for a divorce from equestrian Carl Cook around the same time season two began filming), their acting processes, and how it deepened their friendship.

How was season two different for the two of you?

Kaylee Cuoco As the first season was successful and excellent in itself, we wanted to go further this year. [in terms of] As the story went and we added more actors, and it all happened about ten times. Visually, the stakes were higher. I feel like, overall, the whole season was a lot bigger than the first one.

Zosia Mamet I think it was also very balanced in the sense that it wasn’t just because the stakes were raised and the ride was bigger, spying and exploring, but it was bigger and deeper in terms of how much each of us broke. characters individually. Kyle’s character has a very intense inner turmoil, but in reality, everyone goes through their own problems.

Your characters are most vulnerable this season. How did you come to that thought?

kooko I don’t really have a process, this is my process, but this season was weird because I was dealing with a lot of emotional stuff and it was all encompassing. He felt like he was a person, whether Casey was upset or Kyle was all the same. What was happening in my life, was an accident that happened at the same time. It didn’t seem like a solution. It worked for what I needed, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a nightmare before doing this. I do not recommend doing this.

mamet I can confirm that these were very difficult days. It was a meta-experience.

kooko Yes, and I’m not that kind of person, but it really is. It was random. As soon as It’s not my process. Nobody will say that about me.

mamet I think one of the reasons why Kyle and I work so well is that our two processes are kind of a non-process, like we’re on time, we know our lines…

kooko I think we are more concerned with what we eat for dinner.

mamet Yeah, what kind of food? Is coffee close to oat milk? But yeah, I think we’re both players. We just show up and go, and we both start playing. Obviously, we were on the set where we did that, but no, I don’t really have a process.

Was there a specific scene that was more challenging?

mamet I really felt like we had to squeeze a lemon really hard this year to get the juice. It was a weird season where everyone seemed to be experiencing something. It was really ambitious. The days were long. They were heavy. I don’t think there’s any special day that I can single out and be This one of the day. Of course, it was a difficult shoot.

kooko It was very difficult to film. The saddest moment for me on set was really my distance from Marco. [played by Santiago Cabrera]. It was a very real feeling. It was too early. I had a complete meltdown. It wasn’t pleasant. Everyone always likes, “OMG, this performance is so good!” I’m like that, right? Because I think it was all in my head! It was therapy.

mamet I will say that I understand this from an outside perspective, but I can also vouch for the fact that Kyle personally went through a particularly difficult period and you allowed him to exist on screen, but he could have even appeared. Working and knowing your lines and doing your work beautifully is in itself a challenge.

kooko Thanks. The season starts with a slightly pinkish cloud, but quickly darkens. That’s why I struggled from the beginning for so many comedic moments, because I knew how dark it was and I tried to remind everyone that it was still comedy. Hard to remember, huh? But I think we found those moments early in the season and it was worth it.

Likewise, what was the funniest scene you shot?

kooko A scene when I have to write [Zosia] Observation. We were in the mood. We were on another level like we couldn’t stop [laughing].

mamet Between outlets, we lay on a bed in a guest room in a bungalow. I don’t even remember what [but] Almost everyone on set probably wanted to kill us. We were like two 12 year old girls, we were freaking out, crying a lot. Kyle wrote stupid things –

kooko – and forced him to read them on camera. I wrote, “Dear Annie, I hate Max. See you later.”

mamet Or “Dear Annie, goodbye forever. I always hated you. No love, Casey.”

How does decompression happen after a dark scene?

kooko Zosia and I lived together for the last few months of filming, and we sometimes went to work together. We were decompressing, of course. we help each other a lot [Zosia] It probably helped me the most, but it was great. I never had that experience. I never lived [a female friend before] Then he went to work with them. We had such a broad friendship throughout this experience, which is very rare.

mamet None of us went to college and never had a countryman. We went directly from life alone to life as a couple. Our actors joked that we mostly lived in a frat house. We shared the trailer and people were like, “Okay, we get it. You love each other.” Our friendship has blossomed even more than it already was, and I really think we only have each other, it sounds weird and clichéd, but we laughed a lot.

Kyle, your character often goes to his “mind palace” where he faces his own versions to deal with his problems. There are more cassias this season than last season. Tell me about the logistics of this.

kooko It was a very new process for me. She had a lot of body and acting twins. I couldn’t do this without the whole group. It was so much fun, there were so many cats walking around, you really didn’t know who was who. Of course, a process I don’t want to repeat. As an actor I am in the moment and I love the game and the process of filming the motion is anything but. The game is not, you have to occupy what you are doing. You have to imitate your future self and then my stunt double will have to copy what I do, so I have to be very careful what I do and it’s very difficult, very specific, that’s not how I like to work …body twice straight into the eyes, so I turn around and look at the work, and if I step back an inch, it literally feels like I’m looking at the ceiling. It didn’t make sense to me. I say, “Why don’t you look at me?” Of course, it was a great team effort. But yeah, I won’t do that anymore. Now I still know how to do it!

What was your favorite place to travel this season?

kooko Zosia is very upset about this. He says, “If we do Season 3, can Ani travel with you?”

mamet I have a real chip on my shoulder. When they went to Iceland, I said, “Can I play sheep without credit? I will do this for a daily fee. please!”

kooko Iceland was amazing. It was one of the best experiences I had as a human being. I was very excited about the trip which was the height of COVID and until now. It was December and we were saying, “Are we crazy? Who chose you? It turned out to be amazing: first, because I’m a Christmas elf like Zosia, and it feels like Christmas in Iceland in December. Santa Claus and Christmas music and Christmas shopping and it’s pretty magical to say the least.

mamet Every day I made audio recordings, videos and photos. And I said, ‘Great. Nice. When do we plan to return?

The interview is edited for length and clarity.

The story first appeared in a separate June issue of The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.