The second season of the acclaimed series promises more spy thrills and dark comedy

It’s rare to see a show successfully pull off so many genres in one go. A careful balance of comedy, drama, and suspense garnered the first season of The Flight Attendant critical and commercial praise, as well as Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. We got the chance to speak with the show’s star, Kaley Cuoco, who also serves as an executive producer, as well as her castmates: Rosie Perez, Griffin Matthews, and Mae Martin. With the second season’s first two episodes dropping on HBO GO today (Thursday, April 21), we asked them about the pressure of trying to do another season, the challenges of balancing comedy and drama, and what it was like to be slapped by Sharon Stone. 

Kaley Cuoco as Cassie Bowden

Was it daunting to do season two after the first season was so well-received?

Kaley: I was very nervous about doing another. I knew it was a risk. How are we going to beat that? I wanted to leave it wrapped in a bow and just move on with our lives. But we took big swings this season. I play five Cassies, and that definitely ups the ante. Plus, the scope was very large this season. We went to Berlin and Iceland and got unbelievable footage. The footage looks so good, I’m afraid people are gonna think it’s fake! You have to check my Instagram to believe that I was actually there.

After dealing with her alcoholism and everything that’s happened in the past season, where is Cassie now emotionally?

Kaley: I can safely say she is not doing well. We open on her on this “pink cloud”: she’s in LA, she’s eating healthy, she’s not drinking, she’s got this new side job as a CIA asset that is keeping her very active, she has a new boyfriend—all these things look so wonderful on the surface. But we find out very quickly that she is struggling, maybe even more than she was last season since she’s putting on such a show for everyone. I think the person that she has to face is herself, which is why there are five Cassies that represent what she hates about herself so much. She’s on an emotional roller coaster even more so than in season one. 

Did you find it was harder to play Cassie this time around since she’s fighting her demons and not just giving in to drinking?

Kaley: Yes, I did find it more difficult. Playing these different Cassies—they had a lot of self-hatred. It shows that Cassie was treating herself very poorly, which is something I’m working on as Kayley in real life. It was hard to have that self-hatred and go home with that, so I tried to cut that off when I left set, but it lingers with you. It was heavy. That’s why I was constantly trying to add in the quirky moments and the comedic one-liners because I think that’s what gives our show that unique levity.

Kaley Cuoco as Cassie Bowden

You’ve said that you and the team always had a plan for season two. How did you craft the story for this season?

Kaley: We had the original novel as a roadmap for season one but for this season, it’s our own original idea. I knew that she was going to have this side job and I wanted to keep the comedy side alive. I think that’s what made our show special. But another thing that made the show unique was the mind palace and we wanted to keep that, but we were unsure how to do it. Who’s she going to meet in there? So we decided that Cassie is going to see herself—it would be a big storyline and plot point, as well as a way for the audience to get inside her mind. Our team spoke a lot to the team that shot Orphan Black, and they helped with our process because they had similar storylines and use the same cameras. It was a pretty wild experience, and so different and bigger in scope than season one. 

What was your process for tackling Cassie’s journey to sobriety?

Kayley: I wanted to make sure it was authentic. Every person’s journey through sobriety is their own; it’s different for everybody. They react differently—for some, it comes easy, and for others, it’s a lifelong struggle. I wasn’t trying to portray anyone specifically. The way I looked at it was that in season one, Cassie was at her worst when she wasn’t drinking. She’s a functioning alcoholic. Drinking actually kept her normal in a way, so taking that away this season, she’s depressed and there’s something missing inside of her that she’s trying to fill with the CIA asset job or with the new boyfriend. She’s trying to fill those holes when she really hasn’t faced herself or even gotten to the core of why she is the way that she is. I just wanted to do it as authentically as I could in how I would face it and how I face my issues. I’ve been depressed too, and I know what that feeling in that dark hole can feel like so I was pulling from that experience. 

What was it like working with Sharon Stone? Was it your idea to get her to play your mother?

Kayley: I would have never imagined that Sharon would be interested. We actually heard through her team that she loved season one and was a fan of the show, which at first we thought was so cool. Then she had heard we were casting the mom and she was very interested in playing her. She really wanted to do right by this. She has her own personal stories of alcoholism in her family, so she felt very close to the story. But even when we were working on the deal, I thought it was never gonna happen. And then she was on set, and it was so insane. There’s a long nine-minute scene between me and her, and she was so amazing. I was so exhausted from crying so much. And a little behind-the-scenes tidbit: the slap in that scene was not in the script. My reaction was real, and it was so genius on her part. Afterwards, she came over, hugged me, and was like, “Are you okay?”

Are there plans for a third season?

Kayley: I mean, I thought it was over after season one. I couldn’t imagine us doing another season, then we did season two and here we are—I’m back again saying I can’t imagine doing another season! I’d like to see how it premieres, what the response is, and give it a little bit more thought. But I can safely say that you are not the first person to ask me that.

Mae Martin as Grace St. James

How did you balance the mix of comedy and drama?

Rosie: I like being funny and I like being dramatic, so this is a perfect fit for me. But the way I approached Megan was to just play it straight and let the absurdity of the situation breed the comedic response that was needed. If I was to play it too comedic, it would just be a caricature. Megan’s going through some really hard things on the run, dealing with the choices she has made, the remorse, and the guilt, so I just played it straight. But I messed up so many takes like when I was acting with Kaylee. I just couldn’t stop laughing! It’s hard to always be the straight person.

Griffin: One of the best things I heard in drama school was comedy is drama. The characters in a comedy do not know they’re in a comedy. They’re in their real-life drama. I always think about that on this show because I don’t think anyone’s ever trying to be funny. It’s not like a sitcom where it’s “One, two, three, joke.” For our show, you find the humor in the drama. The stakes are so high for Shane. He’s got Cassie to deal with and she’s a mess! So there’s going to be both humor and tears in that mess, and I try to bring both to the table.

Griffin Matthews as Shane Evans in season one

Do you guys look at flight attendants differently now?

Rosie: My attitude towards them changed immensely. I never want to bother them ever on a flight because I know all the things they have to take care of. I’m also really watching to see the drama behind the curtain in their galley to see who doesn’t like who, who’s sleeping with who, and watching how they interact with the passengers.

Mae: I think once you’ve worn the uniform and tried to pour drinks in a very small space, you just have an appreciation for how professional they are. I’ve been trying to figure out which ones of them are spies. 

Rosie Perez as Megan Briscoe in season one

Rosie Perez, Griffin Matthews, and Kaley Cuoco as Megan, Shane, and Cassie in season one

The first season and the first two episodes of season two of The Flight Attendant are now available to stream on HBO GO.