Megan McLachlan talks to the cast and executive producers of HBO’s Somebody Somewhere about the final season, Gen Z fans, hot twinks, and what they hope for the show’s legacy.
Ahead of their red carpet appearance at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, I had the chance to chat with the cast and executive producers of HBO’s critically-acclaimed comedy Somebody Somewhere, including:
- Executive producer/actress Bridget Everett (Sam)
- Executive producer Paul Thureen
- Executive producer Hannah Bos
- Actor Jeff Hiller (Joel)
- Actress Mary Catherine Garrison (Tricia)
And honestly, I felt like I became a character on the show, as the cast welcomed me into the conversation with ease and affability like their on-screen personas. The only thing missing was a round of Margarinis! Below is our condensed and edited conversation.
The Contending: What’s it like to say goodbye with Season 3? I’m having a rough time. I’m sure you are, too.
Bridget Everett: I don’t think our feelings are all that dissimilar to yours. (laughs)
Mary Catherine Garrison: If you want us to cry, we can. (laughs) We love talking about it.
Bridget Everett: It’s great because we get to do this last push of press and be together and it still feels like we’re in the world. Ask me in another two months and you won’t be able to reach me because I’ll be sitting in a dark room.
Paul Thureen: We’re so proud of this season. Everyone is so incredible, and it feels really exciting to finally be sharing it with the world.
Bridget Everett: 302 hasn’t dropped yet [at the time of the conversation], and we just love that episode so much.
The Contending: I love that the show has its own language, like “Margarini” and “Dinky Dinky.” Where does that come from?
Mary Catherine Garrison: That’s how Bridget talks!
Bridget Everett: A 52-year-old woman with her own little language!
Mary Catherine Garrison: What could be cuter! Nothing weird about that at all.
The Contending: What’s the writers’ room like? What’s the creative process like for you all?
Paul Thureen: Very painful, heavy. (jokes)
Bridget Everett: It’s great. We’ll be like, “This is a terrible idea, but. . .” It’s just tossing out ideas. It’s very comfortable, easy, and safe. We just keep chipping away. If we do anything that’s TTC — Touch Too Cutie — it does get cut.
The Contending: What’s an example of a Touch Too Cutie?
Bridget Everett: Originally, we were going to have these guys stiff Sam on a tip, and Joel and Sam were going to put pantyhose on their faces and TP the frat house.
Jeff Hiller: Are you serious?
Paul Thureen: Now, spoiler alert, they tip her pretty well, and [Sam and Joel] go and have donuts.
Hannah Bos: That’s a great example. Anything that feels like a TV show or there to make things move that’s not authentic, we usually take out before or after.
The Contending: It always feels like such a slice of life.
Bridget Everett: I was fighting for it, too. Picture them in the car. Pantyhose over their faces.
Jeff Hiller: Having a deep conversation.
The Contending: How does Season 3 figure into the characters’ journeys? For Sam, this season feels like a different vibe from the other two.
Bridget Everett: It’s facing and bracing for change. It’s not easy for Sam but because of the people she’s around who love her, warts and all — even though she’s absolutely terrified of change, I personally don’t know what that’s about — (laughs), she forces herself to do it. As you’ll see through the season, there’s great stuff with her sister, and she learns inch by inch, the more you open up, the better your world will be.
Mary Catherine Garrison: Tricia’s in her girl boss era. She’s in a good place until she hits a wall at some point. One thing I enjoy is that in the hands of other writers or producers, Tricia would have stayed a one-dimensional villain. People are not that simple and the writing is that good that as an actor I’ve gotten to play all these different things. It’s fun to play a woman of that age. Life is far from over. In fact, it’s a brand-new beginning. That’s really juicy. You don’t see women who aren’t 25 reinventing their life after divorce. That part was very cool.
Jeff Hiller: I think what’s really cool about this season is seeing life after first kiss. The rom-com always ends when they get together, but that’s not even a quarter of the story of a relationship. It’s all about understanding each other, especially when you’re moving in together. Not to copy your answer [Mary Catherine], but I think it is interesting to see somebody other than two hot twinks, but old queens.
Bridget Everett: There’s nothing wrong with hot twinks!
The Contending: You don’t see as many 40+ stories like this, and I really love that.
Hannah Bos: One of the themes of what everyone is describing is the experience of having made this show, it’s trust yourself, you can reinvent yourself. All of us waited tables and temped and had big give-ups on ourselves.
Mary Catherine Garrison: Big give-ups. That’s how I’m going to say it from now on!
Hannah Bos: We get to make this show, and we encourage each other and find the surprising things, and it’s been a joy to make that with each other at this age.
Paul Thureen: The thing that always comes out of our mouths is “later in life.” What’s it like finding success later in life?
Mary Catherine Garrison: We’ve been sold a false bill of goods that this is the waning period. It’s actually like a mid-life crescendo instead of a mid-life crisis. One of my best friends says that. One of the Watson Twins. You can quote her.
The Contending: Oh my god! Really?
Mary Catherine Garrison: But it’s true the energy I feel right now. Granted, I like to sleep a lot more than I used to. Aside from that, I feel like I could tear down a building with my bare hands!
(Everyone laughs)
Mary Catherine Garrison: I’m not going to, but I could!
Paul Thureen: That comes across in Tricia.
Jeff Hiller: That was intense!
The Contending: I hate when shows belittle small-town life. Your show never does that. Do you think more shows should be in rural areas or the Midwest?
Bridget Everett: Now they can’t because we already did it. (laughs)
Paul Thureen: More shows should be from where everybody is. That’s what we grew up with and knew. Bridget came from Kansas and I grew up in rural Minnesota, my dad was a farmer. When you’re not used to seeing that and you do see it, it can feel queasy if it feels totally precious or there’s a wink to it. We know what that feels like, and we take it very seriously and handle those stories with care. People are funny, weird, and complicated like they are everywhere.
Mary Catherine Garrison: It’s a sensibility you all have. Someone said rigorous authenticity or something. You can take this hometown sensibility and apply it to any area and still get the real experience through that lens.
Hannah Bos: It’s a big responsibility, especially for Bridget to write about her hometown. I feel like we never have the joke on people. We’re checking in on the Midwest level of authenticity and through Bridget’s eyes, the Manhattan Kansas of it all.
Bridget Everett: I’ve got blood relatives that walk those streets. We cannot fuck this up!
The Contending: I love the addition of Ólafur Darri Ólafsson this season. What was it like adding him and how does he figure into Sam’s story?
Bridget Everett: Carolyn [Strauss, executive producer] was talking about how she was watching this Icelandic series and brought him up, and I always thought if Sam had an interest, it would have to be him. So we wrote him into the show and prayed he’d be available. He’s very famous in Iceland, and he’s also working on a show here we can’t talk about. He made it work and shot all his stuff in five days. He feels of the world, he looks of the world, and he’s just a great actor and great to be around. He was a seamless fit.
The Contending: What generation of fans do you find you connect to most? Do you find you have a Gen Z audience? I feel like the kindness of your comedy would be something they would respond to.
Bridget Everett: I did this thing for The New Yorker, and I was like that’s our audience. I get stopped by a lot of people who look like they read books and shop at LensCrafters.
Paul Thureen: But then there was that amazing woman who got your autograph tattooed who came all the way to Kansas for Bridget Everett Day!
Bridget Everett: And the Hertz rental guy who said, “I can’t wait for Season 3.”
Jeff Hiller: It is confusing. I always find when a Gen Z kid says they like the show, I take a beat, and they say, “I watch it with my mom!”
The Contending: What do you hope the legacy of the show is?
Bridget Everett: Honestly, I hope it’s one of those shows that people go back to, their comfort show, something they continue to spend time with.
Hannah Bos: All of us came from the live-performance world, and it’s really special for this group of late bloomers to have this permanent thing to live on.
Paul Thureen: This is what we’ve been doing for the past six years of our lives. We’re so proud of that. There are moments and interactions that you don’t see in TV shows. This show is enough just like the people who are in and watch this show are enough.
Jeff Hiller: Bridget always says, “This show is a great reminder not to give up on yourself.”
Bridget Everett: No TTC about that!
Somebody Somewhere airs Sunday nights on HBO and streams on MAX.
