If you’re looking for something to watch while your favorite shows are in reruns over the holidays, you should consider checking out the drama series Goliath on Amazon Prime. From executive producers David E. Kelley and Jonathan Shapiro, the ultimate David vs. Goliath battle plays out between Billy McBride (Billy Bob Thornton), a down-and-out lawyer, and the big firm he helped establish and that his ex-wife (Maria Bello) still works for, in a world where the scales of justice seem to tip toward the rich and powerful.

During 1-on-1s interviews with Collider, actresses Maria Bello and Molly Parker (who plays Callie Senate, the formidable and ruthless litigator that takes this case on in the courtroom) talked about what attracted them to Goliath, why they both enjoy binge watching, the interesting character dynamics, and the structure for possible future seasons. Parker also talked about signing on for the Netflix re-imagining of Lost in Space, why she wanted to be a part of that project and whether she was a fan of the original series.

Collider: How did you come to this show?

MARIA BELLO: As soon as I heard that Jonathan [Shapiro] and David [E. Kelley] had written the show and wanted me to do it, I was like, “Oh, my gosh!” David was way ahead of his time when it wasn’t fashionable to write strong female lead characters for television, with Ally McBeal and The Practice, which my dear friend Camryn Manheim won an Emmy for. He’s just able to capture the essence of real, complicated women, so I’ve always been an admirer. So, when I met he and Jonathan, and learned that Billy Bob [Thornton] and my friend William Hurt were attached, I really wanted to do the show. And I love that all eight lead women are in the pilot, and in one hour, you really get to understand who each of them are and they’re all so different. That’s hard to do, in a pilot. I think they did an amazing job with the writing.

MOLLY PARKER: I was cast in a different role when we first started. We shot some of that, and then they decided they were going to try something different, so they wrote this other part for me. It wasn’t just about me. They wanted to try something a little bit different with the show, so they wrote the part of Callie Senate for me, which is a great part. I had so much fun playing her. I really haven’t had an opportunity to do something like that before. She’s a complicated woman who’s funny and mean, a little bit gender-bendy and voracious. She’s very much just her own woman, which was really fun to do. She’s bad-ass.

Are you a binge watcher, or do you prefer to savor episodes?

BELLO: I’m a crazy binge watcher! I love television. I’ve binge watched Transparent, Catastrophe, The Night Of, Happy Valley, and the list goes on. Two years ago, I found out about The Walking Dead. I watched the pilot, and then, within three weeks, I’d watched all seven seasons. I get obsessed about shows. That’s why network television is really going out of fashion. I don’t want to have to wait a whole week to see 20 episodes. There’s still some great shows on network television, but not a lot of things that I’d want to watch, all the time.

It took people a little while to catch on to the kind of programming that Amazon offers, but they’ve had some real success now with their TV series. When did you realize that doing a streaming series was a viable option?

PARKER: House of Cards was really the first show that did that, and I was a part of that experience, early on. My own way of watching television had evolved. Even when DVD box sets came out, I didn’t watch Breaking Bad until a few seasons had gone by, so I could watch the whole thing together. That’s the way I like to watch television. I didn’t really get to watch TV before it was available this way because I work and travel and, like many of us, don’t have a regular schedule where I could be home every Thursday night to watch a TV show. Most people don’t, these days. So, it’s a much more convenient way to watch television. It’s a really enjoyable way to work because you make the thing, and then if goes out. You’re not in a situation where the show goes on the air and you’re also shooting it, at the same time, and it’s rolling out while you’re doing it. There’s something very nice about being able to make something, and then it goes out into the world and the audience has its reaction, but that’s not happening while you’re shooting. I prefer that.

BELLO: It’s funny, years ago, I went to my agent and I was pitching a show and said, “What about Amazon? I hear they’re going to do some stuff.” And one of my agents was like, “Nah, that’s never going to happen. They’ll never make money doing that.” And then, they became a huge place for great content. I really enjoy streaming, particularly with Amazon. I made a conscious choice to work with Amazon because everyone who works for them says that they give you so much creative freedom, compared to network or even cable. They really trust in their creators and entertainers, and they let us go. They have a lot of money, and we had more time to do our show. I think our show looks like a film, it’s so beautifully shot and the production design is great. It’s just great to have that freedom, especially for Jonathan and David to be able to say “fuck,” once in awhile.

Was part of the appeal of this the fact that you’re only doing a few episodes?

BELLO: It’s so much more appealing. I’ve worked on shows where you do 23 episodes a year, and then it turns into a grind and it turns out to not be fun anymore. I have friends that do that, and it swallows up your life. Now, I’m producing movies and a have a 15 ½ year old son and a great boyfriend who I’m in a relationship with. I’m just trying to balance out my life, and this really helped me to balance my life, doing a show that was in L.A., it was a great character and a great cast, and doing eight episodes.

Maria, what is it that spoke to you about this character and made you want to live in her shoes for a bit?

BELLO: You rarely see a woman in television or film who is very strong and a leader, but also very feminine and kind. I loved that about her. She is what they call the moral compass of this show. She’s always holding the scales of justice in both hands, understanding that it’s not always one way or the other. It’s much more complicated than that. It starts out with, “My dick is bigger than your dick,” with the men in her life, but it gets more complicated, as the season goes on.

As you watch both sides of this case, it’s easy to find yourself taking a side.

BELLO: I think that’s right. People feel more secure when they feel like they have a decisive path, and she is someone who has values and can look at both sides. You will certainly see her life and relationships, especially at the firm, getting much more interesting, as the series goes on. Things definitely get interesting.

Billy and Michelle have a long history, with them being exes and having a child together. What do you think it was that originally drew these two people together, and what do you think ultimately tore them apart?

BELLO: The way we worked out the backstory is that we fell in love. We started this law firm, and I was young and coming up. William Hurt’s character was also a part of that, and it was the three of us. No matter how different we were, we had this kid together and we were in love. And then, like a lot of relationships that change and morph into something else, Billy’s life became really toxic, and that affected me and our daughter and our firm, and I made a decision to step out of that. I feel like she was probably really co-dependent with his alcoholism, and finally said enough is enough. It’s easy to get dragged down by that.

Do you think Michelle is ultimately rooting for Billy to get himself and his life back together?

BELLO: I think she’s always hoping that he’ll get his life together, but she doubts that he will. She’s given him so many chances. And when it comes to their daughter, he’s just really honest about who he is and doesn’t try to be the good dad. I really try to emulate that for my own kids. When I try to be the perfect mom, it turns out to be a total failure. When I end up just being myself, with all my flaws and mistakes, it makes it better. That gives kids the opportunity to know they don’t have to be perfect.

How different is Callie from Billy?

PARKER: It’s called Goliath, so obviously there’s that David vs. Goliath feel to it. But what was interesting for me, in the playing of it, is that this show is less interested in good guys and bad guys. Billy was the founding partner at the law firm where Callie works. Our characters are really similar, in some ways, and in others, they’re really different. I think they’re similar in the way that the competition and the practice of law is so exciting to them. Maybe the place that he’s in, in his life, he’s finding a little more heard in the game than where she’s at, but that’s part of her journey.

What’s it been like to work with Billy Bob Thornton and explore this complex dynamic between your characters?

BELLO: Billy Bob is just a wonderful actor. He’s so odd, with everything he does. He’s odd but likable, which is hard to pull off. Even in this, you don’t want to like him. He’s a bit of a dick. But, you do like him because at least he knows who he is and he’s not trying to hide anything. I always find that very interesting in people.

What can you say about the relationship between your character and Donald Cooperman?

BELLO: He is very isolated, but I am really one of his only friends. I’ve known him for a very long time. He and Billy and I started this firm together. You’ll really see his humanness through our relationship.

PARKER: Callie works under him, and he chose her to litigate this case. I spent a lot of time with William [Hurt] on this show, and also with Billy Bob [Thornton] because I’m the one in court who’s going up against him. William is such an amazing actor. We did a movie together years ago (Rare Birds), so it was nice to reconnect with him. I have tremendous respect for him. I think it’s a testament to David E. Kelley and Jonathan Shapiro for casting him in that role because he is not an actor who could ever let a character like that just be a villain. He brings so much reality and heart to this person who is making moves that might otherwise seem quite sinister.

The women in this firm have a very specific look to them, that definitely seems a bit intimidating. How did you find your look and how you wanted to carry yourself?

PARKER: There’s a lawyer in Canada, who I actually was aware of, who’s done some very high profile cases, and she has a very considered, high-end, stiletto-wearing, St. Laurent suit-wearing look. I was very interested in that because, for the most part, that’s not what lawyers look like, as far as I can tell. Because it’s a television show, you can explore things, and I thought it was very interesting to explore how little of the law actually ends up in a trial. This show is a show about one trial. It’s not a law show. It’s not about a law office. It’s about a trial and, in that way, it’s one story. Each season will be a trial, as far as I can tell. So, I was interested in the aspects of performance. There are so many different types of lawyers, but the lawyers who do that one kind of a job are performers. I don’t think that woman puts one thing on her body that isn’t considered, in terms of whether it will intimidate or ingratiate, and how that’s going to affect the jury and the judge because those are the people who need to be convinced. I think she uses all of that stuff. So, it wasn’t just to look hot. It’s unusual to see a woman doing that in the law, but it’s interesting.

Molly, you’ve also signed on to do Lost in Space for Netflix. Are you nervous about taking on such a beloved show, or is it too exciting to worry about being nervous?

PARKER: I haven’t felt nervous yet. I’m mostly just tremendously excited. The little that I know about what they want to do will honor the original and make something brand new. At its core, it’s about a family – Toby [Stephens] and I, and our three kids – and we happen to be lost in space. What’s exciting to me is that I haven’t done anything like that. I haven’t done any science fiction in my career, and to get to explore that and see what can be new is exciting. But at the end of the day, I think everybody is really interested in the characters and who these people get to be.

Were you a fan of the original?

PARKER: It was not a part of my childhood, so I don’t have any personal baggage, coming into it. But, I’m really excited about it.

Goliath is available to stream at Amazon Prime.