The HBO Max dark comedy series The Flight Attendant is back for a second season following Cassie Bowden (Kaley Cuoco), who thinks she has her life more together than ever, only to end up witnessing a murder that may have been committed by someone impersonating her. And while that may sound crazy, it’s all in a day’s work when you’re a flight attendant who works as a civilian asset for the CIA.
During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, which you can both watch and read, Cuoco (who’s also an executive producer on the series) talked about how The Flight Attendant started as a risk she wasn’t sure she’d be able to pull off, how much the success and positive response means to her, being terrified of living up to expectations for Season 2, how much she loves the way it ends, the challenges of playing so many versions of Cassie, how her sister, Briana Cuoco, ended up on the show, and whether she’s even considered a third season.
Collider: I am thoroughly enjoying the new season. Season 1 of this show was critically acclaimed, it was loved by viewers, and it got Emmy attention. What’s it like to not only make a great show that you can be proud of, stretch yourself as an actor and an EP, and then hear that recognition and the reaction from fans and critics, and know that it’s actually being received the way that you had hoped?
KALEY CUOCO: There are no words for that. I took a risk with this, so many years ago. I found the book. I was coming off a sitcom that everyone knew me from, and I thought, “Okay, this is my new venture, and I’m either gonna be accepted, and they’re going to like it, or I’m going down with the ship because this is gonna be all my fault.” And I couldn’t believe how much people accepted it and loved it. I remember, at the beginning, I was so nervous. I was sick about this thing airing, and I told my team, “I don’t want to read any reviews. We did what we did and we’re proud, let’s move on.” I woke up first thing in the morning and my publicist texted me and was like, “The first one just came out.” I think it was Variety or Hollywood Reporter. She was like, “You’ve gotta read it.” I was like, “No, no, no.” It was so lovely, and all of a sudden, I just started crying. It was the first door opening to people accepting this new show. It was my baby. It’s like someone saying they like your baby. I can imagine, when you have a baby, you’d like people to like your baby. This was all-encompassing to my life, and to feel people love it, and the reviews were great, and then to get the nominations, I would’ve bet millions that was not going to happen.
And then, you have a successful first season and it’s great and everyone loves it, but you have to do it again for Season 2. What were you most nervous about with that?
CUOCO: Oh, I was terrified. It definitely took a lot of conversations for me to fully get on board. I was really nervous about it because of that exact thing. I was like, “Guys, we got away with it. Let’s go. Leave it. Let’s move on with our lives. We’re so proud, and that’s it.” I was terrified. It was good, and we did set the bar really high. But it’s wild, what we came back with is bigger and better, I feel like, by tenfold. The scope is huge. We’ve got great new characters. I play five Cassies. The Mind Palace is on a whole other level. We swung really, really hard this season.
Now that you’ve completed a second season, how much of a bigger and ongoing plan is there for the show? Do you know what a Season 3 would be? Have you had discussions about how long this show could go? Are you thinking about any of that?
CUOCO: No. No. No. This was really supposed to be one season, and then we did this awesome second season. I can assure you, you are not the first person to ask me this. It’s very flattering that people even think that there could be talks of a third season. I wanna see how it’s received. I wanna see, after we premiere, how it does and what people are saying. I need a little bit of a breather. I did play five of myself, and I would like to not work with myself anytime soon.
What was your reaction to learning where things would be left at the end of Season 2? I’m guessing you’re a part of those conversations, so what did you think when you actually got to read the script and see how it would all play out and where it would all end up?
CUOCO: I loved the ending. The same way we did with Season 1, it could literally be tied in a bow, or it could continue on. We did it in a way that really could go any which way you wanted. But I think it cleared up a lot of storylines. It left other things a little bit open, but a lot of the questions are answered. I think for Cassie, she’s realizing that this life that she’s living is not an easy thing. Sobriety is a lifelong struggle and it’s going to take her day by day. We start out the season of her acting like everything’s great. She’s going, “I’m just gonna switch. My life is perfect. I’m sober. I’m living in L.A. and I’ve got everything going for me.” And we find out very quickly that she doesn’t. This season, of facing herself in the Mind Palace and all these different parts of herself that she hates so much, is really about self-acceptance and self-forgiveness. There’s not anyone in the Mind Palace that she likes. That’s what’s really interesting. It’s actually just dawning on me, in this moment. They’re all parts of her she hates. I feel like we talk about, for ourselves, all the things that we hate and we are so unkind to each other, we forget to tell ourselves the good things and be nice to ourselves. Life in this world, right now, is not easy and I think we all deserve a little bit of a break once in a while, and especially Cassie.
What has it been like to play these different versions and to fine-tune each of them and make them all different, but all still pieces of the same character?
CUOCO: It was bizarre. As an actor, I like to be in the moment. I am incredibly reactive. I would not call myself a preparer. I never know what I’m going to do. I like to be in the moment and I like to react. I feel it as I go. Every take, you will get something different from me. Shooting this way, the technicality of it and having to work against my mirror image and my doubles, we had to throw that out the window. I had to be very exact in my movements and in my words. I couldn’t improvise because I was working off a tape that was locked, if that makes sense. It wasn’t like the other me could work against what I was playing with. I had to be much more disciplined in the things that I said, my movements, my eye line, and my timing was. Oh, my God, if I missed by a second, it wasn’t like anyone could work around that. We had to start all over. It was a domino effect. I learned that quickly. I’d be like, “Ohhh!” I really tried to not screw up the timing because it was like, “Oh, my God, you’re starting all over again.” It was wild. We actually had a lot of conversations with the team behind Orphan Black. They really helped us. They were a great source because we used the same system that they did. It was very interesting, and very unique and different.
Your sister, Briana Cuoco, is also in the show and I love her character, Cecilia. What do you enjoy about having her in the show? Was that character created for her, or did she just happen to be the right person for that role?
CUOCO: First of all, having my sister around, because she’s my favorite person, has been a dream to be able to work with her. This season, her character went to Iceland, so we got to be in Iceland together, which was a dream. Rewinding to Season 1, no, the character was not written for her. Cecilia was the part. We were casting and no one told me she was auditioning. I was watching self-tapes every night . All the producers were. I went to my Cecilia file, and I was watching everybody, and Bree popped up. I wrote the group, and I was like, “My sister auditioned? Oh, my God.” I was like, “Okay, I’m gonna take myself out of this because I’m biased, and I think she’s the most amazing thing, ever” So, I took my opinion out and I was like, “This is not a fair thing. You guys decide.” And the studio approved her, the network loved her, and she got the job really totally on her own and made it her own. I was so excited that we actually got to have a little bit of a moment on screen this season because we didn’t get to do that last year.
Cassie may be more aware of her issues and the triggers for those issues, but those issues certainly aren’t resolved or gone. But does it feel like, by the end of this season, that Cassie is being more honest with herself and about herself than she was before?
CUOCO: Yes. I think she does make strides, by the end of this season, or she’d never get out of that Mind Palace. It’s about accepting that these are parts of her personality. We all have parts of us that we don’t love, but they come with us. They’re part of our hearts and our souls. We try to do better every day, but we all make mistakes, every single day. Cassie was just putting on such a show. It’s her realizing, “I’m not perfect, every day is a new day,” and asking for help and using the people around her to help get her through. I know, for instance, for myself, I definitely have needed that, this last year. I’ve asked for help and I’ve been open to voicing that. They called me the octopus last season because I had my arms in everything. And this season, there was so much going on in my life, and then so much going on in the show, I definitely asked for way more help this time. I’s amazing how many people really do wanna help you, especially when you’re a person that doesn’t normally ask. They dove in, and I had such a great group around me, getting the things that I needed and giving me the time that I needed. I’m just glad that I spoke up, but it is very hard to do.
Well, thank you for making such a great show. I love it. You’re great in it. I don’t know how you pull it off, but thank you.
CUOCO: Thank you. That’s so nice. Thank you.
The Flight Attendant Season 2 is available to stream at HBO Max on April 21st.