Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, creator Debora Cahn talk of Season 2 of 'The Diplomat'

Actors Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, and showrunner Debora Cahn met with us recently in a press conference in New York to talk about the second season of their popular political thriller TV series, "The Diplomat."

The series, which centers on Kate Wyler (Russell), the new United States ambassador to the United Kingdom, reveals how Wyler helps to defuse an international crisis, while trying to survive her marriage to fellow career diplomat and charismatic political star Hal Wyler (Sewell).

It also stars David Gyasi, Ali Ahn, Rory Kinnear, and Ato Essandoh. Allison Janney also joins the cast in Season 2 as Vice President Grace Penn.

In our conversation with Russell, Sewell and Cahn, they talk about the challenges of making Season 2, working together again, the memorable journey of this new season, among others.

With the explosion at the end of last season, it feels like we end to Season 2 with much higher stakes for all of the characters. How did this change the way that you were approaching storylines of the season and the show in the face of this?

Cahn: This story, and it's so embarrassing to say, this was Season 1. All of this was Season 1. And then I got about two-thirds of the way through writing it, and I was like, I can't finish this story. It took me a lot of time. And so, we were like, just lop this off. So, it's nice to be doing something that feels like a cohesive whole, but we were able to just take what was coming as the climax of Season 1 and turn it into all of Season 2.

Going into Season 2, because obviously you ended Season 1 with the explosion, and it feels like that made the stakes very different. How did that change the storylines and how you approached them?

Russell: One of the things that we were dealing with in the first season was kind of like the fish out of water. And putting this person who didn't belong in this world and teaching her the rules and how she stuck out and things that were a mess about her. And what's interesting about Season 2 is we don't have to do as much of that work. She's in the role and something traumatic has happened, something big. And so, we're just moving straight into it.

By no means am I polished. There's not as much time for self-reflection and all the things she's doing wrong. It's like, all engines forward.

Sewell: As can happen in relationships when something drastic happens or someone gets hurt or, in a situation like that, there's an immediate animal reaction about your innate caring for someone that can take over everything and make everything else obscure for a while.

And in the aftermath of this explosion, there's a lot of emotional dust in the air, as well. And there's the instinctive clinging towards each other that happens. And that makes it seem, and it is true to a certain extent, as well, that there's a reconciliation that automatically happens. But it doesn't mean that all those other changes have gone away.

They're just obscured. And for a little while, it brings them very much together.

But it's very noisy. It's a noisy situation. And he's very needy in a way that he hasn't really experienced before. And she is in a position where she can see parts of herself in him that she didn't see before that she always thought was him.

But it might be the job and she's beginning to see that. So, there's a lot going on. It's very confusing for them and there's not many people they can trust. So, they are put together in many ways. At the same time, the old problems remain. Thankfully, 'because I love all that.

Photo courtesy of Netflix

Ambassador Kate Wyler navigates very precarious relationships, which also include her own husband, Hal. Could you talk about how Kate approaches Hal this season and how it helps or hinders this time around?

Russell: Well, that's something that we've been talking about. Kate kind of bucking being the boss, absorbing everything that entails.

And in Season 2, she is the boss. And dealing with the fallout of employees who judge her, mistakes, massive mistakes she has made. And looking at Hal maybe in a different way, I think there were some pretty harsh judgments that were said from the way he dealt with things in the past. And now you are the boss and you're going to make mistakes. And I think there is some sort of awareness and hopefully compassion for being the boss and what those entails.

Cahn: I always think of it like the camera that I had when I was 16 had a little wide, and then a tall photo, and you could just flick from one to the other. And I feel like the relationship goes through that instant change this season. And you can be focused on the everyday irritations, the minute-to-minute grievances. And then something happens that just pops it out to you're the other half of me, I'm going to grow old with you.

I almost lost you forever. And those events can change your perspective in a way that you're like, I want to keep this view of the world forever. But then eventually, it comes back. And I think, car bomb or no car bomb, relationships feel like that all the time.

You're like, oh my god, I can't believe I almost lost you. And then, this isn't going to work out. You're going to have to step out now. So, that's just a constant cycle and this is a more exaggerated version of that.

Rufus, how do you see Hal in the season, especially with Kate, as a couple and his own political ambitions?

Sewell: People have interesting reactions to Hal. I mean, a lot of it, I don't think it really has to do with people's personal experience. Sometimes it is. I find it very interesting that some people see Hal the way I do, and some people see him in a much more judgmental way, and then make assumptions about him. People, even interviewing, will describe him as jealous or, doing things for his own interests, etcetera, etcetera.

I like to think he's interesting enough for that to be a possibility. But actually, the one thing I believe is he is Kate's absolute number one fan.

And he has confidence in her beyond her own in many aspects.

And he's absolutely instrumental in her being where she is. Obviously, she is, as well, but he is behind the scenes working for her. And it so happens that he is not in the right shape naturally for singing backup.

And there are a lot of complications. He is very ambitious, but he's ambitious for what they want to achieve. And the play at the moment is for her to be Vice President. That's the available play, so that's what we're doing.

If the play was for him to be Vice President, you can best believe that that's what they would both be doing.

She would be helping there. Because they have an ambition to do great things. And there was a killer instinct behind that, like with all the great politicians.

The ability to achieve a good end, to go towards a good end with a killer instinct. And I think he has that.

Keri, how do you see your character Kate's empowerment of women in politics? In the times we live in, how important is it to reflect some of the truth in fiction?

Russell: We have had the privilege in the last few years because of this show to sit in rooms with some incredible people, incredible women.

Such powerful, intelligent, funny, complicated characters and women. And of course, it's good to see those people. I don't think of it in terms of that. I guess we do. I don't want to say too much about that. We are surrounded by incredible women, and I got to go to a dinner with Hillary Clinton.

And you know, and listen to these amazing women speak, 20 people, because Ambassador Jane Hartley invited me. And how important is it? Of course, it's important for everyone to be represented. But for this role specifically, I think what is satisfying to me is not that it's this woman in this powerful position, but it's this very full portrait of a person, of a woman who is, yes, very smart and very capable and in this powerful position.

But she is also a mess and she also makes terrible mistakes and is also not polished. And her relationship isn't picture perfect and it just feels like a portrait of a full person. And I think that is more important to me than her being powerful.

Debora, the second season finale proves how many different directions "The Diplomat" can take. Without spoilers, did you have an endpoint mapped out already for Season 2, or were you allowing the story to take its own natural conclusion?

Cahn: I did have an endpoint mapped out and this was not it.

That's the fun of it is there's a plan, there's a direction.

We're not completely just dithering around in the dark. But then, you see what you have, you see what you get. Like, there are so many pieces to the show. There are so many relationships in the show and any one of them can take over the center of gravity. And this one certainly did. I was thinking, like I'm always sort of three questions ago.

For me, Season 1 is sort of the tax that you pay in order to get to Season 2.

Which is you're writing something with people with characters that you understand. Where they are now teaching me who these people are. I don't have to explain anything. I just have to watch and then let that be the engine that drives things forward. It's more fun. It changed based on what they did.

Photo courtesy of Netflix

Rufus, we get to see more of Hal's vulnerability in this season. What was it like getting to explore more of this side of him?

Sewell: That's not the way that I would put it. I mean, it might be a vulnerability, it might be physically expressed. It might be more obvious. But I saw him as quite vulnerable in Season 1, too. And it's just a matter of what layers are covering it, how successful they are, whether they gel with the exterior, whatever the counterpoint is. It just takes a physical form in such a way as it has to be practically dealt with. Because he's very adept. He's good at masking. He's good at hiding. But as far as I'm concerned, those little questions and doubts and counterrhythms are always going on.

Keri, what did you enjoy most about shooting in the UK? Did you pick up any British slang? What were your favorite things to do on a day off in London?

Russell: Well, my partner, my guy is a Welsh guy, a Brit, so an expression I like is "Jog on," which means, like, "Fuck off."

We get to shoot in London in the summer, which is absolutely just a delight. And I, as we say often, London's park game is really strong.

The pubs. I like pubs. But yeah. And to go back, talking about going back to questions over and over, you know the question about women in representation, when Debora was writing the show, and like, going to the embassy there and interviewing people, she was explaining what the show was, and they said, "Oh, well, that's just unrealistic, because there's only been one other woman who was the ambassador."

And then we got Jane Hartley. So, representation is important, and I am very grateful for it.

Debora, this season, we get to see West Wing alum Allison Janney as VP Grace Penn. Could you talk to us about the decision to cast her and what viewers can look forward to?

Cahn: It's not a difficult decision.

She was raised as a possibility, and I was like, well, there's no way we can make that happen. And I'll call and she'll say no, and I'll be embarrassed. And she said, yes, which is just very exciting. It was then terrifying.

I was like, terrified of my complete inability to write for a long time, because I'd worked with her a long time ago, and it was great. And 20 years later, was it going to be as good?

I didn't want it to be West Wingy. I wanted it to be its own thing. I wanted the character to be something new and germane to this ecosystem that we built. And we were all nervous in the beginning.

And it just turned out to be really fun.

Debora, how much of the second season was influenced by this fast-changing world in regard to politics and diplomacy?

Cahn: So, there was a strike. As you all know, there was an actors' strike. There was a writers' strike. So, we stopped in the middle of the filming of this season, and we were down, it was terrible, for five months, and then we picked back up and continued.

But the story had been written long, long before. Like, we're not looking to hold a mirror up to today's issue of the newspaper. We're looking to, you know, get into kind of like the zeitgeist of what the country's thinking about. But we don't want to take a rip from outlines.

But suddenly, like the headlines were chasing us a little bit and, right down to we filmed an episode, and, like, two days later, Kamala Harris was wearing the same suit at a rally, and there was the powder blue suit that Keri had been filming in. And yeah, it caught up with us really quick.

Photo courtesy of Netflix

Rufus, in a time where politics are becoming the new reality TV show, it seems that the audiences are eager for shows of political content. Were you a fan of this kind of series before stepping into "The Diplomat"?

Sewell: I was a massive fan of "The West Wing." That's why it felt like a vote of confidence that, Allison wanted to come on. And the West Wing, I really loved the West Wing. And just like Debora says, this has a different feel to it. But when I first read it, it reminded me in great ways of a lot of things, and with the kind of wit and verve of that.

It reminded me in the best ways, without seeming too similar. So really, that's the only one I can think of in terms of television that I was like an avid watcher of. And as soon as I read this, I knew I was going to do it.

Debora, you're writing characters who are the most intelligent people in the room. How do you approach writing texts with the speed of thought they all need to have, whilst also ensuring the language is factually correct for their positions at the same time?

Cahn: Well, we talk to people who are that smart. They are not me.

And we have them on staff available to us. We can call them anytime, and they are out doing this work and prepared to, at least sometimes, pick up the phone. Sometimes they're in an undisclosed location. They read all the scripts. They tell us stories. We ask them what they're worried about and what keeps them up at night, and what they are thinking about that we don't even know what to think about yet. And those are the roots of the stories. And then they look at everything, and, we say, like, don't allow us to bring shame on the family.

Like, tell us if this sounds stupid. Tell us if it's incorrect. Sometimes we'll do it anyway, even if it's incorrect, because the story needs to still be a story that can be on television. But we want to know if we want to choose to make a mistake if we're doing it.

After such an amazing Season 1 of "The Diplomat," what is something about Season 2 that each of you is most excited for audiences to see?

Cahn: Oh God, a bunch of stuff. I mean, I'm excited for the world to see the next phase of this relationship, and a phase of it that I think the characters weren't expecting. And it's a story about a marriage. Like, marriage is complicated and it's great to be able to go past the "oh, they love each other, then they hate each other," into this very new territory of, what it means to spend this very different period in our lives as human beings together?

Russell: Well, I agree. And I think the relationship stuff is the most fun. I mean, that's just the stuff that we get most excited about. And that's the goal of the show. Like, that's what's most exciting. And like you said, the rhythms of a long-term relationship and the ins and outs of it, and that there are many phases of a relationship. And this is a very different phase for this couple.

—MGP, GMA Integrated News