In this version, Nick (Steve Carell) dies. Does that also happen in the 1981 film version?
Not at all.
Were you stunned when you read this, or did you know ahead of time?
I gasped when I read the script, and it was right before a table read. We were Zoom table reading since we were on different coasts. I had to compose myself before the Zoom because I did not see that coming, and I don’t think the audience is going to see it coming.
After Anne finds out about Nick’s death, Terry (Toby Huss) breaks into song on the guitar by singing a rendition of “Candle in the Wind.” That scene nearly killed me as a viewer, so what was it like for you?
That scene with Toby Huss playing the guitar…I rewound that 15 times. How can you write something that is equal parts soul-sucking, gut-wrenching, the saddest thing you’ve ever seen in your life, and in a millisecond, you are laughing so hard that you’re crying?
Also, the way we find out when Anne gets the most horrific information delivered to her, while we see Toby and his little naked tushy, and then Will’s character getting frustrated and saying, “Terry, get out!” To have these high, high moments of comedy with these deeply painful moments; Tina threads that needle like nobody else. That’s why she’s the GOAT.
Then we get the reveal at the end that Nick’s girlfriend, Ginny, is expecting. I did not expect that at all. What excites you about potentially getting to play that storyline in a season two?
Anne needs to be needed, and she needs a purpose. She doesn’t know what it looks like to just be Anne in space. I’m not saying that’s necessarily a good thing, that she’s always searching for what that other half is or that other thing that’s going to fulfill her, but she is at this point in her story. I think there’s hope there of continued connection of; she’s come full circle, and in the end, she did find connection with the least likely person in her current orbit. Now, here comes this little baby who is the child of the man she loved. There’s so much to it. The juxtaposition of what Lila, our daughter, says, “Can we just admit that Ginny is just mom in a younger body?” There’s so much there. It’s a beautiful mess.