You both are a bit more reserved and contained on the show. What was the challenge and fun of playing that internalness against the backdrop of some of the nuttier characters on the show?
Sarah Catherine Hook: Great question. We haven’t been asked that yet. I think for me, the challenge is just jealousy. I am like, I wish that would be funny. I don’t get to be a clown like these guys. That’s not fair. But then it’s good to remember that everyone is a very important piece in this puzzle. You need to have the more reserved against the others. If everyone were chaotic, it might have been too much. You kind of need those slower paced ones, I think.
Sam Nivola: Yeah, I agree. I think that is the nature of this show generally. In the end, the characters that are super wacky and fun and funny are the characters who are sort of the most empty inside. I think that can be true in real life. When you’re putting up a mask and a wall, it’s like you’re always performing. What is there at the center? So I really enjoy getting to play characters who have something going on internally. There’s a struggle, and you’re sort of at war with yourself.
Can we talk about Mike White? He writes and directs every episode, which is something rare in the industry today. I would like to know, what else does he bring that is rare and special in the way he builds characters and narratives and directs actors like you?
Sam Nivola: He is an actor, so I think what he brings to the table was sort of new for me. His compassion for the actors. Not that other directors I’ve worked with don’t have compassion, but it’s hard to really pay attention to how your actors are feeling as a director. Because you got a lot to do every day, and there’s a lot of people that need to talk to you and a lot of things you have to attend to. He really understands that keeping your actors in good spirits is really important. Because we’re all really insecure and scared. You sort of have to be that way in order to be emotionally vulnerable enough to give a performance that’s half good. And he knows that and really tries his hardest to make us feel good and happy about what we’re doing and to have fun, which I think really elevates the whole thing and makes it beneficial to everyone, and it’s great.
The first two seasons have already become a phenomenon. When friends or family ask you what happens next, how much do you actually tell them? If I were your friend, I definitely try to make you spill the details.
Sarah Catherine Hook: You’d be surprised, actually. All of my friends are like, “Don’t tell me anything.” They want to be surprised. Like, one of my best friends kind of freaks out at me. I’m like, “Oh my god. I’m just saying I had a fun time. Whoa.”
Sam Nivola: I think people really like the anticipation. It’s exciting, and you just don’t want to spoil it for anyone. So I appreciate that they don’t want it to be spoiled, too. But they are very eager to see it. And I think more than anything, they probably want to talk about just the experience of making it. And that I’m obviously happy to share.
In this show, travel often changes people. So, what would be an ideal vacation for you and for your character in the show?
Sarah Catherine Hook: I have an ideal vacation. Well, actually, it’s not really an ideal vacation, but I went to Japan. I went to Cambodia, Vietnam and Japan. I did a whole Asia tour for myself because I had a month off and I went to this really precious town called Nara in Japan. While I was there, I was like, “Oh my god, this would be Piper’s future.” I feel like she could do her Buddhism thing here and maybe teach English. I just see this life for her. She would thrive in Japan. I mean, Japan is now my favorite country, and it has completely ruined traveling for me. But that’s the ideal setup for her. I think she might just have to move there.
Sam Nivola: I love traveling, but I hate change, which is kind of a terrible combo. I went and lived in Rome for half a year. I love going to a place that’s completely alien to me and just living there for a while. For Lachlan, I don’t know. I think it’d be good for him to get real down and dirty and live in a tiny village somewhere. I think it’d be good for our whole family to just disconnect from the material here.
I’d like to ask Sam about Lachlan. What did you make of him when you first read the script?
Sam Nivola: My initial thought was, this is a character that I’ve kind of played before. Lots of my roles in this early stage of my career have been very, very similar people. Which I think is actually really lucky because I didn’t go to drama school and I’m very inexperienced. So it’s given me a sort of blueprint to be able to try again and again with very similar emotions. And really sort of master those before I move on to different things, which I’m now really excited to do. I was just excited to explore that character deeply because he’s a really complicated individual, and that was really exciting to me. I think the more complex, the better, obviously, as an actor.
Sam, you’re obviously the son of two of independent film’s greatest actors as well (Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Nivolade). Did you go to them for advice at all or did you start fresh with your own inspiration?
Sam Nivola: Yeah, it was kind of more the latter. I talk about this all the time. I have so many people in my life who are actors who I love and look up to, and I try not to ask for too much advice about the acting itself. I think every performance and every actor’s relationship to every character is so different and so personal. I asked Mike for a lot of advice because he’s the one who knows. First of all, my parents didn’t read the script or anything, so they wouldn’t even know what to say. I think every actor’s relationship with their character is super different. I think it’s kind of pointless to try and look for an easy way out by asking people advice. I ask them always about the silly things, like career advice, what jobs I should take and what I need to get it in my contract. You know what I mean? Things like that. That’s very useful.
This season talks about spirituality, right? We have a very clear opposition between Piper and her mother. Piper is a Buddhist, and her mother is a very Western Christian, Western view of the subject. It’s a very clear clash inside the family. I would like to know the other main clashes of opinions and perspectives within the family you would like to highlight for those who haven’t seen the show yet.
Sarah Catherine Hook: That’s kind of hard for me to answer because the whole thing is spirituality dynamics in general. Any kid who doesn’t want to fall into the same pattern that their family is in, they’ll just do the complete opposite. Whether they realize it’s a rebellion or not. I think this happens a lot with kids who go off to liberal arts school. A whole new world. I mean, this happened to me personally. I’m from Alabama, and I went to a school in New York and was an art major. I learned more there than I had ever had in my life before that. And I had my own little Buddhist moment. I grew up in the church and I remember my mom having kind of a meltdown about it. I weirdly had kind of a mirrored experience to Piper. Maybe not as intense. I wasn’t as passionate about it as the way Piper is. But yeah, I think this is a very common thing for young kids who finally leave the nest. They’re discovering a whole new world outside of the little bubble that they were raised in.
