The new season 2 of “The Flight Attendant” begins this Thursday in France on Warner TV. On this occasion, Kaley Cuoco and the showrunners of the series tell us all about these new episodes in which Sharon Stone plays Cassie’s mother.
AlloCiné: For the first season of The Flight Attendantyou were particularly inspired by the films ofAlfred Hitchcock and Brian de Palma. What were your influences for season 2?
Steve Yockey (showrunner): You will see that the influence of Alfred Hitchcock is still present in this new season. But I think we give this universe a more modern and trendy tone. For example, in The man who knew too muchyou follow the American arrogance of James Stewart who drugs his wife and does horrible things, even though he remains the hero of the story.
In The Flight Attendant, all the roles that are normally played by men are actually given to women. And conversely, female roles become male. There is also a clear influence of Courtyard window in the first episode of season 2, with the hotels facing each other and Cassie “spying” on what is happening right in front of her.
What is the main theme of this second season?
Steve Yockey: The first season was about honesty and loyalty. She asked the question “What does it mean when we lie to ourselves?”. The second season, meanwhile, chronicles Cassie’s obstacle course with her sobriety. The overriding theme this time around is acceptance and what we need to do to pick up the shattered pieces of our identity.
It is also a look at alcoholism and what lies behind this addiction. How to heal and find meaning in your life. Natalie came up with the idea of Cassie and her “doubles”, and I found this theme of duality within our identity totally fascinating.
Natalie Chaidez (showrunner): It’s the confrontation with your demons that is at the heart of this series. How to face them and how to rebuild to move forward and leave behind psychological fractures.
Kaley, how did you approach the fact of playing several versions of Cassie in this season 2?
Kaley Cuoco : We are lucky to have a universe that takes place totally in the mind of Cassie, we call it the “Mind Palace”. We had this process in season 1, when my character spoke with Alex, who appeared to him when he was deceased. And in these new episodes, we decided that she would talk to herself.
These other versions of Cassie represent what my character doesn’t like about her. At first, I thought it was a brilliant idea to play lots of different versions of Cassie, but during the filming I realized how challenging it was. Some weeks, I spent my time fighting against myself, with stunt doubles who looked like me. Planning such a shoot is completely crazy and requires a lot of composure and precision, which is not in my nature (laughs). So I had to adapt to the situation.
It was a totally crazy experience but one that I don’t regret for a second. We all held our breath during this second season because it is much more explosive than the first. It’s almost ten times bigger than what we did in Season 1.
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How was the collaboration with Sharon Stone, who lends her features to Lisa Bowden, Cassie’s mother?
Kaley Cuoco: It wasn’t easy finding someone to play Cassie’s mother. We wanted an iconic actress. We learned that Sharon Stone liked the series and we immediately tried to convince her to join the adventure. Alcohol-related issues are something she ran through her family and so she identified with Cassie’s story.
It’s funny because the first time she came on set, I was shooting a scene in a car and she immediately came towards me shouting “My child!”. She behaved like a mom with all of us on set. Sharon is very maternal. And she really understood the wounds that exist between her character and her daughter. You’ll see that all the scenes I have with Sharon do a good job of explaining where Cassie’s trauma is coming from. These are important moments to better understand the journey of my character.
Steve Yockey: The scenes between Cassie and her mother are crucial because they really allow us to understand where Cassie’s psychological fracture comes from and why she drinks so much. Some people didn’t understand why we didn’t want a caring, “maternal” mother. But it was the only way to explain Cassie’s behavior. She had to go through extremely difficult times to get where she is in her life.
Natalie Chaidez: Sharon Stone gave an electric dimension to the scenes that we had written. She has crazy talent. Sharon didn’t hold back and gave it her all, letting go of that explosive energy that devours this mother character.
Is Cassie different now that she doesn’t drink anymore?
Kaley Cuoco: She definitely thinks she’s gotten smarter because she doesn’t drink anymore. She brags to everyone saying that she has a new life totally different from the previous one. But we will soon realize that she lies to herself and lies to others. Very quickly you will see that his life has absolutely not changed.
Naively, she thought it was easy to abstain from drinking, but in reality sobriety is a real challenge for her. Although her job for the CIA should give her a chance to focus, she can’t control herself and she feels the need to drink.
We let you discover how she will manage to survive this new season. It won’t be easy. It was a real challenge, with the rest of the team, to write a completely original season, and not taken from the book of Christopher A. Bohjalian which we had fully used for the first season.
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Are you collaborating with the CIA at the time of writing, in order to offer true authenticity to the series?
Kaley Cuoco: Absolutely. The writers and producers are in contact with the CIA to make the series as realistic as possible. They advise us on the smallest details of dialogues, costumes, or even postures. But I admit that I let the team manage this relationship with the CIA. I have too much to deal with myself with the seventeen different Cassies on the show (laughs).
The first season came out during the pandemic, when most flights were canceled and we couldn’t travel. Do you think that contributed to the success of the series?
Kaley Cuoco: I remember everyone was nervous about releasing the show in the midst of a pandemic because no one could travel. But ultimately, The Flight Attendant was a big hit because everyone wanted to think about something else and get away from it all. With Cassie, we therefore had the possibility of going on an adventure while being confined to our homes. I think that thanks to us, the audience felt like they could jump on a plane and escape the gloom of everyday life for a bit.
Are you already considering a possible third season?
Natalie Chaidez: It’s a little early to talk about it, but we’re definitely thinking about it. It will depend on the success of this second season.
Catch two episodes of The Flight Attendant every Thursday at 8:55 p.m. on Warner TV and On Demand from September 8.
Our exclusive video interview with Kaley Cuoco and Steve Yockey during season 1 of The Flight Attendant: