00:00So I heard it was your idea to send Joel the therapy this season. Why was that something you wanted to do?
00:05Well, I mean we talked about it in season one and I just kept thinking in a
00:11in a post-apocalyptic world, which is a barter economy, what would be useful and
00:15what would not be useful? So like real estate? Not useful. Doctor? Useful. Somebody
00:21that you fix shoes? Useful. Therapist? Incredibly useful. Everybody who's left is
00:27hurting everybody and from that we you know I actually wrote a scene for the
00:33first season didn't fit for time and so we relocated it here and I'm so glad we
00:37did because it takes on much more interesting dimensions in this season.
00:40The way Catherine O'Hara's character integrates with some of the other
00:44people in the story including a character that has been referenced in the games but
00:48never seen before is really it's really cool and it also gives us a chance to
00:54see what people tell their therapists. You think they're always telling the
01:00therapist the truth. What are the parts they don't tell the therapist? That's
01:04where it gets interesting. And how did you decide Caitlyn as Abby and she was kind of
01:09the right choice there? Well for starters it's Caitlyn Deaver. So you're already
01:14thinking okay we need somebody who can stand on her own as the hero, as the villain, as
01:22somebody we love, as somebody we're confused by, as somebody we root for and against. They have to
01:28make us connect to them in this deep way and Caitlyn just has a I don't know this
01:34profound nature. There's a depth there and you I would say they're actors that you
01:38you want to hang out with but then they're actors you want to hug and she's
01:42both at the same time. That's what's so amazing about her and she also has an
01:46interesting history because many years ago Neil was thinking about making it to a movie. They were talking to a younger, much younger Caitlyn
01:52Deaver about playing Ellie. So she's kind of always been in the family. She loves the
01:56game. Neil and I sat down with her and it was sort of like oh yeah what are we
02:00doing? That's yes. The answer is yes. If she says yes we're saying yes.
02:03Yeah that's a very fun full circle moment there. And obviously the show can get
02:07very dark and grueling. How do you kind of support the cast and all of that and
02:11kind of getting in and out of that mentally and for yourself too? Well that's a
02:15great question. So I'm personally sort of obsessed with everybody's mental health
02:20in general. We are doing a lot of dark stuff. I think sometimes it's less what
02:24people think. People may think it's the dark scenes, the difficult dialogue, those
02:29emotions that are... A lot of what we... Actors are very good at kind of letting it
02:35out and then it's out. They get in the car at the end of the day it's gone and they
02:39kind of have to be. But physically we are very demanding show so we are very
02:43concerned about their safety and we want to make sure that everybody is both
02:46mentally healthy and well. And when we work on scenes we have intimacy
02:50coordinators, stunt coordinators and I also I just like I'm their dad. So all of
02:56them. I'm like just text me. Is there a problem? Are you too hot? Are you too cold?
02:59What do you need? You need socks? What do you need? Anything. Do you not feel well? I'm
03:03like I'm daddy, mommy, I'm all those things to them because I love them so much.
Comments