(upbeat music)
- Hi this is Mariah Geller from the Hollywood Reporter
and we're in studio today with Harry Lloyd.
- Hi.
- Hi, so season two of Counterpart is upon us.
- Almost yeah, it's almost here, finally.
It feels like we were shooting season two for a long time.
- Really?
- We started on the coldest day in Berlin, 28th of February.
- And we finished in like, - Oh wow.
- sweltering hot, late September Berlin.
- Wow. - It was nuts, yeah.
- And did you have any filming in LA this time?
- Yeah, we did the middle chunk in LA
about two months in LA for a lot of the studio stuff.
- But, you experienced some great Berlin weather.
Some nice extreme Berlin weather.
- Yeah, we got both ends of Berlin.
When the whole season is.
Well hopefully no one will notice.
(laughter)
- Well we're starting off with, you know,
more mysteries, you know, more questions than answers.
- Sure, sure
- I believe, but I think that's the fun of the show.
- Yeah, you want to start of with
some more questions, for sure.
- What do you think is the overall theme of season two?
- Interesting.
I was talking to Justin, the creator, last night
we had a nice cast dinner now that
we're all in town for the premiere tonight.
And he said, I just realized quite recently in the
edit what the theme of season two is.
And it's about the fact that this, whether we like it
or not, is a war between these two sides.
- Okay
- These two versions of a single person
cannot coexist and as soon as you accept
that, you might get ahead.
- That's very interesting, that's a very
kind of Darwinian sort of idea - Yeah, right.
I thought it was interesting.
- There are two people occupying,
in Darwinism it's two species occupying the
same niche, the same environment, one has to go.
- Yeah, I mean there's all kinds of things in season two.
I haven't finished watching it, I'm about
halfway through, but seeing it now all put together
it's bigger than season one.
But it's so rewarding.
You've taken a long time in season one to understand
just the concept of how these two worlds
kind of coexist in this cold war
and it feels like the cold war but it's not and
you kind of understand the rules now.
And then you can start really having some fun with it.
And asking those questions.
And people will be asking their own questions and actually,
you can't trust anyone 'cause we
have sleeper agents around.
You don't know who's from what side or who's
loyal to what and everyone's either hiding
a massive secrete, like my guy.
Or trying to find out something that their life
depends on, also kind of like my guy.
- Yeah
- Everyone is in high stakes territory.
- Yeah, yeah.
We're seeing a little glimpse of the
Alpha Prime marriages and they seem pretty intense.
- Yes.
I think that's fair to say.
Yeah, it's.
It's alright.
- You're like I'm not going to say anything.
- Yeah, I've got to be careful, yeah.
(laughter)
- One thing we haven't seen yet, is the
Prime version of Peter Quayle are we going
to get to see him in this season?
- I legally am not allow to say, but I will
say that, we were all told
before we started shooting season one
that every character has another,
whether the audience
won't meet them or will meet them is up for grabs.
- Right.
- But he exists.
- Right.
- For sure.
- You know eventually you find out what happens
to them or where they exist.
- Yeah, I know a little bit about Quayle Prime,
I will say.
- Ah, interesting, interesting.
Tell me a little about working with J.K. Simmons.
Is he somebody that kind of glean experience
from or you know, just because of the age difference.
- Just the experience and the talent.
Of course, just 'cause he's so good at it.
I mean, of course, to be fair before you met
the guy I was absolutely terrified.
- Yeah
- 'Cause I had seen Whiplash and I thought
oh shit, that's a.
- That's a good introduction to him as a person.
- Yeah, but no he's completely lovely.
He's like a dad.
You know, he's always talking about family
and just real life stuff and on set this
season I ended up talking to him loads about
a lot of the theater he's done.
Like, 'cause he started off doing musical theater
- Oh yeah
- Before he started doing TV and we'd talk about
plays and Broadway
and yeah.
But he's someone also that on camera, as well,
you can really have fun.
Like once you've
you're on board and you've talked about the script
and we've rehearsed it then you can kind of
throw each other around a bit and it's really
kind of playful. - Yeah
- But, now we're kind of more comfortable in our
kind of characters and in this season
Peter Quayle and Howard Prime have a lot to do
together 'cause their the only two
people who know certain things.
- Yeah
- Their always kind of quite grumpy with each other.
Their like this.
- Yeah they have a contentious relationship.
- Yeah, it is, it's like a slightly old married couple
they kind of have to live with each other, but
they don't like it. - Yeah
- So it was always quite a lot of fun.
I really enjoy working with him.
- That's fun, the back and forth between.
- Yeah
- And then at the end of the day, do you have
to be like, hey I didn't mean that.
- No it's always, I think you wouldn't do it
if their was any question that you might take it personally.
We're on, I think we're on the same page I hope.
- There's so many mysteries to uncover.
Are there any that your wondering, like who is
leading the prime world?
Who's on the other side of the video camera?
- Oh yeah, I have loads of questions.
And every time, for example, Justin, last night
was talking to me about ideas he has, you know
if we're lucky enough to get a third season.
Which, we'll be finding out.
And I always want to say just like this great idea,
what if this.
And he says this, you know what I'm thinking actually
we were going to do this and then this.
And I say, oh do that, that's so clever.
So I'm always desperate to hear as much as anyone
else what's going to happen next and what their playing with.
But yeah, I still got lots of questions, for sure.
- Is there anything you can tease out about the
world building of this season.
- Oh, I'll get in so much trouble.
What can I say?
Well season one, episode one, it's just
Peter has made a pretty defining decision at the
end of that episode that he will no longer simply
be the guy trying to have it both ways.
And like what we were saying earlier,
that you kind of have to pick a side.
You are at war.
- Right.
- People like Peter and a lot of characters
at the end of season one, they're trying to
have it both ways and this season is
all about you've got to pick a side ultimately.
And Peter seems to be edging that way.
- Interesting, very interesting.
- Very ambiguous and not clear at all.
- He's heading towards a side.
- Yes, he's less vague than he was.
I will say.
- Very good, very good.
Let's talk a little bit about The Wife.
This movie is getting a lot of award season attention.
- I just found that out. - Really?!
- Yeah, I turn up in LA and suddenly everyone
talks to you about awards, I was like
that's fantastic. - Everybody's talking about it
Yeah, how did you get involved in the project.
- A long time ago, I
went for a meeting with Bjorn, the director,
and he was meeting a couple of people
for this part and then I think he walked them out
and he showed me his book and it sounded amazing
and then I came in and I think I read for him and I
yeah and I got offered it.
Like, way before we starting filming it.
And then I think it got moved back a little bit
and eventually we shot it all in Scotland.
And even that was all set.
And they did a little bit in Sweden.
And it was wonderful.
It was me and Glenn and Jonathan Price, and Annie,
Glenn's daughter playing two versions of this couple.
- Yeah
- All hold up in this very chilly city in Scotland and
hanging out and playing Backgammon.
It was very civilized with this wonderful
Scandinavian director it was really a happy job.
- That sounds nice.
- Yeah.
- Did you have to do any research to play a
young Jonathon Price?
- Sure, I mean I kind of knew Jonathon a little
bit before, we used to live near each other.
And when I was working on the accent,
playing him the 1950's the accent would
of been a little bit stronger.
Slightly more kind of the Jewish New York.
So, I was working on that and then trying to
hint a little bit towards his accent.
And then as ever, you try and do too many
things at once and then you throw it all
away and hope that some of it stuck.
But, yeah we talked a lot about the
character me and Jonathon, before hand
about things that he was doing.
But, it was bit like when I played
the Young Jim Broadbent in a film, I thought,
I look nothing like Jim Broadbent.
And neither of us really look like the guy
we're meant to be playing.
So you do certain things and then you kind of just
play the scene and hopefully.
- Yeah
- The magic of film will take care of it.
- I mean, it's unusual to work on a movie where
your playing a younger version of two other actors
and actually have the actors there to be able to
- Yeah
- talk to and interact with.
- It's true, on both those films I was really lucky
that I had access to both these very
esteemed older actors who are both
playing the main part and I was just kind of
a supporting character introducing some
aspects of the background.
But both were actually, and I asked the director, can I
can we have a meeting and talk about it
and everyone was always really open.
I find that with actors their always kind of
scary or intimidating like J.K. Simmons
he might be of them.
When you get down and start talking about the work
then you're all on the same side and it's really
often a really loving environment.
- Yeah.
- Glenn Close has said that it took
about 14 years to get this movie made.
- Well, that doesn't surprise me.
I mean, it took almost two years from
me being involved which was really late on.
So, yeah. - Yeah.
- It's one of those, but it's because a lot
of people fought very hard to make it and
their very passionate about it and
I'm so glad that they all stuck it out because
I think it's a really special little film.
- Yeah, she did say that some of the difficulty
that it was just the tittle.
That is was The Wife and that you know,
a lot of people didn't want to get involved
as especially actors, she just kind of eluded to the
fact that calling a movie The Wife, maybe
it wasn't the right time to make it.
- Yeah.
- Did it feel like it was movie for this time,
this age. - I don't know.
- What we're doing right now.
- I don't know.
To be honest, in terms of the climate of all that
it wasn't really in my mind when we were shooting
all of it because we did it a couple, two,
three almost, years ago.
But it's ever with stuff which ends
up being timely when it's actually delivered to the
audience is regardless of when you actually made it.
I think it's when people are thinking about stuff
and you connect to something that's honest
and truthful about difficult subjects, hopefully
it will always resonate with whatever the
climate is today.
I just remember when I was reading it, I didn't
think this was a great story for today I
just thought this is a great story and I did
not know where it was going.
And I was fascinated by this relationship
and how messy it was and how they talked to
each other.
I just really like the observation of it.
- So, I have to talk to you about
Game of Thrones.
- Sure
- I assume that you are very excited to see the last
season, like the rest of us.
- Very excited, yes.
- You know, it's funny that your character
was done after season one but he's still
relevant in that his plot
to take over the world is
finally coming into fruition through
his sister.
- I mean the Targaryens are tricky people to kill,
yeah I mean, they will.
Yeah, no his legacy lives on I feel.
- [Mariah] Have you spoken to any of the actors or
is there like a dead characters club that
gets to talk to each other.
- Your allowed to speak to other people that have
died, but your no longer actually allowed to
fraternize with people still in the show.
Its frowned upon.
- Wow, really?
(laughter)
So you don't really get to talk to Amelia about anything.
- Yeah, no it's a no.
The producers would come down on it.
- [Mariah] But have to talked to Jason Momoa at all?
- I haven't spoken to Jason recently.
But I see billboards of him all over town.
- Right.
- I'm looking forward to seeing his new film, for sure.
(laughter)
- [Mariah] Yeah, are you rooting for any particular outcome?
- I always thought Hodor
should of been in charge of everything.
(laughter)
But unlikely at this point.
(laughter)
- So, you just want to watch and see what happens.
- Yeah, I'm a fan like everyone else now.
- You're not placing any bets?
- No and I have no inside knowledge at all.
(laughter)
- Excellent, well Harry Lloyd thank you
so much for being here.
- Thanks for having me.
- And Counterpart season two is upon us and
The Wife is in theaters.
Thank you.