- Shall we talk about the TV show, guys?
I mean we're here anyway.
We have microphones. We have a set.
- I think we should definitely talk about TV shows.
- It feels appropriate to the moment, right?
We're gonna talk some Castle Rock, here.
Melanie, Jane, it's good to see you both.
- Good to see you.
- So yeah, this was high on my list when I heard about this.
I don't know about you guys,
but the combination of the creators behind the scenes,
the Stephen King source material,
just the prospect of this was exciting.
Just give me a sense, like what does the name Castle Rock,
what did the name Castle Rock mean to you?
When you heard of this, did it kind of peak your interest?
- Do you wanna go first?
- Do you want me to go first? - (laughs) Yeah.
- [Josh] We all want Melanie to go first.
- I mean I was a very shy child and didn't have any friends.
Surprise surprise, so all I did was read books.
Like, obsessively.
And I read everything Stephen King had written
up to the point when I was 13.
Like his whole bibliography, I read it.
So I was familiar with Castle Rock and I was very excited.
And I had a Skype with Sam and Dusty
and they just seemed so cool and they really laid out
what was gonna happen with Molly
and there were so many great actors attached already
and I just felt very lucky.
Then Jane came on and I was like "How can it get better?"
It just did. - (laughs evilly)
- (laughs) Cue maniacal laughter.
For you, so what is the thing that peaks your interest
about something like this?
- I, when I first read about my character,
I didn't read Stephen King growing up.
I read Carrie, which was really scary and really good.
And I've learned a lot about K and his work
through working on this project, but one of the first things
I learned about this project was that my character
was described as Tracy Flick meets Ed Gain.
So anyone who doesn't get that reference,
that's Reese Witherspoon's Type-A, plucky,
class president from Election and Ed Gain is the
notorious serial killer who wore people's skin. (laughs)
And I really did think, like,
that is the perfect combination for me. (laughs)
- [Josh] This is the part I was born to play.
- Those were two things I deeply resonate with.
- That is true.
- That's a little disturbing, but hey that's okay.
It's a fascinating show to watch because yeah,
I've watched the first four episodes
and it definitely feels like, I dunno.
It's like a little Twin Peaks-ish,
but in the milieu and mind of Stephen King.
It kind of defies description a little bit,
but it has a deliciously kind of enigmatic air.
Like it's not laying it all out there for you.
It poses a lot of questions week after week, it seems.
For you guys, is that harder for you as an actor?
Like, do you know the scope of the story
before you start on day one?
Do you wanna kind of know where your character's going?
- I mean, I had only read...
I think it was the same for all of us.
We were reading the scripts as we were shooting.
We didn't read the 10 episodes before,
which can be, like, challenging
because sometimes you don't know
quite what you're setting up.
But at the same time, neither do you in life,
so... - [Josh] Right. (laughs)
- Yeah, that's what I always say also,
to try to make peace with it.
'Cause I'm like, okay of course I wanna know
how everything's gonna turn out.
I wanna be able to look into the future and be like,
"I'm gonna live ever after." You don't know.
So that's, you know, getting a script
and having to deal with what comes up
is that's how you feel.
- Also, I loved reading these scripts.
So I was excited every time we'd get a new one to be like,
"Where is it going? What's the answer?"
- You know, I think for King fans,
it operates on a number of levels, right?
Depending on your knowledge of Stephen King.
I think it works for somebody that's just
a very casual seen a couple of the movies or whatever,
but also for the obsessives,
I think it's gonna be pretty ritually rewarding,
and there's some interesting nods.
For instance, your character's name is just,
like start right there, begs some questions.
Torrance is a name we're familiar with from The Shining.
What are we to make of that?
- Jackie, my character,
brushes up very closely to a famous King character.
- [Josh] Right. (laughs)
Okay, way to dance around it. Well done.
For you, as someone that read all the work growing up,
are these kind of nods fun for you just beyond as an actor,
just as an obsessive fan to see that stuff in there?
- Yeah, it was kind of perfect
because there were a couple of them
that I didn't necessarily get when I read the script.
And there were a couple of them that I obviously did,
and I was like, "That's so cool."
But it really made me realize that
even the ones that people don't necessarily know
are just so great as background to the story
and history of Castle Rock and just extra atmospheric
sort of storytelling stuff, so you don't need to know
the books to be able to appreciate it.
- It's also an amazing cast assembled here.
Like that's a true ensemble.
I know you're, I assume you've probably shot all 10, right?
Did you shoot them all?
Amazing, yeah? - Yes.
So looking back and now sort of seeing the scope
of the story and the other characters,
if you could switch places with one of the characters,
if you could try,
I know you love this character in particular,
but if you could try out a different character
in the story, which would you do?
- Well, my favorite character is Melanie's character Molly.
But that could just be because I love Melanie so much,
and Melanie played the character.
No but when I read the scripts, always,
whenever Molly's character showed up, I was really excited.
I love her. - That's so sweet.
- For you, Melanie?
- I would just fail so miserably
if I tried to play your character.
I think I would play Bill's character.
There's so much there that's yet to be revealed.
I mean, he did such a masterful job with it,
with the physicality and the emotional stuff,
and later episodes, you're just like, Whoa that was great.
But that would be really fun to do.
- So what, can you tease me in what's to come?
I've seen the first four, so I've seen almost half of it.
- We can tell you the rest of it if you want.
- Well I don't want that. That's probably not the best way--
- No no no, just to explain.
- Act it out right here. - Yeah, that's fine.
- Do we have, like, sock puppets or something?
- Nobody's gonna mind.
- What's to come? What's the scope of the season?
What happens to your characters in an abstract, broad way?
- My character...
My character kinda comes in and out.
She's like the town taxi driver.
She's like, kinda the town snoop,
so she just sticks her nose in here
and sticks her nose in there.
I can only really speak for me because I'm not like,
my character isn't like, the defining--
- The driver of the narrative.
- Yeah, but Jackie does end up in positions where she...
Into situations she wasn't expecting
and has to, um, kind of rise to the occasion.
That's like so general. (laughs)
- Isn't it fun to promote a show like this
that's like created on secrecy? (laughs)
- Yeah, it's hard.
- It's okay.
- I've never done this before, I don't know how
to do anything but be just pathologically honest.
- [Josh] You are the wrong person for this job.
- Yeah, I really am. I'm just, I get asked a question,
and I'm like, "Uh."
- You shouldn't answer that then, nevermind.
- Thank you, thank you.
- I do wanna, 'cause we're at Comic Con.
I wish to talk about some Comic Con-ish things,
even outside of Castle Rock.
You're always fan casted, as you well know, as Batgirl,
but now it sounds like we're not seeing Batgirl
in the Birds of Prey movie, so yeah.
- I don't know anything about what's going on.
I just am honored that people on the internet tell me
that they think I should play this beloved character.
- Yeah, so the word on the street is now,
is Huntress and Black Canary are gonna be parts of the team,
so are you willing to adapt and,
and go different routes with Batgirl?
- Sure, but I don't know who Huntress or Black Canary--
- [Josh] Just say yeah. - Yeah yeah, 100% I'm in.
- [Josh] I'm trying to help you here, what are you doing?
- (laughs) Thank you for getting me a job. Yes, I'm in.
- You said you can do the pushups.
You've said, you're just ready to rock and roll basically?
- I've worked out with Jane. She's real tough.
She's very tough.
- Yeah, I could. Yeah, I can do a bunch of pushups.
But I don't wanna show you right now.
- I feel like you were trying to decide, like...
Okay. (laughs)
And for you, you said you've been to Comic Con,
but this is the first time kinda like in official capacity.
- Yeah, I've just been here like taking pictures
of whoever I'm in a relationship with
and someone who wants a picture with them.
That's been my previous capacity.
- Is this a better way to be or is this more pressure?
- I mean, it's more pressure to have to actually do stuff
other than work someone's iPhone.
It's exciting though. It's really fun.
- There's a lot of anticipation for this one, legitimately.
So that must be a nice boost for the cast.
- Yeah, I've never done anything that is part of
this kind of world before, so it's a whole new thing.
- Congratulations on Castle Rock.
I wanna get this right, July 25th, Hulu, coming very soon.
Everybody check it out. Thanks for stopping by, guys.
It was good to see you both. - Thank you.