‘Foundation’ Season 2: Leah Harvey Unpacks the ‘Tricky’ and ‘Emotional’ Connection Between Salvor and Gaal (Exclusive)

Foundation Season 2 serves as a homecoming of sorts for Salvor Hardin, as the Warden of Terminus comes face-to-face for the first time with her biological mom Gaal Dornick. Ahead of the July 14 Season 2 premiere of the Apple TV+ show, actor Leah Harvey opened up to PopCulture.com about the “tricky” and “emotional” ride Salvor and Gaal (Lou Llobell) are about to embark on in the upcoming season. 

Kicking off more than a century after the first season’s finale, Foundation Season 2 finds Salvor and Gaal trying to figure out exactly what their relationship will be after Hari Seldon’s protégée is surprised by the adult version of her biological daughter. “I reckon Salvor definitely had a plan and knew that this might happen, and so has a certain expectation,” Harvey told PopCulture. “And Gaal definitely, I think is a bit flummoxed by it all and needs a bit more time.”

“So we’ll see them try and navigate that because it’s tricky and it’s emotional and you want connection, but sometimes you have to be patient,” they continued. “It’s quite a relatable thing, I think with a lot of people, with a lot of relationships. Sometimes, you have to really learn to communicate those things.” While the duo sometimes will “butt heads,” other times they will “get really close and share emotional things,” Harvey teased.

Mother-daughter issues are the least of Salvor and Gaal’s worries, however, as a second crisis looms ahead. “They’re trying to prepare, they’re trying to get ready, and they’re going to try and achieve each goal as they go and put their all into it,” Harvey teased of the intergalactic adventures awaiting Gaal and Salvor, who gets a much more “nuanced” role this season. “When we think about Salvor … in the first season, [she] is really reacting to everything that’s going on around her. This season, we get that, but we also get that we were talking about the emotional side and the relationship side,” they continued. “So it’s a good balance of dealing with all the crises and then dealing with just her mom.” Foundation Season 2 debuts globally on Apple TV+ Friday, July 14. New episodes will be released weekly through Sept. 15.