'Space Force' Star Tawny Newsome Reveals How the Pandemic Factored Into Her Character's Breakdown (Exclusive)
Space Force Season 2 has finally arrived on Netflix just in time for the long weekend, but things have gone a little out of orbit for Captain Angela Ali, who has been suffering from PTSD following her return to Earth from the moon. With her crew tasked to rescue the Chinese after some friendly rivalry got out of hand and led to the Space Force team's pet bird being eaten, Angela now feels trapped and anxious. In an interview with PopCulture.com to chat about the behind-the-scenes shenanigans with the cast and what the stars think is coming after that Season 2 cliffhanger, Tawny Newsome delves into character Angela's issues, admitting it's a genuine and relatable feeling.
"I [thought] about how isolating the last couple of years of the pandemic have been for so many people and how even though I've largely been fine, just the disconnect, just being disconnected from people, is something that she literally had to deal with," Newsome told PopCulture when discussing her character's detachment from her Space Force team and self. "She was stranded on the moon. She was not able to get home. A very physical embodiment of the sort of pandemic things that we all experienced."
Adding how she "leaned into that" and then acknowledged the "pressure of her having to be the best" in her role as everyone around Angela touts her as a hero, Newsome says it's that kind of pressure that "makes you feel like not doing much for yourself."
"That's why she's she's throwing clothes out of the window instead of washing her clothes. Because I think once you have so much pressure from outside forces on you, it just makes you not want to do a lot," she said. "So I tried to think about that, how I would feel if all eyes were on me for something so monumental and yeah, how to shut down, but without making it too depressing, because this is still a comedy show. And I think we found some fun stuff with her drumming in the middle of the night, which is a pure serial killer move for her neighbors."
A big part of Season 2 is how the Steve Carell and Greg Daniels created series explores Angela's relationship with Chan (Jimmy O. Yang) in what she calls a "casual way," which is also her just "acting out." Newsome continued, "We found good ways to show this complete breakdown." But it doesn't just encompass her relationship with Chan. Angela is looking for a way out of the Space Force, hoping for a quiet life and moving to Hawaii. But while she ultimately stays at the force after Gen. Mark Naird (Carell) convinces her and takes up the new role as Major Angela Ali, not all is looking good for the team after they spot something in the sky that throws them off course. With the ending of Space Force up in the air and many wondering what is ahead for Season 3, Newsome tells PopCulture she would like to see her character getting some actual therapy.
"I think she needs it. I think it's interesting that she didn't get any help after going to the moon. No, but that's not as fun to play. What I think would be fun to play is I think she needs to probably start an ill-advised business and try to get all of her Space Force friends to participate in that business. I bet that could be a fun little arc for her," she said.
Meanwhile, her co-star Ben Schwartz, who plays F. Tony Scarapiducci, has bigger plans for Space Force when it returns. "I would love it to either be a season that feels like [this] or just be a big, cool movie because that's almost what it lends itself to, without spoiling it at the end of it," he said. "I would love it to feel like that whether it's through a season of television or a Netflix cool movie and then when people see the ending, they'll understand what I'm talking about because I think all of us get to shine and be heroes kind of, maybe I don't know, or failures."
Space Force Season 2 is now available to stream on Netflix. For more on Space Force and all your Netflix news, keep it locked right here to PopCulture.com.