Now that The Afterparty Season 2 has concluded, fans of the hilarious mystery series can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the perpetrator has finally been revealed. Ahead of the finale — and prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike — PopCulture.com had a chance to chat with some of the cast, including Elizabeth Perkins and Anna Konkle, who play mother and daughter duo Isabel and Hannah Minnows, who are both dealing with the loss of their son and brother, Edgar (Zach Woods). During our conversation, the pair talked about the show’s tense trampoline moments, as well as The Royal Tenenbaums inspiration around Hannah, which we saw in Episode 4. [Please Note: The Afterparty Season 2 Spoilers Below.]
In one of Isabel’s very first moments on-screen, we see the cold mom jumping stoically on a trampoline, appearing to have no fun. In truth, it was a lot of fun, and not just because she was an old pro. “It was actually amusing to me because the stunt coordinator came to me and he said, ‘Now you’re going to be jumping on a trampoline, so we’re going to have to do some trampoline jumping lessons,’ and all of this,” she recalled. “I finally said to him, ‘Did you ever see a movie called Big? Because I’m actually quite skilled at jumping on a trampoline.’ He was like, ‘Oh my God, right, right.’”
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Perkins then added, ” So that was one of my favorite things to do, was to jump on that trampoline with absolutely no expression whatsoever. And she’s doing it on purpose. She’s trying to show everyone like, yes, I bought a trampoline and I’m jumping on it. I have not lost my mind. I’m jumping… And I’m enjoying it. This is me enjoying it.”
Taking us through Isabel’s train of thought at that moment, Perkins mused, “The little guy out in the pond. Wait, there’s no guy in the pond. Maybe it’s the person swimming in the pool. There’s no one in the pool. Okay.” She then shared, “I think… she’s drugged, as we learn, and she’s really high and drunk and suffering a profound loss in her life.”
There is no denying that we come to learn how much more complicated Isabel is than when we first meet her, but the same is certainly also true for Hannah, who seems in many ways a homage to Margot Tenenbaum,
Gwyneth Paltrow’s character in Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums. “I went back and watched a lot of Wes Anderson movies and Amelie, like other kind of twee, indie movies,” Konkle said of preparing for the role. “But definitely Margot is a big influence.”
Praising the show’s writers, she went on to share, “It read on the page already. It was obviously very intentional, but I kept sort of being showered with a feeling of rewatching of, they’re also so different. Margot Tenenbaum is, she’s so dry, but you’re in love with her at the same time. I don’t think those are the words you’re using to describe Hannah. There isn’t a, ‘I want to get closer to this person if they’d only let me in.’ Hannah’s like, ‘Can someone hang out with me?’ And I’m trying to find the words to say that, but now no one wants to chill. So yeah, there was definitely really fun overlap to play with.” All 10 episodes of The Afterparty Season 2 are now streaming on Apple TV+.
