'Trying' Stars Esther Smith and Rafe Spall 'Blown Away' by Season 3 Direction (Exclusive)

Among Apple TV+'s exclusive catalog of programming, Trying has become one of the streaming platform's most heartwarming shows since its premiere during the pandemic in 2020. Returning for its third season on Friday with two new episodes following a weekly drop, the Andy Wolton-created series continues to deliver what audiences want out of a sincerely sweet story brimming with the warm naturalism of two underdogs struggling in their journey to parenthood. 

Ahead of the premiere of Season 3 premiering on July 22 on Apple TV+, the series two leads Esther Smith and Rafe Spall — who play Nikki Newman and Jason Ross, respectively — sat down with PopCulture.com in a Zoom call about the show's direction following that Season 2 finale, which found the couple finally fulfilling their life dreams of becoming parents to two very adorable foster children, Princess and her brother Tyler. But as the pair attempt to navigate this newfound dynamic, there are visible tensions brewing beneath the surface.

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(Photo: Apple TV+)

Spall told PopCulture he was "blown away" by the writing this year in how it delivered an abundance of richness with its scripts that are filled with humor, pathos and beauty. "In its own subtle way, [it's] a real investigation into the human spirit and the love and connection all on his own," he said. "[Andy] does it all on his own, and it must be very overwhelming for him. I think that the best shows deliver what the audience hopes for — they want to be satisfied, but in an unexpected way, and you give the audience what they want whilst at the same time you're surprising them. I think this season does a really good job of that. We really root for this pair. We really love them, I think, as an audience."

Spall adds how he and his co-star Smith adore the two characters when watching from the outside in. "We love them as people — they're like our friends. They're like an extension — we look forward to seeing them every year. We look forward to being them every year and I was as excited by the scripts and as satisfied by the scripts as I hope the audience will be too."

Smith echoes Spall's sentiments, admitting she feels the same way about the show as she does every year — and that involves a bit of crying along the way. "I have the same thing of just weeping through as I read them and laughing," she said. "And like Rafe said, sort of just a bit of a marvel, just to be able to have that solely every single season to be surprised by something new that is as emotional or, but also it's the core of it."

She adds how the "adoption storyline is a very real, emotional event in lots of people's lives," and with Season 3 because Jason and Nikki now have Princess and Tyler, audiences will see an elevated development between the couple. "We're also seeing what they're potentially going through," she said while teasing a twist to come that creates a lot more perspective for the characters. "It makes the whole thing extremely real and the stakes so much higher. So inevitably, that is quite emotional as well. But, of course, Andy's very good at underpinning that with some brilliant bits of humor as well."

With Season 3 taking a deeper dive beyond the show's warmhearted nature, Spall revealed he and Smith were quite surprised at not just the predicaments their characters find themselves in but in how much the two endure together in an almost one-eighty spin. "It surprises me, in a sense... how much they get thrown at them and how difficult things can become sometimes, and how even when they feel like they're being pulled apart from each other, these two characters, that the great love and understanding and connection between them sustains," he said. "Even when we're not really seeing each other much... and [Nikki's] working really hard, and we've got the jeopardy of the flat may be getting sold and the kids being taken away, that they still manage against all odds to come back to each other, to talk it out and to connect."

The first two episodes of Trying Season 3 are now available to stream on Apple TV+, with weekly drops premiering every Friday until Sept. 2. Seasons 1 and 2 are now available worldwide. For more on the show and all your favorite stars and streaming series, stay tuned to the latest from PopCulture.com.

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