‘The Morning Show’ Star Reese Witherspoon Speaks out on Bradley’s Unexpected Kiss

Three episodes into Season 2 of The Morning Show on Apple TV, and there’s already been a surprising kiss. As viewers are introduced to the openly gay UBA news anchor Laura Peterson (Julianna Margulies), they become aware of some intensity that seems to spark between her and Bradley as they hit the road to cover the election. It all culminates in an unexpected kiss between the two.

“It’s so unexpected and it’s so typical Bradley to do something so out of the ordinary out of desperation,” Margulies told Entertainment Tonight. “And the fact that Laura — when Bradley goes, ‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ — Laura’s like, ‘Huh, that’s OK,’ and goes right back in, I loved it.” Margulies tells the outlet that Witherspoon was the one who approached showrunner Kerry Ehrin with the idea, initially. “It was an important story for all of us to talk about and very important for Reese to explore,” she says, noting that the outcome is “very honest and beautiful.” 

It looks like Bradley is moving on from her Season 1 flirty relationship with Cory. The kiss marks the starting point of Bradley’s sexual exploration as a person with a queer identity, which will be seen throughout the rest of the season. Witherspoon says she was inspired by one of her friend’s journeys of self-discovery. “Not getting too much into my friend’s history, but I have a girlfriend who in her 40s became very curious about her sexuality and started to feel not encumbered by other people’s opinions of her,” Witherspoon shared. “So I thought it would be kind of an interesting idea for Bradley to be curious and also more open.”

“One of the really interesting things about Bradley’s character is she has a hard time claiming who she is,” she continues. “She doesn’t like to talk about her family because her brother is a drug addict, her mother is an alcoholic and she feels embarrassed and ashamed [by them]. And identifying herself as anything is difficult for her character. And so this really added another dimension to who she was.”