Santa Clarita Diet’s Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant discuss the tone of season 2.
As of today, Santa Clarita Diet season two is officially streaming! Timothy Olyphant shared at a recent Netflix press event that the tone of the first season felt a bit lost to him and didn’t really gain traction until about halfway through the first season.
"“I think looking back to the first season, the first two, maybe three, episodes were a little rough. I didn’t feel confident until we got to the fourth episode of last year.”"
However, he feels season 2’s tone was “smooth sailing right from the jump.” Drew Barrymore felt it was a bit more difficult for her seeing as how she had to transition from a suburban working woman to an undead zombie.
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Furthermore, this was the first time Barrymore had to come back for a second season of a television show, so it was completely new territory for her.
"“Coming back to a character I’d already played was a new experience for me. So, I was having sort of internal turmoil — am I matching where I was, where we left off, how she changes? Where am I coming from now? So, I had a little bit of a different experience.”"
When talking with the creator of Santa Clarita Diet, Victor Fresco, Olyphant said they wanted to find ways to push the narrative forward while simultaneously balancing the zombie drama and comedy genres.
"“I remember we felt more confident leaning to the drama — felt more confident in not having to be always funny. I think that we realized that the episodes the middle of the season last year when we felt like we really hit our stride. Where the stakes were extremely high. And when the stakes were high, it felt like the show was really working. And so it felt like we just leaned into that a lot.”"
The half-hour comedy balances life and death while presenting the family in the most light-hearted way possible. This is why the series is extremely unique and why the show is truly in its stride.
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In their interview with Indie Wire, Olyphant and Barrymore both stated that Santa Clarita Diet is a family show not suitable for children. One thing the pair truly love about the show is that the couple never truly fights — they always manage to make it work, even given their dire situation.
Santa Clarita Diet season two is now streaming on Netflix!