{"id":274462,"date":"2026-01-31T22:55:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T22:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/274462\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T22:55:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T22:55:08","slug":"vic-michaelis-on-cheryls-big-betrayal-and-their-season-2-pitch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/274462\/","title":{"rendered":"Vic Michaelis on Cheryl\u2019s Big Betrayal and Their Season 2 Pitch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: This story includes spoilers from \u201cPonies\u201d Episode 8.<\/p>\n

Vic Michaelis is one of the breakout stars of Peacock\u2019s bingeworthy new spy drama, \u201cPonies,\u201d<\/a> thanks to a juicy twist in the Season 1 finale. So, it may surprise you to learn that Michaelis didn\u2019t know the scope of their character\u2019s arc until reading the scripts en route to Budapest to film.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not know her twist until I was on a plane to Budapest, because I was the last one cast,\u201d Michaelis told TheWrap. \u201cThey were having a tough time casting her \u2026 I was the last sort of regular cast [member] that ended up fitting into this puzzle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michaelis, who uses they\/them pronouns, recalled auditioning for the part five times in one week, noting the whole process was a bit \u201crushed.\u201d It didn\u2019t help that they were on tour on the East Coast when they got the call that they landed the part and were needed in Budapest ASAP.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so, the bag that I had brought to tour came with me to Budapest. It was crazy,\u201d they noted, before quipping, \u201cI ended up getting more clothes. Don\u2019t worry. I know that\u2019s what all of the readers are going to be worried about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\u201cPonies\u201d\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Yet, as Michaelis shared, they didn\u2019t learn that Cheryl, the controlling office manager and wife of CIA operative Ray, was the mole at the American Embassy until they were mid-flight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m reading these scripts over the Atlantic, and I just audibly gasp when I get to the end of Episode 8,\u201d they shared. \u201cEveryone is sleeping. I\u2019m wide awake. I\u2019ve never been more awake in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the twist was certainly a jaw-dropping one, Michaelis did note that there were Easter eggs along the way hinting at Cheryl\u2019s devious behavior.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think [creators] Susanna Fogel and David Iserson and all the writers did a really wonderful job with the power of suggestion,\u201d Michaelis said. \u201cWomen aren\u2019t taken seriously in this world, and they say it a lot and confidently at the beginning \u2014 and that gets you so far. When you look back on it, Cheryl is literally following Dane [played by Adrian Lester] around, doing like the thing that killers and bad guys do the most, which is return to the scene of the crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the motivation behind Cheryl\u2019s big betrayal, Michaelis pointed to conversations they had with Fogel and Iserson, highlighting that \u201cego\u201d often plays a big role in why many people spy.<\/p>\n

They continued: \u201cWith Cheryl, and this is sort of based on small conversations and how I filled this in not knowing where this story could go exactly for another season \u2014 fingers crossed, I don\u2019t have any information \u2014 I think it is probably something that\u2019s like boiling a frog. It was really slow, at first, and small, and it was exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Emilia\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Michaelis also noted that Cheryl\u2019s frustrations of being routinely overlooked, despite being a highly competent person, also may\u2019ve played a factor in her decision to work for the Russians.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of a sudden somebody was going, \u2018You\u2019re so good at this. They\u2019re not using you at all in the way that they should be using you. You\u2019re amazing,\u2019\u201d Michaelis noted. \u201cAnd Cheryl, this person who thinks that about herself and is so deeply capable \u2026 and in another world and in other circumstances, probably would have risen above her station, but it\u2019s just burning her alive, and she\u2019s like, \u2018Yeah, I am so good at this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, the dynamic between Cheryl and Ray, the seemingly perfect Embassy couple, also fueled things. In Episode 7, the couple get into a heated argument outside an Elton John concert, with Cheryl notably declaring, \u201cEverything I do [is for you].\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s so much resentment,\u201d they said. \u201cI think the marriage, as dysfunctional as it is, probably started with a grain of love. My guess is Cheryl had a lot of choices and she picked Ray for a lot of reasons. I think she really thought, he was going to be a senator, or something like that. They were going to do this, like, CIA thing for two years, and then he was going to go run for governor of Utah, as I\u2019m sure every governor of Utah has before him.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, even though Cheryl\u2019s seen kissing another man, a Russian KGB agent, and killing their nanny in the finale, Michaelis maintained that Cheryl\u2019s actions are rooted in the love she has for her family.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\""Bel-Air"\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI think one of the best motivations to kill is for people you love,\u201d Michaelis explained. \u201cCheryl was so calm about it. I\u2019m like, that has to be because she goes, \u2018This is for the people that I love most in this world.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

As for how all of this might surface in a possible Season 2, Michaelis confessed they haven\u2019t been \u201cgiven a clue\u201d about what\u2019s to come \u2014 but admitted they did throw out a plot pitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a really famous production of \u2018Hair,\u2019\u201d Michaelis shared. \u201cAnd I just really think we should integrate that some way, like, Diane Keaton was in [the original Broadway production]. How are they in Moscow during this time? Does that relate to what\u2019s happening? I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t have those answers, but I feel in my bones, it\u2019s going to be deeply important to the plot.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Michaelis is continuing their fruitful collaboration with Dropout, the independent comedy subscription service where they lead the parody, improvisation talk show \u201cVery Important People.\u201d In fact, Michaelis made it clear that \u201cwild horses couldn\u2019t stop me\u201d from continuing on with Dropout.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love working at Dropout,\u201d they said. \u201cI do think it\u2019s been a question lately, where people are like, \u2018Does this mean you\u2019re going to not be doing Dropout stuff?\u2019 And I\u2019m like, \u2018Absolutely not. I know where the building is. I\u2019ll just keep showing up. They can\u2019t kick me out, even if they wanted to. I\u2019ll sit with the security guard until [CEO] Sam [Reich] comes to talk to me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Given Michaelis\u2019 rising star, we highly doubt it will come to that.<\/p>\n

\u201cPonies\u201d is available to stream on Peacock. New episodes of \u201cVery Important People\u201d debut Thursdays on Dropout.<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Dropout\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Note: This story includes spoilers from \u201cPonies\u201d Episode 8. Vic Michaelis is one of the breakout stars of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274463,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[114517,93,61,60,124398,282,133774],"class_list":{"0":"post-274462","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-dropout","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-ponies","13":"tag-tv","14":"tag-vic-michaelis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}