{"id":51024,"date":"2025-10-02T10:28:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T10:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/51024\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T10:28:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T10:28:10","slug":"seth-rogen-rose-byrne-set-up-more-chaos-for-season-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/51024\/","title":{"rendered":"Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne Set Up More Chaos for Season 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t[This story contains spoilers from \u201cBrett Coyote\u2019s Last Stand,\u201d the season two finale of Platonic<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

\n\tSeth Rogen<\/a> and Rose Byrne<\/a> were never planning to make a second season of Platonic. In 2020, when they initially agreed to reunite with their Neighbors director Nicholas Stoller and his wife Francesca Delbanco on a new Apple TV+ comedy series, Rogen and Byrne believed the creators were interested in writing an anthology series about different kinds of platonic relationships.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe premise that Stoller and Delbanco had initially pitched and sold to Apple was built around one season that would follow Rogen and Byrne\u2019s characters as they reconnected in their 40s after a painful falling out, and subsequent seasons would feature entirely different stories and characters. But midway through the making of the first season<\/a>, Stoller and Delbanco \u2014 who realized they were having way too much fun with the actors to let them go right away \u2014 decided to ask Rogen and Byrne if they would consider making more of the show together. (Spoiler alert: They said yes<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\n\tThe offer seemed almost too good to be true, but Rogen and Byrne, who are both executive producers, wanted to make sure there would be enough meat on the bone for a potential second season. As Rogen puts it, \u201cWere they just able to come up with more ideas that seemed like they were worth telling, and could they come up with ways to make the characters worse off?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe answer was a resounding yes. \u201cIt\u2019s like a de-evolution. That\u2019s much better for comedy than evolving, generally speaking,\u201d Rogen tells The Hollywood Reporter in a joint interview with Byrne. Stoller and Delbanco \u201csomehow found a way to [put] us both in worse positions than we were last season. [The characters are] even more dysfunctional, which I thought was very funny and very smart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBy the end of the first season<\/a>, Byrne\u2019s Sylvia, a stay-at-home mother of three who had unsuccessfully attempted to reenter the workforce as a lawyer, successfully rekindled her friendship with Rogen\u2019s Will, whose decision to marry his now-ex-wife had previously driven a wedge between him and Sylvia.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe second season finds Sylvia wanting to be supportive of Will\u2019s decisions, and even volunteering to oversee his lavish second wedding to his boss, restaurant chain CEO Jenna (Rachel Rosenbloom), as the main event planner. But when Will \u2014 who has always been a little skittish about commitment \u2014 begins to have second thoughts about the engagement, Sylvia can\u2019t help but give her two cents, especially after Will reveals that he and Jenna are rarely intimate together.<\/p>\n

\n\tWill and Jenna end their engagement at their ill-fated wedding at the end of episode four, and the two exes get along as well as can be expected for the next six episodes (i.e., not well). In the finale, Jenna sends Will a letter informing him of a non-compete clause in his original employment agreement, preventing him from opening his \u201cShitty Little Bar.\u201d To skirt that little legal issue, Sylvia agrees to be the public face of Will\u2019s new bar, and the two friends will now have to go into business together.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a chaotic chat with THR, Rogen and Byrne break down the evolution of Sylvia and Will\u2019s best friendship (and whether they think that relationship can survive the demands of starting a small business), how their own working relationship has deepened since the Neighbors films \u2014 and the likelihood of Byrne popping up on Rogen\u2019s other Apple TV+ series, The Studio<\/a>. (You know, the one with 23 Emmy nominations and 13 wins<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\n\t***<\/p>\n

\n\tPlatonic cleverly taps into a kind of malaise that seems to happen around middle age, when you\u2019re trying to decide what else you want out of your life. How would you describe your characters\u2019 inner conflict \u2014 and the resolution of that conflict \u2014 over the course of this second season? What do you think they are both really searching for?<\/p>\n

\n\tSETH ROGEN The same thing any of us are looking for \u2014 just some stability, sense of purpose and companionship, and all that.<\/p>\n

\n\tROSE BYRNE Sylvia in the first season was really deep in a midlife crisis of trying to get in the workforce, and this season she\u2019s in the workforce, but it\u2019s not exactly where she wanted or what she thought it would be. Her ability to have more of a typical friendship with Will is still just out of her reach. She\u2019s too opinionated, too controlling, too possessive \u2014 all these sorts of funny, crazy characteristics she has. I really enjoyed seeing [how] Luke Macfarlane\u2019s character Charlie spirals out of control; that\u2019s something I\u2019ve seen in couples many times when one person\u2019s really going through something and the roles reverse, and the other person who\u2019s usually the rock has to change their role.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe show\u2019s really relatable in many ways, but it has a very light touch, which I think people really appreciate. My friends just so enjoyed when it came out and were like, \u201cThis is exactly what I need to watch right now.\u201d Nothing made me happier than to hear that.<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN It\u2019s all about finding specific storylines that reflect problems people who are in their middle age are experiencing, and doing them in ways that feel like they\u2019re not repetitive. But part of the fun of a show like this is you know the characters well, and I don\u2019t know if sweeping arcs are necessarily a key to comedy like this, rather than being stuck in your patterns. These characters have a sort of imposter syndrome, a desperation to feel like they appear to have their life together, even though they don\u2019t necessarily. That kind of stuff manifests in countless ways, but is at its core is very simple and relatable.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow do you think your characters have evolved? What\u2019s different about the way they interact this season?<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE It was a little more heightened, to be honest. It felt like she was more hyped up, but I think they really try to have a typical friendship. They say it out loud, like, \u201cWe are going to have dinner. We are going to do normal things. We are going to strive to do it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN They\u2019re really trying to grow up this season. They\u2019re trying to really be responsible. Will wants to be married. He wants to have a corporate job. He wants to live the life of a real man who does real things. But then he winds up living in her garage, so [that shows life] doesn\u2019t all go the way you want it to at the end of the day.<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE Sylvia\u2019s husband Charlie quits his job and writes a novel called Brett Coyote.<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN Life throws you curveballs!<\/p>\n

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

\t\t\t\t\tSeth Rogen in the Platonic finale.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tApple TV+<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat do you think are the core personal problems that one of these best friends is uniquely qualified to help the other with?<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE I don\u2019t know if Sylvia is helping, but she does tell the truth. Will\u2019s in this relationship. They\u2019re not having any physical contact. (Laughs.) He\u2019s embarking on a marriage with no intimacy, and she\u2019s trying to hold her tongue and then eventually she\u2019s like, \u201cThis isn\u2019t going to last, and I know it\u2019s hard to hear.\u201d And she does it in the worst way. I mean, she blows it up, but it\u2019s a TV show. It\u2019s got to be dramatic! I think there\u2019s something about the truth, a truth teller in your life, that is very confronting. But you do need to hear it sometimes. It sucks, but it\u2019s kind of reality.<\/p>\n

\n\tBoth of you are seasoned physical comedians who were given a lot to play with in the first season \u2014 the ketamine-induced drug trip, the running gag of throwing motorized scooters. The action this season, by comparison, feels more visceral. What was the wildest gag for both of you to shoot?<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE [Canoeing in] the L.A. River was pretty funny.<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN The L.A. River was a real adventure.<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE (To Rogen) I didn\u2019t have to do much, but you really did.<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN Yeah, I was drinking from the river. I don\u2019t remember what was used in the end. We did a whole cacophony of things that I found in my mouth after drinking from the river, from feathers to condoms \u2014<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE Oh, my God.<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN But I don\u2019t know what they used in the end. I can\u2019t remember what made it. We were laughing pretty hard as we were filming.<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE I certainly thought it was funny.<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN I think Carla [Gallo, who plays Sylvia\u2019s best friend, Katie] projectile vomiting all over the car was pretty funny as well. I remember there was a scene where we were getting chased around by a dog that was really funny to shoot \u2014<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE That\u2019s right!<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN And really chaotic and actually started to become the scene we were shooting! It was one of those things where the dog would not stop jumping in the pool when I was jumping in the pool.<\/p>\n

\n\tWill accidentally hitting Jenna\u2019s father in the eye with a golf ball \u2014 and him losing that eyeball \u2014 was the most gruesome.<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN I just remember thinking that was very funny, and the stuff in the hospital [where Jenna, after nearly losing her father, is suddenly overcome with the urge to have sex with Will] was very funny. I remember laughing a lot as we were shooting some of those scenes in the hospital where Rose was getting nauseous as I was explaining and describing what happened to his eyeball.<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE That\u2019s so stupid! (Laughs.)<\/p>\n

\n\tRose, in the finale, you were blasted in the face with a large cooler of Will\u2019s new beer, which ended up all over Sylvia\u2019s backyard. I don\u2019t even know how else to describe what happened to her in that scene, but it sure is funny to watch.<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE Reading it, I felt the same. I was like, \u201cWhat does this mean and look like?\u201d It wasn\u2019t until I got there [that I figured it out] \u2014 and honestly that [scene] was a little bit technical. It was so overwhelming, the physicality of what I had to do, and then we were so wet the whole time. But I kind of liked that you can\u2019t think about what you\u2019re doing, so you\u2019re focused on how you\u2019re physically coping with it. It was ridiculous.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat exactly was being sprayed at you guys in that finale scene? Was it beer?<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE Oh my God, what was it? I mean, it looked like beer, but it wasn\u2019t beer.<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN It might have been tea.<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE It must have been a supplement, like a tea or a water \u2014<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN Like a water steeped in something.<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE Exactly. But that\u2019s a really good question. It didn\u2019t smell like beer.<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN It wasn\u2019t sugary or sticky.<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE Yeah, it didn\u2019t have that kind of texture to it.<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN It was pretty gross, though.<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE It was gross. I just remember it was really muddy, and then I was wet all day. It was fine though \u2014 anything for a joke! It was actually really hot, so it was fine. The weather worked out.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo much of the conflict in Sylvia and Will\u2019s relationship can be boiled down to the argument they have in the finale, after they are both drenched in beer. They are telling each other all of these hard truths, but at the same time, there is no one else in their lives who is willing to admit those truths to themselves. What was your experience of shooting that high-octane fight, and what do you think that argument actually says about the state of their relationship?<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN When you\u2019re friends with people in any kind of relationship, there\u2019s a constant balance to be found between: what do I accept versus what do I try to change, and what do I just ignore and what do I speak up about? Especially as you enter your middle age, sometimes you try to present one thing while you\u2019re actually living another. I think they are very perceptive of one another and kind of see through all that.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat is their constant struggle \u2014 here\u2019s what my friend is hoping I\u2019ll see in them, and here\u2019s what I\u2019m actually seeing, and do I say [anything] or not? And, do I point out that they don\u2019t seem as happy as they\u2019re pretending to be, or that their relationship isn\u2019t as good as they\u2019re acting like it is? Finding those boundaries and what you should say and what you shouldn\u2019t say is their struggle, and [they\u2019re] learning what is actually productive and helpful and what is not.<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE I remember shooting that scene and thinking, \u201cOh, this is the show. This is what we do. This is when we\u2019re at our best \u2014 [when we\u2019re engaged in] some crazy physical thing and then a weird emotional fight, but that\u2019s still funny. This is a ridiculous fight about calling out each other, but we\u2019re still trying to be funny with it,\u201d which is a fine line. It\u2019s hard to do that.<\/p>\n

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

\t\t\t\t\tLuke Macfarlane and Rose Byrne in the season two finale.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tApple TV+<\/p>\n

\n\tThis show is literally called Platonic, so it is a clear signal to the audience that Will and Sylvia will be nothing more than friends, even if audiences may find themselves rooting for something more.<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE Very clear.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat have you wanted to capture about platonic male-female relationships through deepening the dynamic between Will and Sylvia?<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE We had done Neighbors, and we\u2019d played a very happy couple that was a little bit immature, but there\u2019s a sweetness and a natural affection that you bring to each other and the role. And then when we started Platonic, we cut a clear boundary. I was like, \u201cOh, Seth\u2019s a little bit mean!\u201d It does change the dynamic.<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN (Laughs.) Yeah, a little bit more mean.<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE But that\u2019s funny! It\u2019s funny in a different way. I guess people do root for characters in different ways, but it was always really trying to be definitively clear with the audience that that\u2019s not what we\u2019re rooting for. We\u2019re not rooting for them to get together. We just want them to stay friends. I\u2019ve never seen that on TV. I\u2019ve never seen a show or a movie [where the audience is], like, \u201cI want these guys to stay friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN You are usually rooting for them to get together.<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE It\u2019s quietly a little bit unusual \u2014<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN Because of society, man!<\/p>\n

\n\tWith the Neighbors movies and now Platonic, you have worked together for the better part of the last dozen years. Looking back, how do you think your friendship and working relationship has evolved over time, and what do you think has stayed the same?<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE I think we work very similarly.<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN Yeah.<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE It\u2019s a very easy time on set, and we have a great working relationship. I live in New York. Seth is in LA. I am so fond of Lauren, Seth\u2019s wife, who\u2019s extraordinary.<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN I\u2019m a little afraid of Bobby [Cannavale, Byrne\u2019s longtime partner] \u2014<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE Just a little bit!<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN But I have to wrap my head around it. We\u2019ve made progress, I\u2019d say in recent years. (Laughter.)<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE But I feel so grateful to have a great friendship and working relationship with someone over so long \u2014 and with Nick and Francesca, that\u2019s really the other huge half of this conversation. They\u2019re creating this work for us. Nick gave me my break in comedy. Seth\u2019s known Nick since he was a teenager, so that\u2019s all lovely.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut has anything about the way you work together changed over the years?<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN It\u2019s pretty similar, honestly. We met each other when we were in the swing of our careers. We already worked a certain way and were on set a certain way, you know what I mean? So I think it\u2019s refreshing that it\u2019s the same in a lot of ways, and that not a lot has changed, and that we fall into the same rhythms and patterns that we\u2019ve always had with one another.<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE And, just like anything, if you clock more hours [together], you get to know each other more.<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN There\u2019s a real ease to it. Sometimes there\u2019s days where you\u2019re just sitting in a car with someone for 12 hours a day [for a shoot]. And with Rose, it\u2019s lovely. There\u2019s times where I\u2019m just like, \u201cOh my God, I have to sit with this person in a car for 12 hours. What are we going to talk about? It\u2019s going to be so awkward. What are we going to do? It\u2019s going to be so uncomfortable.\u201d I never have that problem on this show.<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE No, we\u2019re beyond that. And it\u2019s the same with Carla Gallo, who plays Katie. She\u2019s an old friend of Seth\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN It\u2019s really easy with her around because she does not stop talking. (Laughter.)<\/p>\n

\n\tThe season ends with Will and Sylvia agreeing to go into business with each other \u2014 Will is going to run the operations from behind the scenes, while Sylvia will be the public face of their beer-slash-wine company. Do you think their friendship can withstand the stressful realities of running a business together? [Note: Platonic has not yet been renewed for season three.]<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN No!<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE No! Absolutely not! (Laughter.)<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN It\u2019ll be really rough \u2014<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE Chaos!<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN I think it\u2019ll be very bad for both their relationship and their business.<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE Huge fail, I predict. I can\u2019t even believe they\u2019re having the conversation. But hopefully it\u2019ll be funny?<\/p>\n

\n\tHave you had any conversations with the rest of the creative team about what the next chapter of this story would actually look like?<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE No, not yet. Nick and Francesca really are the brains and the kind of drive behind the ideas, and they come to us with them and [we as executive producers] bat them around a little bit. But I hope that there\u2019s more to tell. I feel like these characters are really funny and fun, and like any show, you want to return because you want to spend time with them and you want to spend time in that world.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor now, it appears that Seth will be preoccupied with The Studio. Rose, what did you think of Seth\u2019s other Apple TV+ comedy and the way that it satirizes Hollywood?<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE Look, I heard it has been well-received, and I heard there were some Em-mys, is that how you say it? (Laughs.) I feel like I should go on the press tour at this point! Well, Bobby nearly did a thing on it, which is really cute.<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN I know! We tried to get Bobby, but \u2014<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE Scheduling craziness. But I\u2019m such a fan. I loved it. He was writing it [during Platonic] season one. I remember we were chatting about it a lot, and he was describing it to me and I was like, \u201cWow, this is such another creative extension for you to develop this. You\u2019ve been in this industry for so long, since you\u2019re a teenager, and it\u2019s a wild life to have lived, and this is a version of all of that.\u201d So, day one, I was like, \u201cI want to see this! It\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSeth, what are the chances that we will see Rose \u2014 or Bobby! \u2014 pop up in the next season of The Studio?<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE I think he\u2019s getting pitched a lot of people.<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN No, it\u2019s a good question!<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE I think he\u2019s getting a lot of calls. He might need a break [from me].<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN We\u2019re getting some weird ones! (Laughter.)<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE You know what? You need to miss somebody. You need to miss them and then want to come back.<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN Not at all. That is not my philosophy. Mine is to quadruple down on someone and never let go.<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE You gotta yearn! You gotta yearn!<\/p>\n

\n\tROGEN I don\u2019t want to spoil [the show], but\u2026<\/p>\n

\n\tBYRNE I do! (Laughter.)<\/p>\n

\n\t***<\/p>\n

\n\tThe first two seasons of Platonic are now streaming on Apple TV+.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[This story contains spoilers from \u201cBrett Coyote\u2019s Last Stand,\u201d the season two finale of Platonic.] Seth Rogen and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51025,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[5231,146,85,46,8931,30801,888,3705,411],"class_list":["post-51024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-emmys","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-platonic","tag-rose-byrne","tag-seth-rogen","tag-the-studio","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}