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(Think of hell, Lower cracks about the names phonetics.)
(They give us half a life, she spits, and think we wont fight for it.)
Its quite provocative and relatable.
Were you told Hellys entire arc before the season?I knew the whole of season two going in.
She doesnt seem to have many females in her life.
Did anything genuinely surprise you about Helenas development this season?How much longing Helena feels.
I was really moved by getting to see Hellys perspective through her eyeballs.
And then, by contrast, Helenas scenes with her father are so sterile.
Hurt people hurt people, generations of lack of nurturing.
So she wasnt putting up a front?There are so many masks she has to wear.
To a certain extent, I want the audience to decide for themselves.
But theres a heartbeat in there that she has.
Theres a longing, I think, for something she hasnt had access to: connection.
She does have a sense of humor, and shes able to tap into Hellys.
She passes, almost.
Ben, Dan, the other directors, and I were always trying to decide how obvious it was.
Even on set sometimes, the other actors would forget.
But I was always aware.
I, the actor, felt sad for Helly that her friends were being deceived.
Then I felt a sense of sorrow for Helena, too, that shes getting to experience this.
Its like the organic version of reintegration.
And Helena has gotten to experience Hellys chosen family within the office world.
They still have a lot to learn from one another.
I think about it as the inner critic and the inner child.
But also you wouldnt get very much done if you were always in a state of awe.
The ego protects you, but it can protect you too much from living a free life.
Shes seeking his approval, and shes concerned for his well-being.
Theres something up with him; I do think there are some mental-health issues going on.
So she has this ailing father whos so odd and withholding.
And she has to wear a mask in front of the other women employees, too.
Its like a Russian doll of masks.
Theres just no choice in a family structure like that.
I was recently watchingOrlandowith Tilda Swinton.
I love that film.
I was thinking about that kind of lone, princely figure.
And in this case, its a high-control group she was raised in.
Theres a strange envy.
Helly has her own different version of that toward Helena.
Initially, Helly is like, Get me the hell out of here at all costs.
But then it turned into Getusout of here.
To her surprise, she realizes this is her family.
They have opposing objectives within their little family unit, which is so real.
Moving through that together is what makes a family grow, deepen, and help define itself.
I listen to a lot of Patti Smith to get into Helly.
For Helena, its these sweeping classical arrangements.
That was more of how I tapped into her subconscious, which was also informed by the strange environment.
She lives with her dad.
She has the regimen of eating an egg in the morning and the routine of swimming.
Its just all very brutal.
She has corporate, cultlike mannerisms.
I can imagine thats been the case her whole life.
Why are you acting like that?
Ms. Cobel and Mr. Milchick, why do you talk like that?
Now, I get to be in the position of someone who walks around and talks like that.
So, again, is there a mask?
Do you believe her?I think theres some honesty in what shes saying.
She also has self-awareness of how she acted toward Irving.
She tells Mark, I was mean.
That was mean of me.
Dylan says, I dont like the outside.
Its a beautiful scene that Zach Cherry is so present in.
And Helena as Helly is being so present with him and listening.
And shes like, I get it.
I know there were quite a bit of rewrites and delays this season.
Maybe I shouldnt say it, maybe its fine.
A lot of reworking happened in the middle of filming.
Its like a giant puzzle that were all building and solving at the same time.
Every piece of it is detailed and correlates to another piece.
Im really drawn to the warmest thing onscreen, which is the people andthe goats.
Some of those questions are answered by the end.
Its like a fractal you zoom in and theres more.
Have Helenas beliefs about Innies softened a bit?
Shes doubting what she does at the company.
Humans are meaner to ourselves than we are to anyone else.
And look, Helly has taken over Helenas body at the end of season one.
She posed as her Outie in the same way that Helena then poses as her Innie.
The question of autonomy is really at full volume in these episodes and certainly consent.
When she comes back in episode five, she learns whats happened.
That scene seemed like a test arranged by Helena.Helenas curious about it.
They have a kind of chemistry thats different in each iteration.
So far, the only versions of them that havent met yet are Outie Mark and Innie Helly.
In season one, Helly and Mark have a camaraderie and shared banter.
Its that scene where Hellys like, I think we should kill Mark and I should wear his face.
Mark picks up on the joke and bats it back.
Thats really where the seed of their connection is a dark sense of humor.
Theyre finding levity in an environment thats quite intense.
The intensity in all the corners of Lumon are ramping up.
It starts by Helly wanting Mark, at least, to survive.
Thats his chance of surviving if he gets out and saves Ms. Casey in the process.
Once theres that turn in MDR with Mr. Milchick and Dylan returning, theyre in it together.
Then the alarms go off.
I think its instinctual.
I dont know what shes after except maybe to see him one more time.
The Graduates ending veers to the uncertain.
Do you read Mark and Hellys stampede more optimistically?
They look pretty elated to me.Its the cocktail of emotions.
Theyve made this decision.
So I think theres an elation.
The script direction said they were just running.
Mark pulls her, she lingers, and shes really connecting with Gemma for the first time.
That moment is really essential for what comes next.
Is it like a I see you and I won jot down of look?
A competitive element?Not necessarily.
The whole scene is a reckoning for all of them.
Helly is reckoning with this other person who loves the same person she loves, but on the outside.
It was important to me that it feels like Mark is making that decision with you, the audience.
Again, maybe Helly is just coming to look at him one more time.
Shes present and it really becomes about Marks choice at that moment.
Looking at this other woman who he doesnt know, making a choice for him.
And then hes weighing, Was my Outie being truthful?
Are we going to reintegrate?
Is he going to hold up his end of the bargain?
Its an impossible decision.
Dylan is on that journey and even the marching band, another department, is now.
What are you hopeful for the chance to explore as the show continues?
What does she have to learn from that?
How can she grow and expand?
I think the question in season two is how the Innie and the Outie have two separate souls.
Hellys not afraid to ask questions.
In the world of Lumon, you cant.
Theres a way that things are done.
You dont question authority, and you follow a protocol.
Helly is just the total antithesis of that.
She really was the catalyst in season one for waking all of them up.
They all start to be like, Wait, what?
What are we doing here?
That starts to bleed through to all versions of them.
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