She also discusses how they made the music festival scene happen with the same pool of background performers.
When you started talking to the Cat Lady, did you have any idea what that would develop into and how important of a role it would play? Were you ever worried that it wouldn’t work?
DENNINGS: I’m so lucky that I get to work with Beth Grant, the absolute genius icon that she is. I will take credit for this because I said, “We need to get Beth Grant.” From the very beginning, before anyone was cast, it was just, “Find a way to get Beth Grant because she’s the only person who can do this.” Somehow she agreed and we have her. With Beth, it’s so real, if you can believe that a huge cat head person can be real. She throws herself into all of her roles and she just takes you there with her in these scenes. I knew that we had something very special happening and that she would evolve, and the writers are always trying to give her lots of things to do, so that’s just incredible for me.
It looked amazing. I thought it was a really genius way to pull all of that off.
DENNINGS: Thank you.
I absolutely love the friendship between these characters. The dynamic between these four is so fun to watch. What have you enjoyed about finding that, as characters and as co-stars, working with these other actresses?
DENNINGS: I love them all so much, and we really have a real friendship going on. Part of the magic of the show is seeing four real friends interacting because you really can’t fake that chemistry. Obviously, in season one, we got to know each other really well, and we all missed each other so much because something happened in between season one and season two, and we didn’t get to see each other at all. It was so amazing to finally see them all again, and it was a really special bonding experience. Brenda [Song] describes it as summer camp, and it was like that. We see each other for 15 hours a day, and we’re in little pods together. Brenda and I text each other from the same room. We’re all very close.
Were there conversations about how to handle the pandemic in the show and whether to address it at all? How do you feel about the way that it actually gets incorporated?
DENNINGS: Yeah, definitely. Of course. I think some shows may have chosen to just not do it at all, but that didn’t feel authentic. Our showrunner, Michelle Nader, who is a brilliant genius that I love more than anything, took the helm on, “Okay, how do we do this?” We actually had a different opening and she changed it close to the season wrap, to make it what it was. It became, “Let’s see all the girls during the pandemic, and what was that like? Were they together in a pod? What were they doing?” I think it was really important to show that Jules and Madison and the girls got to be together during all that. Their friendship got even more strong. And of course, there’s the comedy of Jules spraying her mail and stuff like that, which I did do. So, it’s dealt with, with a light hand, but we did not want to ignore it. Dollface, in its own way, is sort of a fantasy. The pandemic going away, of course, is not realistic, but for the show, it seemed like the right path.
How involved are you, as a producer on the show? Are there are aspects where you’re really involved and give a lot of input? Are there things that you found that you enjoy that you didn’t know you would enjoy before doing it?
DENNINGS: Yeah. Season one, especially, I was extremely hands-on and involved, just because this was my first big thing since my last show (2 Broke Girls) I was on. I wanted to really make sure that this was gonna be great, as my first big executive producing a thing that I was doing. I wanted to do the best job that I could, mainly finding the best actors for the roles, which of course everybody was involved in, but I’m so proud of being able to do that. As an actor, casting is terrifying. I’m really proud of how everybody came together. And season two, I still am very involved, but because Michelle Nader is there as our showrunner, and she’s somebody that I have worked with since the beginning of 2 Broke Girls, for 11 years, I trust her completely and she’s like another arm. I could calm down and relax a little bit this season.
Even though Jules isn’t 100% sure of what she does want, by the end of this season, do you feel like she’s at least more centered and more sure about what she doesn’t want?
DENNINGS: Yes. That’s a really good way of looking at it. In season one, things are being hurled at her, and she’s just trying to get through it. She’s done all that work and I think she’s more ready to let things in, in season two, but so much is happening to her that’s good that she doesn’t know what to do again. Even though she’s made all this progress, she can’t fully work through it. She has definitely grown, and she’s more confident, especially at work, and more confident in herself, but she has a long way to go.
Have you already started our conversations about where she could go for season three? Do you try not to think that far ahead?
DENNINGS: I’m superstitious. I always assume one and done, for everything. I don’t think I decorated my dressing room at 2 Broke Girls until season five. I always assumed I just had to have my bag packed. I don’t really think about it. But of course, that would be incredible and there are all sorts of dream scenarios I’d love to see.