Linda Cardellini on Finding Closure in the Final Season of Dead to Me
Light spoilers ahead: If you don't want anything spoiled about the new season of Dead to Me, stop reading now.
Linda Cardellini didn't know what she was getting herself into when she was first cast as Judy Hale in Dead to Me.
"I remember reading the pilot and thinking, 'Oh my God, this woman, this Judy character, she's just so sweet and kind and unusual,'" recalls the actress. But over the course of the series, it's revealed that Judy is quite the complex character, and someone who killed the husband of her friend Jen Harding (played by Christina Applegate) in a hit-and-run. "When she lifts up that garage and she sees that car [in season 1], you realize, 'Oh my God, there's so much more going on,'" Cardellini continues. "There are always so many surprises, and I think the wonderful part about playing the role is there's always something that will surprise you in the writing."
Indeed, a lot of unexpected twists and turns occurred over the course of the first two seasons, with the subsequent death of Judy's fiancé Steve (played by James Marsden) and the coverup, and the introduction of his identical twin brother Ben (also played by Marsden). Fans shouldn't expect anything less in the third and final installment of Liz Feldman's comedy-drama, which premiered last week and picks up after the second season finale when Jen and Judy are involved in a hit-and-run themselves. "I'm really going to miss it," Cardellini says. "I loved playing Judy. She is just such a wonderfully juicy, just unpredictable character."
Though saying goodbye to Judy was bittersweet, Cardellini believes that the show got the proper send-off it deserves. "Judy says something at the end. She turns to Jen and says, 'I've had the best time.' And then Jen goes, 'Yeah, me too.' Judy says, 'No, no, I've had the best time with you,'" Cardellini notes of finding closure. "I think that sort of resonates with the whole show. It was a sort of love letter in that one line."
Below, Cardellini dishes more on the closing of a chapter of Dead to Me.
It's been over a year since Dead to Me season two premiered. What was the energy like for you and the rest of the cast returning for the third season?
We were in the middle of a challenging time, and I think that the one thing about going through a challenge is if you're lucky enough, you get to go through them with people that love and support you. And we have a really loving and supportive environment on the show. So that was really nice to get back to, and everybody tried to keep everybody safe and well. It really does take a village—and we have an incredible village helping us.
You previously said making Dead to Me can be "emotionally draining," and obviously Judy goes through a ton this season. What was it like for you to get back into the role this season?
Oh, I love it. I've been so lucky. I mean, what a gift of a role, and then to have that in conjunction with working with Christina, who's such a brilliant talent—it just has been such a highlight and we have had so much fun and we've cried so many tears, and we've really gotten to do it all. So I'm just eternally grateful to Liz Feldman for putting that whole cast and crew together because it just was an incredible group of people.
What was your favorite part about playing Judy, and what's the hardest part?
Her heart. She has so much heart and the most challenging part of her is that she doesn't get angry, really. So a lot of emotions that you see on a page that you would jump to typically in other roles, you have to rearrange because Judy doesn't do that. She doesn't act out in certain ways, but that's the fun challenge of it. That's what makes her different from other people. She's damaged in a way that she doesn't ever want to take out on anybody but herself, and she's really searching desperately for family and love and a home, and she eventually finds it in clearly the most unlikely place. So I love that about the show.
Do you think you relate to Judy in any way?
When I first read [the script], I was like, "I'm nothing like this person," and now I see so much. Now I understand so much about myself. You do that when you find something. It seems very outside you, and then you bring it closer and closer to yourself. She's not like me at all in many ways, but I feel her heart a lot.
The beautiful thing about Judy is she always is trying to do the right thing, and I think a lot of us are trying to do the right thing, but we all make mistakes. And I think the heartbreaking and truthful part of Judy is that she often goes about it the wrong way. I don't know, she's really a well-drawn character. I just love playing her. I really do. And I remember thinking the first season, "Wow, if people can believe that these two are friends after everything that Judy's done, that'll be amazing," and I'm just so glad that people have kept with us and enjoyed Jen and Judy until the end. That makes me happy.
How important was it for you to find closure in Judy?
Liz Feldman, who's our showrunner and creator, actually directed the last episode and she did it on purpose because we knew that scene meant a lot to everybody. I lost it every time I would say "I had the best time with you," even in the table read, but I really did. I had the best time and I had the best time with Christina. That partnership that we were able to have and to perform, it was just so great. And then to have a real friendship on top of all that, how lucky.
I feel very fortunate that I get to be an actor and do what I love, and the idea of the odds of that even happening ever is crazy. And then to be able to do it with people who are so wonderful at their job and to be able to finish out this show, even though it's bittersweet to say goodbye, I feel very lucky to have been there and to be able to do that.
Christina been very open about her health struggles over the last couple of weeks, but I'd love to hear what your favorite part about working with her was, and what you're going to miss most about working with her.
We've always sort of leaned on each other during shooting, during real life, when the real life is happening during shooting, and the shooting life is happening during real life. All those things. We've always sort of been able to lean on each other. It really is a partnership, and I'm just so grateful because she's very generous and we do share everything. So that has been really, really nice. We've both gone through some things in life and we've been able to be there for each other and I'm grateful for that.
The good news is we will be friends beyond this. We'll be friends forever and I will also miss the friendship that we were able to show on screen. I think Jen and Judy are just both really unique characters and I think that the show really wrote to those two characters in such a beautiful way. It's a love letter to female friendship. And the idea that Jen and Judy had that with each other and the relationship that Christina and I had together—the work was fun when we were doing it. It could be emotional and all that, but it was really fun. I love what I do. I'm so grateful to get to do it for a living. And then when you get to do it with somebody who's incredible at it, and then it's a fun partnership—I mean, there's really nothing better. So the give and take that we've had, I will definitely miss that work-wise, but at least we get to continue to be friends for life.
You also had a mini ER reunion with Garret Dillahunt. What was that like for you?
I mean, Garret is so talented. He is so much fun to work with. He's a great guy and his performances always have this interesting quality to them. It was funny because Liz said, "Do you know Garret Dillahunt?" Because she was already thinking of casting him. I said, "Yes, he was my husband on ER and I shot him in the head while he was asleep." But I said, "He's wonderful." And he really is. He can really do comedy and drama and he has this really wonderful quality about him where you know there's more to him than what you are actually seeing in the scene. That was really a treat.
You also touched upon working with Liz Feldman. Did you know what Judy's fate was going to be going into this final season?
I love Liz. She's also a great friend of mine and I will take her with me forever, too. She told me in the second season, "I think I know what I'm going to do and I'm going to do this to you." And I thought, "Oh my God. All right, let's do it," because every time Liz gives me an idea of what she wants to do, I just say yes. Yes and let's do it because she's really so smart and she's planned it out 100 steps beyond what you could ever imagine. But it's really fun to see her come up with these ideas and see how they are shaped, informed, and then to see them go to the writer's room and then come back to set.
And even if I know the big twists, there are still these micro twists that I had no idea about that are so fun to play because you don't even see them coming. With the diagnosis going to somebody else and then that moment being turned and Judy being relieved that it's Jen and not her. That twist was just, I mean, it just really shows you who Judy is and it's just incredible. And also, then it turns out to be funny in some way. The mix of comedy and drama that Liz is capable of, it never fails to surprise and impress me. And it's so fun to be able to play both all the time, but she told me and I was game for it and I knew that whatever it was, she always stays on theme. And the theme is always friendship, grief, loss, and forgiveness. I really do feel like because she chose Judy's fate in that way, you do think about those themes more than any other season.
What do you hope fans will get out of this season?
We have the greatest fans. We really do. They are just so ardent and just wonderful. We are so lucky and I just hope that they're satisfied. I hope they get some answers, and then I hope there are some questions that sort of itch at the back of your head for a while. And I mean, that's always somewhat fun and then also somewhat like, [gasp], but in true Dead to Me style, nothing can be too tidy, as Liz says.
Season 3 of Dead to Me is available to stream on Netflix now.
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