'Mare of Easttown' Season 2 Renewal? Kate Winslet Talks More HBO Drama - TVLine

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The Erin McMenamin murder case is officially closed… but does that mean Mare of Easttown is handing in her badge?

The Kate Winslet-led HBO crime drama wrapped up its seven-episode run on Sunday night — read our finale recap here — and while it’s been billed as a limited series from the beginning, ratings have been steadily growing each week, with 2 million viewers tuning in for last week’s penultimate episode across all platforms, per the network. That, plus all the positive critical buzz, could have HBO changing its plans and thinking about bringing it back for a Season 2. After all, Big Little Lies was considered a limited series at first, even competing in that category at the Emmys, before returning for a sophomore run.

Officially, HBO is still calling Mare a limited series as of now, with the drama set to compete in the Limited Series categories at this year’s Emmys. (TVLine has reached out to HBO to inquire about Mare‘s Season 2 status.) And maybe keeping it a close-ended story is the best thing for it. Series director/EP Craig Zobel says that Winslet’s Mare Sheehan “is an amazing character, so I would be excited to see” a second season, but “I also like it as a miniseries.”

But there’s one person who definitely wants to see more of Mare: the star herself, Kate Winslet. “I would absolutely love to play Mare again,” she tells TVLine when asked about the prospect of a Season 2. “I miss her. I really do. It’s the strangest thing. I feel like I’m in mourning. It was an absolutely wonderful role… There’s something very addictive about Mare, because she’s so outrageous and lovable and brilliant and real, you know? I loved playing her.”

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Would you watch a Season 2 of Mare of Easttown? What storylines would you want to see more of? Drop your thoughts in a comment below.

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Maureen Dowd Talks 'Mare of Easttown' With Kate Winslet - The New York Times

Philly’s a tough town.

If there’s a quintessential story about the City of Brotherly Love, it’s this one: In 2015, when Canadian researchers developed a child-sized hitchhiking robot with a big smile and yellow wellies, the hitchbot made it across Europe and halfway down the East Coast, offering friendly small talk to anyone it encountered. Then it got to Philadelphia, where it was promptly torn limb from limb and left in an alley.

Residents have pelted Santa with snowballs and hurled batteries and beer at their own quarterback. They flip cars and set things on fire even when they win the Super Bowl and World Series.

The unloved cousin of Boston and New York is often overlooked by Hollywood. The accent is so tricky to replicate, most actors won’t go near it. (Even Rocky didn’t even have a proper Philly twang.)

So it’s funny, then, that it took a Brit with an elegant voice, creamy complexion and sunny outlook to parachute into the Philly burbs and totally nail the look, feel, sound and salty attitude of the denizens of Delaware County, or Delco, as it’s known.

Fierce in flannel: Ms. Winslet doing some interrogating on “Mare of Easttown.” Michele K. Short/HBO

Kate Winslet gets emotional talking about the end of her HBO limited series, “Mare of Easttown,” which scored its own “Saturday Night Live” skit and found a fan in the self-described Philly girl in the White House, Jill Biden. (“You don’t screw around with a Philly girl,” Joe Biden said of his wife last year, after she blocked an anti-dairy activist who bum-rushed him at a campaign stop.)

Ms. Winslet has said, in the past, that it’s hard for an actor to tell what will wow audiences while you’re shooting, that sometimes you think you’re doing great work and then it turns out to be “a limp biscuit.”

Mare Sheehan is anything but a limp biscuit. The police detective exists in a cloud of vape smoke, trysts, flannel, Rolling Rock and Jameson shots — “a very hot grandma,” as Guy Pearce’s character calls her, sparring with a mother (Jean Smart) who loves drinking Manhattans.

Ms. Winslet said that she has been bowled over by how audiences have fallen “in love with this wildly flawed, messy, broken, fragmented, difficult woman. I loved her marks and her scars and her faults and her flaws and the fact that she has no off switch, no stop button. She just knows ‘Go.’”

“Not only did I have to hide myself in the character completely, but I had to hide this story, carry the secret,” she said. “I kept it hidden since 2018 when I first read the scripts. My job was to take them on this horrendous journey and hope to God that they’d be prepared to come into the attic with me at the end. It has been agony, agony, agony. You can see I’m still like … ” She sounds as if she might cry — something she would never let Mare do — then pulls herself together and lets fly one of her frequent, merry F-bombs. “I can’t deal with it. It’s ridiculous.”

When your dog matches your hair (note also what appears to be a beer-tab necklace).Jamie Hawkesworth for The New York Times

‘Bad Jeans’ and Cheesesteak

The show is a murder mystery with many motifs: grief, the opioid crisis, small-town life. Ms. Winslet, a mother of three, sees it from this perspective: “It’s about mothers protecting their children at all costs, and the lengths that a parent will go to in order to protect their children,” she said. About the finale’s twist ending, she adds, “Oh God, it’s just unbelievable, it’s heartbreaking.”

Underneath Mare’s facade, she said, “is a woman who is so entrenched in grief for her son that she has not processed, and as she shares it, as she talks about it with a therapist, she will crack. She doesn’t want affection. She doesn’t want to be loved. And she doesn’t want to be cared for because if she has to experience those things, it makes her feel vulnerable, and if she feels vulnerable, then she can’t be strong anymore, and she can’t carry on.”

Ms. Winslet is known for what one producer called her “insane work ethic.” She prepares elaborate back stories for her characters, and she said she prepped more for Mare than any other role in her life. (But she is not Daniel Day-Winslet; she is said to be fun once the shooting wraps for the day.)

She was Zooming in from her house on the south coast of England, curled up with bare feet, her blond mane looking much glossier than Mare’s. She’s wearing an old white Calypso T-shirt, a couple of gold necklaces and some black Sweaty Betty pants.

The actress often saves something from her sets, and she shifted her camera to show off the sign from the Easttown police station she has hung on a wall. She kept Mare’s jacket and badge, too.

She has been harking back to her breakout role as another strong, but more upper crust, Philly girl: Rose DeWitt Bukater. “It’s like ‘Titanic’ again,” she said, chuckling. “I’m on the side of buses again! It’s like going back in time 24 years where I’m walking down the street and people are nudging and pointing and whispering again.” When the actress was on a bike ride in England recently, a woman ran up to stroke her arm and offer all her theories about whodunit.

Her heart went on: the famous shot with Mr. DiCaprio in “Titanic.”CBS, via Getty Images

Ms. Winslet said she knows people are saying, “Oh my God, how can she let herself look so unglamorous?” When Craig Zobel, the director, assured her he would cut “a bulgy bit of belly” in her sex scene with Guy Pearce, she told him, “Don’t you dare!” She also sent the show’s promo poster back twice because it was too retouched. “They were like ‘Kate, really, you can’t,’ and I’m like ‘Guys, I know how many lines I have by the side of my eye, please put them all back.’”

She said she balked when she saw an early cut in which her ordinarily luminous skin looked too good. “We tried to light it to make it look not nice,” she said.

She continued: “Listen, I hope that in playing Mare as a middle-aged woman — I will be 46 in October — I guess that’s why people have connected with this character in the way that they have done because there are clearly no filters. She’s a fully functioning, flawed woman with a body and a face that moves in a way that is synonymous with her age and her life and where she comes from. I think we’re starved of that a bit.

“In episode one, she’s having sex on a couch. I said to my husband, ‘Am I OK with that? Is it all right that I’m playing a middle-aged woman who is a grandmother who does really make a habit of having one-night stands?’ He’s like, ‘Kate, it’s great. Let her do it.’”

In moments of doubt, she tortured herself and her assistant director, wondering about other actresses — “three real people were haunting my mind, I will not name them” — who might have done a better job.

The show’s costume designer did recon in Wawa, finding inspiration for Mare’s flannel, inexpensive T-shirts, Ocean City sweatshirts and “bad jeans,” as Ms. Winslet said.

“Whenever we’d find something unflattering,” Ms. Winslet recalled, “we’d be jumping up and down like, ‘Yes! We’re wearing this.’”

She would leave her clothes in a crumpled pile on the floor of her trailer after filming “and they would stay in a rumpled up ball overnight. We were not washing and drying and hanging those clothes. Never.”

They filled in her shapely eyebrows to give her face a heavier look, and left the sunspots and imperfections. “We’re so used to seeing this stuff airbrushed away,” she said.

She wanted Mare to reflect the burdens she carried, a physical and emotional “heftiness.” She borrowed a Peloton to work out at night to make her thighs more muscular. “There’s a sloppiness to her, and there’s a looseness to how she sits and how she walks and just how she holds herself,” she said. “Her body posture is totally different to mine. I actually stand quite upright.”

In one peak-Mare scene, she comes home and scarfs down a cheesesteak that her mother has gotten her, without taking off her jacket, still clutching her police files. “This is so clearly a woman who does not cook, doesn’t care about what she puts into her mouth, also probably forgets to eat, so that when she does eat, she’s so starving, she doesn’t even care what it is that she’s shoveling in,” she said.

Her father, Roger, also an actor, helped inform this bit. “My dad actually reminds me quite a lot of Mare, to be honest. He was slightly the inspiration,” she said. “He basically moves like Mare and eats like Mare. Well, he does eat with his mouth full. We do tell him all the time, ‘Dad!’ He’s going to be so mad I just said that.”

Visiting the Badlands

And yet, Ms. Winslet, a vegetarian, could only get into character so much. She sheepishly confessed to a Philly sacrilege: The show’s hoagies contained no meat and, most shockingly, no onions. “I felt really, really bad because I know onions are a very important part of a hoagie,” she said, “but because we had so many hours of filming scenes with all of this food, it basically wasn’t fair on the crew to have all this stinky onion food on our tiny set all day long.” (She said she was aware of the existence of scrapple but did not try it.)

“Her body posture is totally different to mine,” Ms. Winslet said of the character. “I actually stand quite upright.”Jamie Hawkesworth for The New York Times

Even with the counterfeit hoagies, locals are thrilled with Ms. Winslet’s metamorphosis. They even named a hoagie after Mare.

Shawn McCreesh, who works with me at The Times and grew up, like the first lady, in a nearby town very similar to Easttown, spotted someone he recognized from back home on the show. Patsy Meck, who plays the woman working the desk at the police station, said that Ms. Winslet was “genuinely who you would want her to be — she was so real.” Ms. Meck, whose three grandchildren were extras on the show, said that it was “amazing” to see Ms. Winslet “walk off set, sit down and talk to me in a deep British accent, then pop right back on set and start talking like the rest of us.”

Ms. Winslet said she had to change the way the muscles in her face moved — often in freezing weather — in order to emulate Philly’s mid-Atlantic dialect, with its selectively elongated vowels and smushed consonants. “Look, when you’ve done Polish-Armenian and German,” she said, referring to her accents in “Steve Jobs” and her Oscar-winning turn as a Nazi in “The Reader,” “frankly, I thought, ‘Delaware County, oh, it’ll be fine. The vowel sounds a little bit different, but it’ll be fine.’ Honestly, it was just so hard.”

Still, mastering the sound wasn’t the hardest part. Stepping into the shoes of a mother raising a child with severe mental health issues, as Mare did, was. (Mare’s son, Kevin, had struggled with depression and addiction before taking his own life.) Ms. Winslet met with parents who had been through it all, and worked with a grief counselor.

“There’s that moment,” she recalled, “when the therapist says to Mare, ‘Did he frighten you?’ and she just says, ‘Sometimes.’ A huge admission for Mare to even say out loud, ‘My son scared me.’ Of course, you see it in that flashback when Carrie and Kevin take Mare’s money for drugs in the bathroom.” She said the detective strives to fix everything else because she could not fix Kevin.

In order to truly understand the opioid epidemic, how its many tendrils can wrap around a place like Easttown, she went to what Philadelphians call “the badlands” — the North Philly neighborhood of Kensington and its open-air drug markets. “We would go in an undercovery type of car and just drive around a lot,” she said.

“I remember seeing — and actually it broke my heart — a man with the most beautiful face and a beard. You could see there was a soul right there. He had been amputated from the knee down on his right leg, and he was injecting into the toes of the other foot.

“People are fighting for their sliver of life there. I would see people in these teeny-tiny houses, and they would be not just sweeping their front stoop but sweeping the pavement and the guttering in front of their home. Sometimes, for some people, that’s as much as they can do to keep their pride, to keep a feeling of something that is theirs and that is intact.”

What did the dark heart of America’s opioid crisis look like to a Brit? “I have to be honest,” she said, “I was really staggered that there aren’t more of those support networks in place to help with people. In this country, we do definitely have better support networks for people in crises like that, we absolutely do.”

‘Faces Are Beautiful’

Ms. Winslet has been known to warn young actors on a set not to confuse social media fame with the hard work of acting.

“I have certainly heard, twice, of certain actors being cast in roles because they have more followers,” she said. “I’ve actually heard people say, ‘She’s not who we wanted to cast, but she has more followers.’ I almost don’t know what to say. It’s so sad and so extraordinarily wrong. I think the danger is not just for young actors but younger people in general now. I think it makes you less present in your real life. Everyone is constantly taking photographs of their food and photographing themselves with filters.”

She leans her face close to the camera, and noted her lack of filters, with an expletive.

“What worries me is that faces are beautiful. Faces that change, that move, are beautiful faces, but we’ve stopped learning how to love those faces because we keep covering them up with filters now because of social media and anyone can photoshop themselves, and airbrush themselves, and so they do. In general, I would say I feel for this generation because I don’t see it stopping, I don’t see or feel it changing, and that just makes me sad because I hope that they aren’t missing out on being present in real life and not reaching for unattainable ideals.”

The actress is so famous for disrobing in movies that her IMDb profile says her trademark is her “voluptuous figure.” But she says nude scenes may be in her past.

“I think my days are getting a little bit numbered of doing nudity,” she said. “I’m just not that comfortable doing it anymore. It’s not even really an age thing, actually. There comes a point where people are going to go, ‘Oh, here she goes again.’” She jokes that it’s not fair to camera operators to have to work to get the best angles as her body changes.

Ms. Winslet has a daughter, Mia, 20, with her first husband, Jim Threapleton, a director whom she met on the set of “Hideous Kinky.” She has a son, Joe, 17, with Sam Mendes, her second husband. And she also has a son, Bear, 7, with her current husband, who has gone back to his original name, Edward Abel Smith, from his playful pseudonym, Ned Rocknroll.

“He added ‘Winslet’ as one of his middle names, just simply because the children have Winslet,” the actress said. “When we’re all traveling together, to all have that name on the passport makes life easier.” (Bear’s middle name is Blaze, after the fire that Kate and Ned escaped that burned down the British Virgin Islands home of Richard Branson, her husband’s uncle.)

“He’s the superhot, superhuman, stay-at-home dad,” she said of her husband, as she smiled happily. “He looks after us, especially me. I said to him earlier, like, ‘Neddy, could you do something for me?’ He just went, ‘Anything.’” She swoons, noting that his long hair now gives him the look of “an ocean warrior.”

She breaks into song, crooning that they go together like “shama lama ding dong.” “He is an absolutely extraordinary life partner,” she said. “I’m so, so, so lucky. For a man who is severely dyslexic, as he is, he’s great at testing me on lines. It’s so hard for him to read out loud, but he still does it.”

She added that “He didn’t particularly plan on meeting and marrying a woman who is in the public eye and therefore having been so judged.” She finds it amusing that, instead of being rock ’n’ roll, he’s very Zen. “He’s vegan, does yoga, breath work and cold water swims.”

Ms. Winslet grew up in Reading, west of London, in a modest house and worked slicing ham in a deli when she was young. “I came from a small community not dissimilar to Easttown in the sense that there were paper-thin walls,” she said. “You could hear the neighbors rowing through the wall. You could hear the verbal grenades that were being hurled at one another.”

She said her father had called to tell her he loved an episode of “Mare,” then added his usual caution: “But you know, babes, don’t rest on your laurels. You’re only as good as your last gig.””

Jamie Hawkesworth for The New York Times

Confirm or Deny

Maureen Dowd: Bob Iger approached you about making “Titanic II” for Disney Plus.

Kate Winslet: No, never did, and I never would.

You pocketed a few things before you jumped ship from the set of “Titanic.”

People stole the White Star Line cups and saucers. I was good. I did take a pair of Rose’s earrings, but somewhere I lost one.

Like Mare, you have a gloriously filthy mouth in real life.

(Laughs.) True, yes.

You can’t stop reading about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez.

What? No! I’ve never read about Jennifer in my life. What are these questions?

“Hideous Kinky” was neither hideous nor kinky.

I don’t even know how to answer these questions.

You keep your Oscar on the back of your toilet.

I don’t actually know where the Oscar is at the moment. I think it’s possibly in my son’s bedroom. But it was on the back of the toilet for a long time, yes.

You lived in New York for 10 years and never once went to Philly.

That’s true.

You’ve incorporated the Philly slang word “jawn” into your vocabulary.

John, as in a man’s name?

You went to Rita’s for wooder ice.

No, I didn’t go to Rita’s.

This role is the first time you held a gun, and you didn’t like it.

True.

In John Turturro’s “Romance & Cigarettes,” you simulated sex with James Gandolfini bouncing on an exercise ball.

I had ripped all the ligaments on the left side of my foot. I’m nursing my son. As I’m bouncing on that ball, I’m actually bouncing using one foot with my leg in the cast improvising at three o’clock in the morning. We were in hysterics. Oh, God, I loved Jimmy Gandolfini so much. He was just so wonderful, so insecure and just so honest.

Guy Pearce washes cans in the dishwasher before he puts them in the recycling can.

That is true.

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Stormi Webster Has Adorable Water Balloon Fight With Parents Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott - E! Online

Splashing around!

From the looks of Kylie Jenner's social media posts, she and Travis Scott are having a fun-filled Memorial Day Weekend with their 3-year-old daughter, Stormi Webster. On Monday, May 31, the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star took to Instagram Stories to share the cute water balloon fight the family had.

In one video, the "Sicko Mode" rapper could be seen filling up blue water balloons, as his little one eagerly awaited for them to be done. Another clip showed the toddler and her dad teaming up together to throw the balloons at the Kylie Cosmetics founder.

Stormi adorably tried to hit her mom with a water balloon after the Houston native successfully splashed Kylie. "No, don't throw it at me," Kylie jokingly told her daughter, but the 3-year-old star didn't oblige. "I'm leaving!"

"love this little baby," the 23-year-old beauty mogul captioned her post of Stormi, which showed the little one wearing a bright yellow dress.

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Courteney Cox And Ed Sheeran Recreate 'Friends' Routine - ET Canada

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Kate Winslet didn't let 'Mare of Easttown' crew cut her 'bulgy bit of belly' from sex scene - Entertainment Weekly News

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Kylie Jenner Is 'Very Happy' with Travis Scott as Pair Spends Holiday with Stormi, 3: Source - Yahoo Entertainment

Kylie Jenner/Snapchat

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott are having a fun family weekend with daughter Stormi Webster.

The pair and their 3-year-old daughter are celebrating Memorial Day with the rapper's family in Houston, a source tells PEOPLE.

During their stay, Jenner, 23, and Scott, 30, had a friendly water balloon fight, which the makeup mogul documented on her Instagram Stories.

In the videos, Stormi and her dad team up to take on Jenner, who runs away from the balloons while filming the playful fight.

At one point, Scott successfully hits Jenner with a water balloon after Stormi adorably tries to soak her mom.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

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RELATED: Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott Treat Daughter Stormi, 3, and Cousins to Disneyland Trip

"Kylie and Travis continue to spend a lot of quality family time together," the source shares, adding that Jenner is "very happy" with Scott.

"They are not putting any pressure on their relationship. They get along and things are great. They both want to be as present as possible for Stormi. Kylie and Travis have worked hard to create a great family situation," adds the source.

"They love each other," the source continues. "Everyone is very proud of how mature they are. Stormi is the happiest little girl. It's all benefitting her."

The pair split in October 2019 after two years of dating, but have remained friendly and often spend time together as they co-parent Stormi. Jenner has previously said she and Scott are "like best friends."

Earlier this month, Jenner and Scott took Stormi to Disneyland along with cousins Dream, 4, Chicago, 3, and another friend.

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RELATED VIDEO: Kylie Jenner Reveals the Food She Craved During Labor with Daughter Stormi While Out to Dinner

The pair, who was also accompanied by Kim Kardashian, posted several snaps from their adventure, including a photo of the couple and Stormi on a train ride together.

In the photos posted to Jenner's Instagram Stories, mom of one is walking alongside Kim and Scott while the little kids stroll in front of them.

Jenner also posed for a cute mother-daughter shot of her and Stormi sitting in a teacup ride together. Scott later posted a series of sweet snaps with Stormi to his own Instagram page.

"A forever ride," the rapper captioned the post.

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Travis Barker can't stop braiding Kourtney Kardashian's hair - Page Six

They’re into some pretty twisted stuff.

Kourtney Kardashian shared that boyfriend Travis Barker braided her hair yet again, posting a photo of the plait to her Instagram Story on Sunday.

“Braid by @Travisbarker,” the 42-year-old Poosh founder captioned the pic.

Kardashian was seen in the photo wearing a gold-colored robe, with her long black braid cascading down her back.

This isn’t the first time Barker has styled his new flame’s mane.

In April, Kardashian shared a sexy snap of the Blink-182 drummer’s handiwork, showing off her jet-black plait and quipping, “and he braids.”

But Barker, 45, has impacted more than just Kardashian’s hair; some fans believe the rocker has inspired the Poosh founder’s edgier looks lately.

The reality TV star notoriously wore a NSFW T-shirt while on a date with Barker back in March.

But last week, when a fan suggested that Barker had been styling the “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” star, she clapped back, suggesting that she’s the sole person behind her fashion picks.

Kourtney Kardashian wears an expletive T-shirt quoting the lyrics to the 1994 tune “Love Me,” by punk rock band The Queers.

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Things have been getting serious for the couple, who began dating in January following a years-long friendship.

The duo made things Instagram-official on Valentine’s Day.

Since then, they have been inseparable, making several public appearances together and spending quality time with each other over the holidays.

They have even been spending time with each other’s children, most recently at Disneyland.

Kardashian shares three children with ex-partner Scott Disick, while Barker has two kids with ex-wife Shanna Moakler.

Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker have been dating since earlier this year.

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Olivia Rodrigo Smashes Records En Route to U.K. Chart Double - Billboard

That's also the biggest opening week for a debut album in two years, since Lewis Capaldi’s Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent dropped in May 2019.

Sour racks up 45.7 million track streams over the seven-day cycle -- or 30,945 streaming-equivalent sales -- for the most first-week streams for a debut album, eclipsing Capaldi's record, according to the OCC.

The last artist to score the double with their debut was Sam Smith, who achieved the feat six years ago with2015's In The Lonely Hour and "Lay Me Down".

The big numbers keep coming, as "Good 4 U" gives Rodrigo her second leader following "Drivers License" back in January. "Good 4 U" generates 117,000 chart sales in seven days -- including 13.5 million streams -- for the biggest No. 1 single of 2021.

Sour leads an all-new Top 4, as Gary Numan's 22nd solo studio LP Intruder (BMG) starts at No. 2; U.S. alternative pop outfit Twenty One Pilots see their latest, Scaled and Icy (Atlantic/Fueled By Ramen), take off at No. 3; while P!nk's All I Know So Far: Setlist (RCA), the companion album to her concert film, starts at No. 4.

Shoegaze icons My Bloody Valentine return to the chart at No. 7 with their '90s classic Loveless, following a reissue campaign by Domino Records; and Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys has a highest-ever solo chart position with his seventh album Seeking New Gods. It's new at No. 10.

Over on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, BTS bags the U.K.’s highest new entry of the week with "Butter" (Big Hit Entertainment). It's new No. 3 for the K-pop phenom's second U.K. Top 5 single. "Butter" is the most downloaded single of the week, by a margin of more than 10,000 sales.

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'A Quiet Place Part II' Makes Serious Memorial Day Noise With A $48.4 Million Three-Day Bow; 'Cruella' Is Solid In Second With $21.3 Million - Box Office Mojo

Hollywood is finally back in business…and not a moment too soon. After 14 long months of darkened marquees and skittish moviegoers who opted to stay home and stream due to COVID-19, Memorial Day weekend arrived just in the nick of time.

In normal years, the holiday which unofficially kicks off summer has provided Hollywood with one of its biggest—and busiest—periods on the calendar. But the past year has been anything but normal, and few knew what to expect coming into the long weekend. Well, it turns out that the box office exceeded all industry expectations thanks to the one-two blockbuster punch of Paramount’sA Quiet Place Part II and Disney’s Cruella, which both had stronger-than-expected debuts. In fact, it was the first weekend in more than a year where the total domestic box-office take surpassed $100 million.

Winning the holiday weekend (by far) was the John Krasinski-directed follow-up to 2018’s surprise horror hit A Quiet Place. The eagerly anticipated sequel scared up $48.4 million in the three-day window between Friday and Sunday. Estimates for the PG-13 film’s four-day haul put its North American receipts at $58.5 million (with $5 million of that coming from IMAX screens), making it the biggest domestic opening of the pandemic era. The previous record holder was Warner Bros.’ Godzilla vs. Kong, which bowed to $32 million back in March 2021.

While early industry projections had the Emily Blunt-starring sequel landing in the $30-million range over its first three days, A Quiet Place Part II easily blew past those predictions and landed in the top spot with plenty of breathing space to spare. In fact, the movie’s Memorial Day weekend take nearly matched the original’s $50.2 million opening in 2018. The follow-up opened with a staggering $12,985 per-screen average in 3,726 theaters. And both critics and audiences seemed equally impressed with the film, giving it a 91% score on RottenTomatoes and an A- grade from CinemaScore.

Originally scheduled to hit theaters back on March 20, 2020, A Quiet Place Part II was one of the first major-studio pictures to be postponed due to COVID. And while many studios chose to steer their 2020 films over to various streaming platforms bypassing limited-capacity theaters, Paramount’s gamble to hold the film for a theatrical release until the pandemic began to recede seems to have paid off handsomely. Blunt and Co. should now have plenty of time to pad their film’s already-impressive numbers since it will be available solely on the big screen for 45 days before moving over to the Paramount+ streaming service.

In the runner-up spot was Disney’s Cruella, an origin story starring Emma Stone about the rise of 101 Dalmatians 's puppy-hating villain, Cruella de Vil. The PG-13-rated film also came out of the gate to solid numbers despite being available on Disney+ for an additional $30 fee. Cruella pulled in $21.3 million in the first three days of the long weekend, earning a $5,472 per-screen average in 3,892 locations. Its four-day gross is projected to hit $26.5 million. The film currently has a 72% score on RottenTomatoes and received a straight ‘A’ CinemaScore grade. One interesting footnote: female ticket buyers turned out to be a critical factor in the holiday weekend’s booming business, with women making up 53% of A Quiet Place Part II’s audience and 64% of Cruella’s.

In third place was Lionsgate’s horror flick Spiral, which took in just under $2.3 million over the weekend’s first three days in North America and an estimated $2.9 million for the four-day frame. The latest R-rated Saw installment saw its receipts fall off a steep -50.5% from the previous session while earning a $760 per-screen average in 2,991 theaters. Its three-week North American total now stands at $19.8 million. The ninth chapter in the splatter saga which kicked off in 2004 has tacked on an additional $6.8 million abroad to date, lifting its worldwide total to $27.2 million.

In fourth place was Jason Statham’s Wrath of Man. The United Artists’ action-thriller added $2.1 million domestically, which represented a -29.5% dip from the previous weekend (Its four-day projection is a little under $2.8 million). The R-rated film had a $698 per-screen average in 3,007 theaters. Its four-week North American total now sits at $22.1 million. However, Statham’s latest punch-‘em-up continues to translate well overseas, where it has accumulated $57.7 million in foreign markets, bringing the film’s combined worldwide gross to a hair under $80.5 million.

Rounding out the top five was Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon. In its thirteenth (!) week, the PG-rated computer-animated adventure added just under $2 million domestically thanks to a +19.7% bump over the previous session (Its four-day projection is $2.6 million). Despite also being available on the Disney+ streaming platform for a $30 fee, the film had a $990 per-screen average in 2,015 theaters, bringing its domestic box-office total to $50.9 million. Overseas, Raya has racked up $77 million so far, pushing its current worldwide total to $128.5 million.

Meanwhile, the latest Fast and Furious sequel, F9, continues to burn rubber overseas. While the Vin Diesel-starrer will not cross the starting line on our shores until June 25, it has already zipped past the $200 million line in its first two weeks playing abroad. Its current international gross in just eight markets is a whopping $229 million and counting.

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Hoagies, Wawa and that funeral spread: The stories told by the food in "Mare of Easttown" - Salon

Sure, "Mare of Easttown" is a grim, gray-scale murder mystery set in a small town where everyone seems to have secrets — but it's also food-heavy enough that people have started affectionately referring to it as "Hoagie Broadchurch." 

HBO is aware of the series' reputation, and continues to tweet things like "The Mare of Easttown food pyramid: fries, peanut butter, spray cheese, vitamins, and beer" while legions of fans have taken to kicking back on Sunday nights with Rolling Rock and cheesesteaks. 

But under the surface, the use of food in the series tells a bigger story about the region in which it is set, while also giving viewers insight into various characters' motivations and foreshadowing their development. Put another way, there's more in that cup of Wawa coffee than initially meets the eye. 

Let's break down some of the most memorable food items shown on the series thus far. 

All the Wawa coffee 

During last winter's Television Critics Association press tour, Kate Winslet described her soft spot for Wawa, the Pennsylvania-native convenience store chain, which developed during her time filming "Mare" in Delco. 

"Wawa was a big part of my life for well over a year," Winslet said, before going on to describe how co-star Evan Peters developed an obsession with "The Gobbler" hoagie, which is loaded with turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce. 

"I'd be like, 'I think I'm worried for you now, Evan; you keep getting this Gobbler,'" she said. "He was like, 'No, you've gotta have it.' He was fully committing, I tell you." 

And, indeed, Wawa — specifically the coffee served there — has been a near-ubiquitous presence in the series, in both obvious and understated ways. It's threaded throughout the show as both a regional name-check and a subtle opportunity for character development. 

Let's just take, for example, when Zabel first attempts to introduce himself to Mare. You see his eyes linger on the Wawa coffee cup on her desk. The next morning, he brings her a Wawa coffee and, upon seeing she already has one in hand, jokes, "That for me? Because I got you one." He continues to bring her coffee, exactly to her specifications — "two creams, no sugar" — every morning as a form of team-building, à la Ted Lasso and his "morning biscuits with the boss." 

This clues us into the kind partner he is going to be; he's disarmingly amenable and isn't there to step on Mare's toes. He even says during one of their first interactions, "You're the chef, I'm the sous-chef. What are we cooking?" The morning he goes to give Mare her coffee and she's gone, after having been instructed to take some time off after she planted drugs on Carrie, it's a foreshadowing that their relationship will be cut short (RIP Zabel). 

It's also worth pulling back a bit to investigate what Mare's reliance on Wawa coffee means. Why not Starbucks, a local shop or a plastic mug from home? Again, it's a nice regional nod. Wawa, which was started in 1964 in Wawa, Pa., has developed an enthusiastic fandom. People plan Wawa road trips (and write plays about Wawa road trips) and there's a wiki-page dedicated to analyzing various facets of the chain's offerings. 

But from a character perspective, it's an indication that Mare is busy. According to Kae Lani Palmisano, a Philadelphia-based food writer and historian who wrote WHYY's digital food history series "Delishstory," the expedient nature of Wawa is one of its most endearing features. 

"There was a point in time where you could buy like a 20-ounce Wawa plastic mug and serve yourself the coffee," she said. "All you do then is get rung up at the counter and you're on your way. The whole process literally takes like five minutes." 

Mare would surely get frustrated behind a Starbucks line full of customers with highly specific coffee orders (while she wouldn't ever ask for it, I'd love to hear Mare say "oat milk"). With Wawa, she's in, out and onto the next crime scene. That said, it's also likely a source of routine in a life that feels increasingly unmoored. 

According to food writer and culinary historian Joanna O'Leary, you get to know your Wawa employees. 

"People recognize you," she said. "You see, I don't know, 'Martha,' who has worked at the Wawa for however long. She works the morning shift, so you see her everyday at 6 a.m., Monday through Friday, and she's almost like a member of your family. You shoot the s**t with her." 

It's sort of like Dawn, who works at the local convenience store in Easttown — though obviously instead of shooting the s**t it's more like, "Mare, why haven't you found my daughter yet?" In a different world, Dawn could have been portrayed as working at a Wawa. 

Mare of Easttown director and executive producer Craig Zobel recently told Decider, "If we could have gotten to shoot in a Wawa, we would have." Though Wawa is literally threaded throughout the show because his costume designers used actual Wawa customers as inspiration, Zobel said.

"I would get texts from the costume designer that were like, 'What about this person?'" he said. "It was someone she had covertly taken a picture of at Wawa as a reference for the show. So yeah, that was just our kind of newfound love of Wawa."

The Italian restaurant where Mare busted Brianna 

While the food in "Mare of Easttown" is perceived with a wink and a nod by most people, according to O'Leary, the creators of the show are obviously overlaying the use of food with a lot of meaning. 

"The food in 'Mare of Easttown' is the locus of violence, secrecy and death and conflict," she said.  

This is established in the first episode. When Mare is called to investigate a prowler, she's called out to Grub Road. Later that day, Erin burns her dad's dinner, which causes him to fly off the handle and sets up the situation where she's not allowed to use his car the night she is murdered. 

But the use of food as a device to introduce secrets comes into clearer focus in the second episode, when Mare goes to arrest Brianna (Mackenzie Lansing) after she assaulted Erin at the Italian restaurant where she works, which also happens to belong to her parents. "Should we maybe do this outside?" Zabel asks Mare as he realizes what she's doing. "Or away from the staff and the guests watching?" 

Instead, Mare uses the opportunity to shame Brianna on the spot, while simultaneously revealing who Brianna is to the entire town; the dining room of the restaurant was packed and, after all, people talk in Easttown. 

The fact that Brianna's parents own an Italian-American restaurant — a kind of kitschy old-school place with fake ivy crawling over the curved archways and murals of the Tuscan countryside — is a nice touch as well. According to Palmisano, there was an influx of Italian immigration to Pennsylvania in the late 19th century, which helped kickstart the development of Italian-American food. 

"You have culinary influences and techniques from Europe that are being reinterpreted with North American ingredients," she said. "In the old country, there wasn't as much meat and cheese, so traditional Italian dishes aren't so meat and cheesy-heavy. So then they get to America and there are so many different types, you can make lasagna with multiple cheeses or you can make sauce or 'gravy,' as they say in Philly, that would have Italian sausage and meatballs. And the meatballs would have both beef and pork." 

You see evidence of this in Brianna's parents' restaurant — check out the massive plates of spaghetti and meatballs while Brianna is being led out of the dining room in cuffs. 

Mare's Rolling Rock (and everyone else's Yuengling) 

The biggest mystery in "Mare of Easttown" is, obviously, who killed Erin McMenamin. The second biggest mystery, however, is why Mare drinks Rolling Rock when everyone around her drinks Yuengling. 

Eater Philly took a really informative deep-dive into the question and considered everything from differences in alcohol by volume, to political considerations (Dick Yuengling was a very vocal Trump supporter in 2016) to the nationwide decline in sales of craft beer.

Writer Dayna Evans also brings up that perhaps the distinction is a narrative device: "Is this setting up a tension between Mare (of Easttown) and people (likely also of Easttown) around her?" 

As a former English major, I'm partial to this read of the creator's choice to put a Rolling Rock in Mare's hand. As the series has progressed it becomes clear that while Mare knows everyone in town, she doesn't really know them. Her family is hiding things from her, her ex-husband lied to her face about helping Erin with things for the baby and it even looks like her best friend, Lori, may have something to do with the murder. 

Additionally, as a detective, everyone is friendly with Mare until they come under her magnifying glass. We watch over and over again as people turn on Mare when she begins investigating their perceived misdeeds, like when Brianna's dad stalks Mare around town or when Kenny bristles under questioning. She is one of the locals, but she's separate from them — kind of an "in Easttown but not of Easttown" situation, so to speak.

Maybe her choice in beer is an indication of this. 

The moment when Ryan beat a bully with a school lunch tray

As O'Leary mentioned, secrecy and food intersect over and over again throughout the series, including when Deacon Mark (James McArdle) is prompted to confess to having a deeper relationship with Erin after he is assaulted by some local kids after picking up takeout. 

However, one of the most poignant examples of this pattern is when Moira (Kassie Mundhenk) is being bullied in the lunchroom by a boy who throws food on her. Her brother, Ryan (Cameron Mann) jumps into action and proceeds to hit the bully over the head over and over again with a school lunch tray. 

"[Ryan] is do disturbed by his father confiding in him about his affair again that he takes out his aggression," she said. "Not just by defending Moira who was interrupted in her quest to have a simple lunch, but he uses the lunch tray as a weapon to beat the kid." 

That altercation, in which food is both a backdrop and a catalyst, leads to Ryan telling Lori about his dad's secret. 

Zabel's dinners with his mom and Mare 

As Mare and Zabel's relationship develops, we see them engaging outside of work more and more over food, including when Zabel asks her out for dinner. While eating, he confides in Mare that he's trying to become a more adventurous eater. 

"Which is actually his way of communicating to Mare that he's shy and how much it took for him to ask her out," O'Leary said. "The food they're trying is fancier food and his story as confessional is a proxy for his emotional and sexual interiority. But she's either tone deaf to it or doesn't care because she just wants to talk about the case." 

Zabel's mother was leery of Mare, especially so after Mare barges in on them having dinner together at their shared home. 

"When she knocks on the door and interrupts that dinner, which is a moment of intimacy between mother and son, she wedges herself right in the middle of that," she said. "So that's why she gets a hearty slap in the face when Zabel dies." 

The spread at the visitation for Betty Carrol 

One of the first things we see at the visitation for Betty Carrol, one of Mare's neighbors, is Helen loading up her plate at a folding table that's packed with huge serving bowls of macaroni and cheese and cold potato salad, as well as smaller platters of odds and ends. This is a nice, subtle nod to Pennsylvania food culture, O'Leary said. 

"When people set out a spread for a barn raising or a church supper or anything like that, there's an element of like — okay, you know in Korean food there's banchan, all the little side dishes?" she said. "In central Pennsylvania, there's an element of that where you have lots of relishes and pickled things, alongside a lot of hot and cold starches, like cold macaroni salad and hot potato salad.

This scene is another time that secrets are revealed over mealtime. As Helen is bringing a forkful of potato salad to her mouth, Glenn, Betty's husband, makes an announcement. 

"Listen up," he yells from the stairway landing. "First, I want to thank you all for coming here today to honor my dear Betty. But there's something else I'd like to say, and I'd like to get it off my chest. I mean, I… I… I was going to tell Betty, but — but now it looks like that isn't going to happen." 

He pauses, then continues: "I can't live with this anymore. Uh, I can't live with the guilt. I had an affair with Helen Fahey." 

Cut to Helen choking on her potato salad and Mare trying to keep her Rolling Rock down. 

That glorious cheesesteak and hoagie gift basket 

About 15 minutes into the first episode, we see Mare chowing down on what is the first of the many cheesesteaks to appear in the series. Fellow food obsessives have taken the time to pause, zoom and enhance on the cheesesteak frames and have determined that Mare forgoes peppers and onions on her order (which O'Leary informs me you can order by just saying, "I'll have it without"). 

Hoagies, pronounced "whoogies," are also a fixture. In the second episode, we find Mare sitting on her couch after bailing on Richard's stuffy book party — where she tried and subsequently spit out the duck liver toast appetizer — swilling beer and unwrapping a ham, cheese and shredded lettuce hoagie. When Brianna's dad tosses a milk jar through her window, the shattered glass doesn't stop Mare from finishing her sandwich. 

A lot has been made about Mare actually eating like a normal person in the series. While chowing down on sandwiches isn't a revolutionary act, it can feel like it when pop culture has, for so long, fetishized deprivation (for more on this, April Davidauskis' "How Beautiful Women Eat: Feminine Hunger in American Pop Culture" is a must-read). Mare eats for energy and convenience. As such, portability and carbs are a plus. 

Both cheesesteaks and hoagies have a strong regional resonance, as well. According to Palmisano, the gift basket that Richard brought her, with hoagies from the real Laspada's and cheesesteaks from the fake Coco's, shows some state know-how, as well. 

"The gift basket is so unique and it paints this accurate picture of how where you get cheesesteaks is not where you get your hoagies," she said. "The sandwiches don't cross. You have your cheesesteak palace and your hoagie place. It's like the distinction between the Pennsylvania beers, Yuengling and Rolling Rock."

The popularity of Mare is feeding back into the real world of sandwiches, too. According to the Philly Voice, Don's Deli, a Delaware County deli, has created a "The Mare" hoagie. It features roasted turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and mayonnaise on a long, fresh Serpe & Sons Bakery roll (sound familiar?). 

"The ingredients of The Mare are similar to other sandwiches in our area, like the Gobbler and the Bobbie," McKinney told The Delco Times. "We chose this type of sandwich because it's 'a Delco thing' and we named it after Delco's favorite girl!"

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Christian dietician Gwen Shamblin Lara, actor Joe Lara and others presumed dead in plane crash - The Washington Post

Christian dietitian and church founder Gwen Shamblin Lara, her actor husband, Joe Lara, and five others are presumed dead after a small private plane crashed into a lake near Nashville on Saturday, authorities said.

The aircraft was headed to Palm Beach International Airport when it slammed into Percy Priest Lake in Smyrna, Tenn., about 12 miles east of Nashville, local officials said.

By late Saturday night, Rutherford County crews said they were shifting operations from rescue to recovery, Rutherford County Fire Rescue Capt. Joshua Sanders said at a news briefing, as there appeared to be no survivors.

The other passengers were identified Saturday night by Rutherford County officials: Jennifer J. Martin, David L. Martin, Jessica Walters, Jonathan Walters and Brandon Hannah, Shamblin Lara’s son-in-law. All victims were reportedly members of Shamblin Lara’s church and residents of Brentwood, Tenn.

Dive teams from local law enforcement and emergency agencies investigated the debris field — about half a mile wide — where they found human remains and pieces of the plane Sunday, local authorities said.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the cause of the crash.

The aircraft belonged to Shamblin Lara, 66, founder of the Remnant Fellowship Church and author of the bestseller “The Weigh Down Diet,” a weight-loss method that aims to “turn away from the love of food and towards the love of God,” according to her website.

William Joseph “Joe” Lara, 58, began his career as a model before landing the lead role in “Tarzan in Manhattan” in 1989. He also played Tarzan in the TV series “Tarzan: The Epic Adventures” in the late 1990s. He produced the series as well, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The couple, based in Brentwood, Tenn., had registered the small aircraft through their company, JL & GL Productions, according to local media reports.

Shamblin Lara’s daughter, Elizabeth Shamblin Hannah, who was not on the flight, sent a text to Remnant families on Saturday, asking for prayers and saying that the plane “had to go down for a controlled, quick landing,” News Channel 5 Nashville reported.

“GOD IS IN CONTROL, and we will not stop moving forward with WHAT GOD WANTS with this church,” the text message said.

Hannah’s husband, Brandon, was aboard the plane.

In a statement Sunday, the church said it had lost some of its “finest and most loving” leaders in a “horrible tragedy.” It described Shamblin Lara as a “gentle, and selfless mother and wife” who lived “every day laying down her own life to ensure that others could find a relationship with God.”

It continued:

“As far as Remnant Fellowship Church and Weigh Down Ministries are concerned, Michael Shamblin and Elizabeth Shamblin Hannah, Gwen’s two children, and the church leadership intend to continue the dream that Gwen Shamblin Lara had of helping people find a relationship with God.”

According to her website, Shamblin Lara experienced substantial weight gain while she was in college and by studying “God’s perfect design and naturally thin eaters,” she said she was “permanently” set free from being overweight and dieting.

She founded Weight Down in 1992, which she has described as a “faith-based weight loss” method that she said has helped thousands of people dealing with excess weight and addictions such as smoking and alcohol abuse.

Critics have compared the church to a cult, pointing at remarks made by Shamblin Lara about thin Jews in concentration camps and denying that genetics play a role in obesity, according to the Clarion Ledger.

“How in the Holocaust did you have all these people getting down real skinny? They ate less food,” she said in an interview with CNN’s Larry King in 2008, News Channel 5 Nashville reported.

The Remnant Fellowship, founded in 1999, reportedly has more than 1,500 members in 150 congregations worldwide, according to the Clarion Ledger.

Shamblin Lara’s website says she was deeply involved in the church’s activities, including giving sermons twice a week and counseling “thousands of people” on a wide range of topics, including finance and parenting.

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'Mare of Easttown' Finale's Julianne Nicholson Breaks Down the Tragic Twist - Daily Beast

Over Mare of Easttown’s seven-episode run on HBO, its obsessed audience has transformed into amateur sleuths, putting a gumshoe’s fedora on their Twitter avatars as they piece together the crime thriller’s central mystery: Who killed Erin McMenamin?

A Google search of that very question yields dozens of blog posts and fan forums ranking the possible suspects. Now that Sunday night’s finale has aired, suffice it to say that the actual killer was likely a surprise to even the series’ most keen-eyed viewers, though one of the most popular theories surrounding the whodunnit was confirmed.

(Warning: Spoilers ahead from Sunday’s finale. Do not read further if you do not want to know what happened!)

As many Mare fans pointed out over the course of the series, you don’t cast Julianne Nicholson in the friend role if she’s not going to have some meaty material in the end. That was exactly the case for the actress, known for delivering shattering, emotionally brittle performances in films like August: Osage County and Black Mass.

First, it appears that Nicholson’s character Lori Ross, best friend of Kate Winslet’s titular detective Mare, shoulders the burden of the revelation that her husband, John Ross (Joe Tippett), is the father of Erin’s baby, DJ, and the one who killed her. But, in the kind of last-act twist that has your jaw successively dropping until it crashes through the floor, it turns out that Lori and John were covering for their young son, Ryan (Cameron).

After learning of John and Erin’s affair, Ryan stole a gun from a neighbor—the same neighbor who reported the “ferret stalker” in the show’s premiere (full circle!)—and confronted Erin. He meant to just scare her into leaving his family alone, but things got out of hand and he accidentally killed her.

That leads to a series of what may rank as some of the most heartbreaking TV scenes of the year, all at the hand of Nicholson’s acting, a steely face trembling over an open wound. There’s her reaction to Ryan storming into the house screaming, “It’s Mare! She knows!,” fired off like gunshots to the heart as Lori hurriedly envelopes him in her arms, inconsolable over the boy’s certain fate.

There’s the almost mafioso way she hisses at Mare in the interrogation room, practically shooting venom as she justified, “I agreed to lie to protect my son. And I would have taken that to my grave if you didn’t show up at the house today.” She breaks down in her car, screaming at Mare in disbelief, “My Ryan!” as she tries to console her, like a mother lion’s pained roar.

Then there are the quiet moments as Lori resigns to her new life—when John asks her to raise DJ as her own, when she takes DJ to get his ear surgery—emotionally flattened by the series of tragic events and with no other recourse but to morosely soldier on.

When we connect with Nicholson over Zoom to talk about the finale, we joke about how, when we last spoke in 2016 when she was starring on another slow-burn crime-mystery series, Eyewitness and told me, “I would love not cry at work,” joking about how serious her characters tend to be. “Sounds really nice.”

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She laughs again when I bring it up this time. “Yesterday, somebody was like, do you ever want to do a comedy? I have to start saying no. No more grief.”

Still, as Sunday night’s Mare of Easttown finale proved, she’s really good at playing grief.

The series is the rare occasion in recent years of ratings and viewership growing week after week, with social media engagement doubling between episodes five and six. The show has become an obsession to the point that Saturday Night Live even parodied it. In the age of bingeing, people are breaking their habits and watching on a weekly basis, both to avoid spoilers and join the watercooler conversation.

We all together screamed over Evan Peters’ Detective Zabel (first his drunk acting, then his shocking death), raved over Kate Winslet’s performance, been amused by the ludicrous “Delco accent,” celebrated the Jean Smartaissance, and had a collective heart attack while watching Carrie (Sosie Bacon) fall asleep while little Drew was facedown in the bathtub.

The show had thoughtfully and deliberately scattered puzzle pieces across different episodes—from the “ferret stalker” to the significance of Freddie Hanlon’s addiction to the specific kind of gun used to kill Erin—and now, they finally fit together.

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So we talked to Nicholson about everything: Her reaction to who did it, dealing with Lori’s grief as a mother herself, and the fact that the show’s costume designer camped out at a Wawa, spending hours taking photos of people as references for the show’s characters’ wardrobes.

The internet has been playing a “Who killed Erin?” sleuthing game throughout this entire series. Did you have your own journey with that? I’m curious how much you knew going into this.

Kate called me and said, “I'm doing a show. The part is my best friend. You have to do it. I'm sending you episodes one through six.” So they sent them and I read those. Like the audience, I thought with every episode that I knew who did it—and then it would be revealed that I did not know who did it. (Laughs) It wasn't until we knew that I was doing the job that I was sent episode seven. I was surprised! Were you surprised?

So here’s the thing: I am not alone in thinking that the killer was going to be connected to Lori somehow, the reasoning being that you were cast in that role and you don't cast you in that role if there's not going to be some sort of emotional climax. Beyond that I just assumed it was John, and that was going to be it. I didn’t expect that last twist.

OK good. Me too. Then when I was reading it I was like, oh no is Lori going to be the killer? I had already agreed to do it at that time and I was like, I don't want to kill a teenage girl! I was sort of relieved when it was my son.

What was your reaction to it being Lori’s son?

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Oh god, it's terrible. The idea of it being all John's fault, and for something like that to happen, it's tragic. That scene where she goes to visit him later with her daughter and the baby, it's just so awful to think that is where he is now. That informs every day from then on. Every day starts with that, knowing where her son is.

Throughout the whole series, Lori seems like someone who is just so worn down, like she’s exhausted from shouldering the weight of so much. The finale piles that on even more, but there is something really recognizable about a mother and a wife who is carrying a lot.

“Like the audience, I thought with every episode that I knew who did it—and then it would be revealed that I did not know who did it. I was surprised! Were you surprised?”

Obviously these are extreme examples of what's going on with these characters' lives. But I think it's not uncommon for, in particular, moms to be taking it on and just still getting it done and making sure that everything's okay for everyone around them. It felt like an honest depiction of a woman who lives in that place, in that social standing and in that community. It felt pretty honest to those places.

Everything about her was so recognizable, down to her wardrobe, the baggy t-shirts and sweats.

I loved the wardrobe. I thought Meghan Kasperlik, our costume designer, did such a great job. She would always bring in these really specific choices for Lori. There were even details like I felt like she should wear a sports bra under that shirt. There's certain things that are just, like, it's comfort. You know? It's just a particular style. Our costume designer would spend hours at Wawa, just sort of like blindly snapping pics of people for reference. Then she’d go to stores and find versions of that, which was great and I think really informs the believability of the characters.

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I don't know if it exists anymore, but there used to be a site called People of Walmart. People would send in photos of people at Walmart in embarrassing outfits.

People of Wawa!

I wanted to talk to you about some specific scenes from the finale. I was struck by the one at the courthouse, where John asks Lori to take DJ in and raise him. It’s the kind of thing that could have been this whole big, explosive scene. But you played it silently.

If I'm not mistaken, I think Lori originally had a line or two there. One of the things I loved about Brad [Ingelsby, the creator] was that he was always there to say if you don't want to say that, if you think of something better, or if you don't want to say anything, then great. So the scene when John tells Lori at the table, I said I don't think she says anything. And with the courthouse too. I feel like it's expected in a television show to have that dramatic moment but, in life, what's going to happen when someone asks you that? It's going to take a minute. You don't know what that feeling is going to be or what that response is going to be. So they were open to that and they thought that could work. Sometimes it's more interesting to see that person have the experience than hear them tell you about it.

The scene where Lori takes DJ to get his ear surgery is also fascinating. We’ve spent seven episodes waiting for this poor child to get his surgery, so it should be a triumphant moment. But Lori is so despondent, and the situation she’s in is so tragic.

That was one of the things that we talked about before filming, because the question of her taking that child is, like, not everyone would. Right? And if you do, that's not as simple yes. And I bet the feelings around that change day to day, hour to hour. But it's only a little baby. And he's the half brother of your other two children, but like, this is where he comes from. So it's just so layered.

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I can’t stop thinking about the future of these characters. We see how intertwined this community is, and now everyone knows that Lori is raising the illegitimate child of her husband whose mother was killed by her son.

I know! I know. She should move to South Beach and yuk it up.

That's the thing about those communities, though. The people never move.

I know, yeah. She's not going anywhere.

Lori tells Mare, “I agreed to lie to protect my son.” As a mother yourself, what did you think of her decision to cover up for him?

I would have done the same thing. Also because it's John's fault and he'll take the blame. I mean, you don't want to pick apart my answer...it's not foolproof, this plan. But it all happened because of John, and he's happy to take the rap for it. It was an accident on Ryan's behalf. It should have never happened. But if John's willing to serve the punishment, then I would be fine with that. Let the kid live his life not in jail. Going to visit him in that place was awful. When she asked him, “Are you making any new friends?” It's just like such a terrible thing to imagine.

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Awful because you were thinking about what if this was your own family?

Yeah. I thought about that a lot. My son is very close in age to Ryan on the show and has a similar personality. Just nice kids. Thinking about a life being taken away in that way, to someone who that shouldn't have happened to, it's just terrible. It’s too much.

The scene where he runs into the house screaming that Mare is coming and you just hold him...that, like, broke me.

That was really hard too. The age that Cameron [who plays Ryan] was and that our son is too, it's like the sweet spot where they're not children. They're not little kids, but they are still a little bit. They’ve got one foot in teen and one foot in kid, so they still want to, you know, sit on your lap. They still want to cuddle. It's this funny place. I just felt very easy with Cameron. He's also such a nice kid. We went out for dinner and we would hang out on set and he would tell me about his basketball games and his mom was great. So it was just a terrible thing to imagine.

You’ve done crime shows before on television. What do you think it is about this one that’s connected in the way that it’s become such an obsession?

I like to think that it's the interest of the specificity of the place. Like Delco in particular, where I can't really bring to mind another story from there. So it's sort of peeping into a place we don't know, and a community we don't know. All of our intention was to create those people and those relationships as the foundation, and that hopefully was the interesting thing about the show before you add the crime. I think it's great that it's all these women: Mare and her mom and her daughter, Lori and the whole basketball team. Maybe something people are responding to, hopefully.

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It’s interesting that for all the obsession over who was the killer and the online odds rankings and guessing and all that, the series ends on the theme of how a community deals with pain and grief. It doesn’t end when the mystery is solved. It ends with Mare trying to heal after her son’s suicide.

Yes. Come for the crime, stay for the grace.

The casting aspect of all that online sleuthing was interesting. Just as people assumed Lori was connected somehow because you were cast in the role, people couldn’t let go of the idea that Guy Pearce also must have something to do with it. But he really was just the nice love interest.

Sometimes you don't want to be murderers and mothers of dead kids. Sometimes we just want to be people at a bar, having a beer, writing a book.

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