PS: What was the most difficult scene to film?
BH: The first scene I shot with Toni was when we were reunited [in the first episode] — the second diner scene, if you will. That was a lot, because I was so nervous to work with Toni for the first time. Toni has spoken about this a bit in interviews, about how exhausting it is when you're trying to hold something back that you unconsciously want to feel . . . the stakes are high all the time, and how do you find the nuance in that?
PS: Did filming so many intense scenes take a toll on you?
BH: It's the only time I've ever had a year to prepare for a role, because we were about to [film] and the the turnaround between casting and shooting was really quick. It was like, "Brush up on dialect, break down the scripts, let's go." Then we had a year's hiatus because of COVID, and if anything, I feel like I was trying not to overprepare. I did about six months of drawing classes . . . because I was like, "If I keep looking at these scripts, I'm going to drive myself crazy and lose any kind of spontaneity."
TC: Yep, it did. When I'm working on stuff that I know is going to be intense, I just pretend it's not happening, and I let moments creep up on me. The only real preparation I did was learn how to play that [Johann Sebastian] Bach piece [in the final episode], which was very intense. I had two weeks to learn it by memory, and I don't play piano. That was petrifying. I thought it was going to be smooth sailing, but every scene was bigger and more intense than I thought it was going to be.