Before the feminist movement really began to develop its momentum, there was a moment where Julia wasn’t certain who she was going to be, where she wasn’t always a champion of the right things. If we go into a third season—and we hope we will—I’m sure it’ll be complicated for all of the characters on our show, but WGBH itself is going to really start to change much more quickly. And everyone’s going to have to either get on board, or be left behind.
Sarah Lancashire and David Hyde Pierce in season two of ‘Julia.’©Seacia Pavao
I find it puzzling when people refer to the show as a “comfort watch,” because that sometimes feels at odds with what’s actually going on. This season deals with issues of equality, of access to contraception. In the finale, characters are working to thwart the FBI! How does the “cozy” moniker sit with you?
Goldfarb: I attribute it to the marriage, actually. There’s something about Julia and Paul’s love of each other and lust for each other that I think is very aspirational. And the food. But there’s something about them that I think makes people feel warm. There’s conflict in the marriage. The whole first season she had this big secret, and now in the second season starting with episode four, she has a secret again. But she’s keeping the secret to protect him, and then ultimately the secret comes out, and they get even closer. So I think that’s why people think the show is cozy and warm and kind.
But I agree with you. Episode five, where Paul’s twin brother comes, that’s an example of Julia in all her contradictions. She lies about the origins of the show and when Alice calls her on it, she says, “My brand is honesty,” when she’s just made something up. So we love leaning into Julia as an amazing, complicated, three-dimensional woman. So thank you for saying it’s not just cozy.
Keyser: We are very committed to the idea that the whole thing feels light as a feather, that it lands with weight, but you are not noticing because it has a breezy quality. The kind of person that Julia surrounded herself with is full of optimism about the idea that tomorrow could be better than today. They’re all open to the possibilities of life, even when it’s difficult.
If there’s anything that Daniel and I in the writers’ room focus on all the time, it’s how do you tell a potentially dramatic story, but—not to keep mixing metaphors—that on the inside just feels like a soufflé.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Savannah Walsh
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