00:00Season 1 of The Rainmaker was kind of described as a David and Goliath story.
00:03It's even referenced as such in the premiere.
00:06How would you summarize season 2's overall plot?
00:09It's a David and Goliath story.
00:11Two Goliaths!
00:12There's two Goliaths this time for season 2.
00:14So we have two cases.
00:17Your ex-husbands and Victor's.
00:19I don't know how we went from a whale to two fishes, but here we are.
00:22Wait, am I a fish?
00:23We have two main cases that we follow.
00:26One of them sort of explores the plight of childhood and the juvenile detention system in America.
00:34PJ and I spend a lot of time doing that.
00:35Then we have another case you want to take over.
00:38Another case that involves my ex-husband.
00:40Who I hate, by the way.
00:41Let's just clarify that.
00:42I hate him.
00:43Yes.
00:43Yes.
00:44Speaking of Angela, Bruiser's husband Tom returns.
00:47Austin Nichols.
00:48What was it like working with him?
00:49What new aspects of Bruiser come to light with her husband returning to the story?
00:54Well, first of all, Austin is lovely.
00:56And I think we met when he was 19.
00:59I'm a couple years older than him.
01:00Don't you do that.
01:01But no, in a voice class.
01:04So on set, he was doing this vocal warm-up.
01:06And I was like, who's your teacher?
01:08And he told me.
01:09And I said, that was my mentor for years.
01:11Aw, I didn't know that.
01:12So I felt like we already kind of like bonded on that level, which was really nice.
01:17Bruiser is definitely triggered by him.
01:21And he's betrayed her.
01:22And she sort of is dealing with those feelings, those past emotions.
01:28Because he's a jerk.
01:29And contemplating whether or not, that's right, she should help him.
01:33Yeah.
01:33And she ends up helping him.
01:37Yeah.
01:37Bad decisions.
01:38Devastating.
01:40Milo, Rudy could pick any kind of case now that he's been touted as the Rainmaker after season one.
01:46He's got offers from everywhere.
01:47But he narrows in on Victor Sofrady's story.
01:50This boy against the system.
01:52What kind of is the thing that pulls him in the most?
01:54Is it the cleverness of the card?
01:56Is it the bruises?
01:57I'm just curious why this kid really speaks to him.
02:00Good question.
02:01Yeah, great question.
02:01I think that it began.
02:02I mean, like, Dak plays a huge part in that storyline.
02:06And, you know, it's really one of his closest friends.
02:11Realigning his moral compass with, like, true meaning.
02:14You know, I think, like, after season one, there's a lot of scope.
02:17You know, he's bought a bar and he has all of this clout.
02:20And actually, happiness and meaning, I think, is often characterized by the absence of things
02:25as opposed to getting more of them.
02:27And he has to get back to his roots.
02:29And then I think what I love about this season, one of the many things I love about this season,
02:33is when you're dealing with something as hard-hitting as, like, the plight of a child,
02:38it's the connection to the subject matter is so available and authentic.
02:43To us as actors, I feel like the crew, the writers, everybody so really felt that story
02:49that I think naturally, Rudy, his meter for justice kicks in.
02:56And that's kind of where we, out of a taco hut, we start to attack the, what do you say,
03:02PJ?
03:02What's the, what's the...
03:03When the powerful take on the weak...
03:05With impunity.
03:06With impunity, you call us and we'll come save you from our little taco hut.
03:10We have a special button that goes, blink.
03:12Oh, I thought we were doing a three-way pound.
03:14Oh, yeah, I'm sorry, three-way pound.
03:15Sorry, three-way pound.
03:15Guys, come on.
03:16Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
03:18no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
03:19Um, PJ, Richard Kind joins this season as Dex's dad.
03:22I mean, come on, is that great or what?
03:24It's exciting.
03:25We're my faves.
03:25How could he not be?
03:26What is it like to work with him on set and what, you know, sort of new qualities of Dex
03:31come out when he's with his dad?
03:33I know, it's great.
03:34Well, first of all, he's Richard Kind.
03:35He's the legend.
03:36He's the funniest man in the world.
03:37He's one of our greatest living actors.
03:40Uh, and then I'm just in awe of him, obviously.
03:43So, to, just to be on set with him is so exciting.
03:45He's an extraordinarily good actor.
03:47Um, and then we have some very emotional moments because he plays my dad and, you know, there's, you know,
03:52kids and their father sometimes can, can bang heads a bit.
03:55Uh, his dream was for me to be an accountant, uh, to work with him, a father and son team.
04:01That doesn't work out.
04:02Uh, but I know it was just a really special relationship and, you know, whenever you're acting with Richard Kind,
04:07it's always a special day.
04:08Yeah.
04:09Another addition to the cast this season is Merle Dandridge as Amanda Vaughn.
04:13She's scary.
04:14Like, she kind of scares me when I watch her on screen.
04:16Life?
04:17Leaves fingerprints, darling.
04:19Your colleague Brad Noonan is in prison.
04:21Your client has been indicted, followed soon after by my dear friend Leo Drummond.
04:25But you, you somehow emerged without a scratch.
04:29She's fierce.
04:30She's phenomenal.
04:30She has such a soul to her, which is like beautiful.
04:33In a performance like this, when she's playing somebody who is on the surface, very, um, kind of closed off
04:38and weathered by the system.
04:40To, to have somebody who has access to, uh, you know, a soulfulness is, is really quite poetic and lovely.
04:47But I would say this is where we have like incredible women in our show this season, as we did
04:50last season.
04:51But like, you know, between you and Maddie, Libby, Mark, yeah, Karen.
04:54And I mean, we have such an incredible, and it changes the energy on set in a really positive way,
04:58I think.
04:58It does.
05:11It changes the will.
05:11Well, speaking of strong people characters, um, you know, Lana, Bruiser's a guy in the original John Gerstorff novel.
05:17What did it mean for you to kind of take this very masculine role and make it your own, this
05:20like spicy kind of diva in a way, in a way?
05:23Honestly, it was an honor.
05:24I, I've never played, uh, you know, I've had the opportunity to be a part of a gender.
05:29You've never played a bloke before?
05:30I've never, I've never played a man before.
05:32Um, I've always been one of the boys, though, I have to say.
05:36Like, I've, I'm still friends with my high school boys, and that's like 33 years now.
05:40And I'm the only girl in the group.
05:42Um, so I feel really comfortable with boys, and, um, it was, it was easy.
05:47I mean, it was easy to step into her shoes, and, um, but then also, like, being a woman brings
05:52a whole different energy, and she's very maternal with, um, Rudy.
05:56I'm going to say Milo, but also Milo.
05:58Yes, yes.
05:59And, um, and then it's great with our dynamic as well, because we're very brother and sister with each other,
06:03so, um, it was great.
06:06In fact, I can't see Bruiser as a man anymore.
06:08I mean, I know it exists on film, with the Coppola film, and, you know, Mickey Rourke and all, but
06:13I feel like it was the one role that you could gender bend, and it works.
06:17And Milo, for Rudy, I mean, he could just go to Nashville with a bigger client or the bigger firm
06:22and have that partnership.
06:23Why does he want to stick with these guys in the taco pie?
06:26Because you love me.
06:26Otherwise, you would never let him go.
06:28We're not going to.
06:29How dare you?
06:30That's a terrible, take that question back.
06:33I know, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.
06:34We decide not to have that question, decider.
06:36How dare you?
06:37No, is there something that he's more compelled, do you think, for this style of law?
06:41I think, I think he, uh, I mean, there's a lot, there's a lot of, uh, backstory behind kind of
06:47where he comes from.
06:47You know, he's, he's a blue-collar guy, and, like, he's really surrounded by, these are his people.
06:51And I feel like when you, you know, Rudy, if he had been able to stay at the Trent and
06:56Brent firm that he was, uh, working under Slattery's character for, would not, I don't think that that wouldn't have
07:04been a successful spiritual kind of, like, journey into and of himself.
07:08Whereas in this environment, um, like, fundamentally, like, the heart of our show is David and Goliath were the underdogs,
07:16and we fight the bullies.
07:17And, you know, this is, that's kind of where he belongs, and I think he feels it.
07:20He's such a moral character as well. He doesn't feel like he fits in one of those, like, white shoe
07:24firms. They're a bit dirty.
07:26It's also kind of fun, you know? Like, in the grand scheme of things, like, he doesn't want to work
07:31for somebody who's telling them when to eat lunch, you know?
07:33Um, Milo this season, your character and Sarah are kind of at odds.
07:37Sarah, what are you doing here?
07:38I lost my job. I lost my boyfriend. I did not do this to hurt you.
07:43You didn't hurt me. You hurt a 12-year-old boy.
07:45Is there any hope for Sarah and Rudy? Could there be a new love interest? Can you tease anything?
07:49I think there's always hope, you know? Michael had a, uh, something that he said to Maddie and I when
07:53we started filming season one,
07:55and he said, Rudy and Sarah are like a bird and a fish who fell in love, but where are
07:58they going to live?
07:59And that's the whole play out of their relationship in season one.
08:02And as they kind of grow and they mature, um, I'm not really sure where that metaphor goes,
08:07but I think maybe there's an opportunity in maturity for them to meet on a level playing field,
08:14but we'll have to see.
08:15Yeah, Maddie lives with me now, so that's good.
08:17Um, before I let you guys go, if there's, like, one thing that you're most excited for the fans to
08:22get into this season,
08:23is it your kind of a storyline, a funny line of dialogue, a scene that you're,
08:26is there anything that you're chomping at the bit for them to, to experience?
08:31Without getting disappointed.
08:32I mean, if you, it's episode seven, PJ takes his shirt off, and that's a shirt off.
08:36That's a major spoiler, by the way.
08:38You're welcome, America.
08:39I think, I think it's that, like, season, season one is, like, we were ambitious in season one,
08:44but season two is really where we get to explore the multitudes of, uh, the backgrounds of these characters that
08:49you love.
08:49There's obviously a huge, uh, storyline for Bruiser with her ex-husband.
08:53Like, we meet you and your dad.
08:54We meet Matt, we see a lot of Maddie's parents and, like, their family dynamic,
08:58and maybe she gets to explore why Sarah made the decision.
09:02And we've got all these new characters as well, you know, uh, Austin's character,
09:06Merle's character, Liam O'Halloran, Libby Kaye, like, people who are just fantastic,
09:10who've come onto our show and just really, we feel, like, elevated it and taking the material
09:13that Michael so fantastically provides with the writing team, and it blows up.
