Justin Theroux is ready to Go Even Darker In Season Two Of “The Leftovers”–Are You?

Don’t tell Justin Theroux you’re drained.

It’s the lunch rush at a crowded spot in New York city’s SoHo local and Theroux just doesn’t have any sympathy to spare. Downstairs, where it’s simple to flee the counter crush however not a lot the noise, Theroux is comfortable and cheerful, which is surprising provided that he’s in the course of shooting season two of the HBO drama The Leftovers, in keeping with the unconventional by way of Tom Perrotta.

It’s an emotionally taxing show at its perfect and hopelessly grim at its worst—and Theroux is within the thick of it once more reprising his function as Kevin Garvey, chief of police of the fictional city of Mapleton, ny, the place so many residents mysteriously vanished on October 14. If that’s not enough, Garvey’s mental state is completely dissolving, sending him into sleepwalking matches of rage and inflicting him to have hallucinations which might be erasing the boundaries of fact.

As onerous as that sounds for an audience to look at, imagine how draining it’s to reside it.

“You’re tired? I’m drained!” Theroux jokes. “I hate being one of those individuals who’s like, ‘this is the hardest job…’ It’s no longer a coal mine. remaining season was exhausting, however this season actually took its toll in a loopy means.”

To recap: two p.c of the arena’s population suddenly vanishes, leaving grief and distress within the wake of domestic and pals. Season one ends with Mapleton scorched after tensions with the chain-smoking, fatalist cult guilty Remnant violently explode into a revolt. Season two pointers at the opportunity of a contemporary start when Kevin Garvey and his new family transfer to Jarden, a Texas town where, miraculously, no person has disappeared. everyone feels secure unless the end of episode one sends distress alerts of misery to come.

“taking part in that heightened level of tension or concern or loss or grief for a sustained period of time in point of fact can zap you,” Theroux says. “but it’s additionally an exhilarating problem.”

same goes for the target audience watching the convey: It’ll scrape you hollow, yet in some way leave you richer for the expertise. The Leftovers has probably the most sharpest writing of any show on television, completed with expertly crafted, tightly coiled scenes of pressure and searing performances from the solid that features Ann Dowd, Liv Tyler, Christopher Eccleston, Carrie Coon, and Amy Brenneman.

So why does The Leftovers really feel like David dodging feet in a box of Goliaths?

in comparison with HBO’s colossally a hit dramas like sport of Thrones, The Sopranos, real Blood, The Wire, or real Detective (season one, anyway), The Leftovers hasn’t hit that flashpoint but. It’s on no account the very best convey to watch—the phrases “dour,” “somber,” and “bleak” had been tossed round in opinions—and there’s no payoff or decision for the audience in the case of uncovering that every one-too compelling mystery of 140 million folks around the world “departing,” but supply Theroux 30 minutes (and a cup of green tea with almond milk and a shot of espresso) and he’ll get you to see why staring at The Leftovers is enlightening exhaustion—and drop just a little career advice alongside the way in which.

Have slightly religion…Or no longer

“It’s attention-grabbing now that the express is out because after we were seeking to describe what we have been going to be imparting prior to anyone had seen the rest, individuals would ask, is it spiritual? Is it in regards to the rapture? where do they go?” Theroux says. “fortunately, [showrunner and writer Damon Lindelof] used to be very up front and stated, we’re never going to answer that question.”

if you were to interrupt down The Leftovers with the aid of thematic structures, season one hinged on grief and loss whereas season two focuses on faith and perception. however Lindelof isn’t essentially concerned with spiritually, Theroux says—what he’s exploring in season two is way bigger.

“He’s doing one thing surprising. It’s this very gradual burn into virtually extreme agnosticism,” Theroux says. “He’s taken a worldwide phenomenon and he’s ant-farmed it—it’s all going to occur right here in this one specific, very different place. So whatever is up there with the magnifying glass pointed at that ant farm can actually hit some power points on the folks residing in it.”

the city of Jarden, Texas may have survived the departure however, as it’s constantly repeated all through the collection, no one is ever in point of fact okay. “They reside in a city of people that imagine they had been saved for a cause,” Theroux says. “Some people believed they had been saved as a result of it used to be their marriage ceremony day. Some people consider they have been saved as a result of they tapped their dashboard thrice. So folks keep doing those forms of issues in this OCD more or less means.”

They’re trapped not in a jail of grief like the vast majority of the sector, however in a prison of belief. The unaffected are nonetheless affected, clinging to what they believe saved them within the first place and, in some circumstances, flinching at the axe to fall. That pervasive experience of the unknown transcends the supernatural event of millions of people all of sudden disappearing and enters into everyone’s trepidation, and occasionally anticipation, of no longer being able to see across the nook. The Leftovers pulls that concern out and forces the audience—and Theroux—to look at it squarely in the face.

embody Your profession Unknowns

Opting to obtain his scripts episode via episode, Theroux is basically left at nighttime as to what’s coming next within the convey—and he prefers it that means.

“anytime you get to do completely different stretches or type of emotional yoga poses, i think you’re sharpening your talent set in a method,” he says. “[Lindelof] truly put me out of my relief zone in plenty of scenes. He bodily put me out of my comfort zone in that I’m naked within the woods or I’m drowning, things like that. And emotionally, to have to sustain that stage of hysteria, grief, concern, it’s difficult and uncomfortable on occasion.”

Theroux’s “que sera, sera” angle has guided him through relatively a different profession which, most notably, contains writing credit for Zoolander 2, Iron Man 2, Rock of ages, and Tropic Thunder.

“I are trying not to plot where I’m at. I’ve been very fortunate and fortunate however I attempt to always do the subsequent right thing—it’s a intestine factor,” he says. “i feel that individuals who purpose at one thing are frequently going to pass over the mark. You create frustrations for yourself when go like, ‘by using this time subsequent 12 months I want to have a studio movie underneath my belt,’ or whatever the hell it’s. Inevitably, business doesn’t work like that. you need to just try to be good at what you’re doing, work very arduous at doing it, and that’s it.”

Now if Theroux might only life-teach Kevin Garvey into the identical line of pondering.

no one Is truly k—And That’s okay

The character of Kevin is one of the most emotionally advanced heroes on paper, however it’s Theroux’s agility in tightrope-strolling his means via Kevin’s guilt, hardness, vulnerability, and, most frustratingly, his repression, that’s amazing.

What The Leftovers shatters so brilliantly, and Theroux portrays so well, is the semblance of “shifting on.”

“whenever you flip the gravity off for a minute and turn it again on, no person is ever the identical again,” Theroux says. “If you understand that gravity can go away in a 2d, no person would ever stroll round easily of their skin once more.”

which you can make peace with one thing however are you actually healed? which you can’t scrub your thoughts easy of what took place, nor will have to you. Grief can handiest be suppressed for so long before it starts to manifest in alternative routes. It’s okay to take into account that. It’s ok to feel unhappy. It’s okay to hope. Experiencing loss is worrying, and having it writ massive on a television exhibit that draws zero emotional punches may be an excessive amount of to endure for some. but The Leftovers has crafted a truly distinctive reflection on the human situation that, fingers crossed, will smash thru in season two in an even bigger approach with audiences.

“There’s at all times going to be an itch in the heart of your spine which you can’t quite get at with everybody and that continues into season two as smartly. And there are additionally very cathartic moments the place certain things are put to mattress,” Theroux says. “Damon’s done a in reality good job—he’s just completed it in point of fact deftly and beautifully and grounded it in an emotional line.”

Season 2 of The Leftovers starts Sunday, Oct. four at 9 p.m. EST on HBO.