The Big Picture

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff moderates an exclusive Q&A with the team behind Hulu’s superhero comedy series,
Extraordinary.

Creator Emma Moran and stars Máiréad Tyers and Sofia Oxenham look back on making Season 1 and tease what’s to come in Season 2.
The trio discuss the evolution of the characters, a Season 2 musical episode, the details hidden in Jen’s mind space, and loads more!

To celebrate the March 6th debut of Extraordinary Season 2 on Hulu, Collider teamed up with the streamer to invite fans to see the premiere episode on the big screen weeks before its release. The superhero comedy was created by Emma Moran as a way to spice up the tried and true “lost 20-something in the big city” formula by giving its stars superpowers. While Season 1 introduced us to 25-year-old powerless Jen (Máiréad Tyers) navigating a world she feels othered in, Season 2 digs deeper by exploring her literal mind space and what it might reveal about why she isn’t manifesting an ability like everyone else.

After screening the Season 1 finale and the Season 2 premiere at Landmark Theatre’s Sunset location in Los Angeles, Moran and stars Tyers and Sofia Oxenham, who plays Jen’s best friend Carrie, joined Collider’s Perri Nemiroff to revisit the making of Season 1 and to tease what’s to come in Season 2. Check out the video above or the interview transcript below to learn all about how Moran chose unique powers for each character, what it was like designing Jen’s mind space for Season 2, the possibility of a full musical episode, and so much more.

Watch or read for more on Jizzlord (Luke Rollason), dance scenes, fan theories, and then some!

Extraordinary Jen is a self-aware young woman who lives in a world where everybody except her has a superpower.Release Date January 25, 2023 Cast Máiréad Tyers , Sofia Oxenham , Bilal Hasna , Luke Rollason Main Genre Comedy Seasons 2

Read Our ‘Extraordinary’ Season 1 Review

PERRI NEMIROFF: Emma, what was the core concept that started this whole idea for you? But then I also want to know if you had a break story moment, something you came up with along the way that confirmed, this idea is special and full?

EMMA MORAN: Weirdly the core concept was just a sitcom. I just wanted to write four friends, mid-twenties, absolute fuck-ups, don’t know what they’re doing. I kept trying to write that, and I was like, “Oh, I’ve seen this. It’s funny but, you know, I’ve seen it.” And then I was just whacking genre on it and I got to superhero stuff, and I was like, “Oh, this makes total sense.” This is like a genre about being the best and having a purpose and a mission, and then to pair that with four people who don’t know what they’re doing, are kind of losers — apologies, you play it so well [laughs] — that just felt like a really natural marriage. So that was the moment where I was like, “Oh, yeah, this makes sense.” And then after that, I just kind of ran.

Image via Hulu

Digging into the superhero aspect of it all, can you tell us something from superhero movies and shows you had seen that you wanted to embrace and honor, but then also another quality of those shows and films that you were especially excited to skewer in Extraordinary?

MORAN: Oh, I just like the campiness of superheroes — the costumes, the catchphrases. Just the really bright, loud and quite graspable story of that, of like, “I’ve got a mission. I’m gonna do it,” but translating it to everyday domestic stuff.

What was really fun to skewer, I think, with Kash particularly, was that just kind of very boy, masculine sort of like, “I’m gonna save everyone. I’m gonna be the one that does it,” and having this idea of pursuing greatness at the expense of everything else. So he’s sort of like, “I’m gonna neglect my girlfriend. I’m gonna not make friends. I’m just gonna go after the glory.” So that was the aspect that I liked going after, because really, life is just about having fun with your friends and everything else is just kind of noise.

My heart for poor Kash in that episode we just watched! Just for fun, for all three of you, can you name something precious that you’ve held onto for a really long time and refuse to throw away?

SOFIA OXENHAM: Mine’s really embarrassing.

I mean, is it more embarrassing than that?

OXENHAM: Well, I still have a teddy that I sleep with all the time. [Laughs]

MÁIRÉAD TYERS: But that’s really sweet!

OXENHAM: I’m a bit too old for it!

I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people did.

OXENHAM: He’s also so dirty, like, filthy and really gross. He looks not good. He used to be multicolored and now he literally has no color to him.

Does he have a name?

OXENHAM: You know what? He doesn’t even have a name! He’s only got one eye though because I think when I was younger I threw it at a banister, so now he’s lost an eye as well.

I feel like there’s a lot of people out there who are gonna relate to all of this. [Laughs]

OXENHAM: [Laughs] Yep. That’s mine.

TYERS: I don’t know if it’s precious, but just socks, a pair of socks that maybe had some sort of lucky value at one stage and now I’ve just held on to them. But I remember my boyfriend saying at one point, he was like, “You’re in a Disney show. You can throw out your holey socks.” Like, “Get a new pair of socks. The socks cost literally less than a pound.” [Laughs] So yeah, precious socks.

How about you, Emma?

MORAN: I throw away everything. I am the least sentimental.

That’s your superpower!

MORAN: I just don’t give a shit. I get a birthday card from my parents every year on my birthday; I throw it away the next day.

TYERS: [Laughs] This is being recorded. They’re gonna see that.

MORAN: Yeah, I know. Mandy and Derek can watch all they want.

TYERS: You’re not getting one next year.

Related The Powers in ‘Extraordinary,’ Explained Sometimes, having powers isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Máiréad and Sofia, when you first signed on for the show, what quality of your characters were you most looking forward to playing, but then I also want to know, what quality did you find along the way that wound up being more creatively fulfilling to play with than you ever could have imagined at the start?

OXENHAM: That’s a good question.

TYERS: I feel like the thing I was most excited to do was just receive more scripts and just find the one-liners that Emma writes so, so well. It feels very instinctual when you read a script as good as it, and that has one-liners, comedic one-liners that are as well written as the ones that Emma writes because it’s almost like an instinctual thing of, “Oh, I know how to say that,” and it’s really satisfying. And then when you’re on set and obviously finding the different ways to say that.

In terms of fun things, like a surprise, I guess I just loved throughout the first season particularly that relationship, and particularly in that episode when Jen finally realizes what’s good for her and what she wants. I think she makes so many decisions based on what other people think around her. She doesn’t really think things through very well, and then in that moment when she realizes, when she’s talking to Luke, “You’re not good for me.” I love that bit when she goes, “Nah, I’m good.” Sorry, that sounds so narcissistic. “I love that bit when she goes …” and it’s me doing it! [Laughs] I just think I remember loving that moment.

You should be proud of your work!

OXENHAM: I think something that I was really excited for was the channeling because it gave me a chance to play characters that I would never get cast as or be able to be, like Hitler or Charles II or a country and western 50-year-old man singer. So I was really excited for the challenge of that, and then I think, especially in the second season, all the characters go through such a growth and such a change, and there’s such a different element to them all. That was something I was a bit nervous to explore, but also really excited, and I think that’s down to Emma’s writing. There’s such a growth, and they all go on these kinds of crazy journeys. So yeah, that was something I was really excited about in the second season.

The channeling scenes are so impressive. I’m definitely gonna get to a couple of those, but first an ensemble question. You’re all phenomenal together in this, and I always do my homework for these interviews, which means going and watching every single interview you’ve done together, and it seems like a special group of people who work really well in front of and behind the lens.

First, a question for the two of you specifically. Do you remember meeting for the first time, and maybe even the first thing you saw in the other that signaled to you, “This is going to be a good scene partner and collaborator for me?”

OXENHAM: I actually do! I actually do because we had a chemistry read and Máiréad had already been cast at this point. It was me and Bilal chemistry reading with Máiréad. She came in and she was a little bit late and she was holding a Pret coffee, and she was like, “Guys, I’m so sorry. I’ve got the worst sweat patches ever! [Laughs] I’m so sorry!” She just made us immediately feel at ease and relaxed, and I was just like, “This girl is awesome.”

TYERS: That’s what I tried to do with my sweat patches is just try and make everyone else calm.

OXENHAM: Yeah, I think it was that.

TYERS: I remember specifically before the read-through, Fia messaged me being like, “Oh, should we get a coffee beforehand or just meet beforehand so we can walk in together?” And I feel like that means so much because I’ve never done a read-through before. The idea of walking into a room like that can be so daunting and pressurizing. To have each other walking in together made all the difference.

OXENHAM: And we still do it to this day.

It’s like when you go to a party with new people, or a lot of people you don’t know, it’s always nice to have someone to walk in with. That’s really touching. I love that.

To open it up to more of the ensemble now, something that always wows me with comedy is how, when you’re an actor, you can’t hold back in the least, and that can be really scary and nerve-wracking. Can you each recall a time when you watched a co-star go above and beyond, swing big, and it inspired you to be more fearless with your performance?

TYERS: I’ve got one straight away. When Carrie channels the country and western singer. This is in the first season, we were standing watching that from the recording. She was in this massive, amazing recording booth, and we were standing watching it from where they do all the — I don’t know anything about this stuff — do the buttons, press the buttons, and you just started improvving, and the improv that was coming out of you was just incredible. It was like some sort of fountain of fearlessness. Improv is a hard thing to get to a place of feeling completely free, especially in a room of loads of crew. It can be stressful at times. You just were going on it, and it felt so fearless. And I remember watching that going, “If I could have an ounce of that, I would be over the moon.” It was so good.

That’s a really nice answer!

OXENHAM: I would say Máiréad, and Jen, is obviously the heart of this show so every day on set, the stuff that Máiréad does has to kind of root it in truth and reality, and she brings that every day. And especially in the second season, there’s quite a lot of emotional work that she does. I don’t think I can say any more than that, but yeah, a lot of high emotions and high stakes. Genuinely, every single day on set she brings it, and I’m just sat there watching it, being like, “Oh my god.” I’m blown away to be working with someone that is so talented, and so kind.

Image via Hulu

Emma, because they just mentioned improvising, can you give us an example of a time when someone took the words you wrote and took them to another level, perhaps even making you realize something you wrote was more powerful than you ever thought it was?

MORAN: Oh man, I think any delivery that Luke [Rollason] as Jizzlord does, because I write it to be English and it just comes out of his mouth in the weirdest configuration of stresses and consonants. [Laughs] And I watch it back being like, “I don’t know if I even wrote that!” I love watching the edit because I see these little sort of improvised moments between you and Sofia, where it’s just really nice little snippets of a friendship. You just see these little moments where you’re hugging or just jumping for joy a little bit. There’s a great moment in Episode 7 where you both just look at each other and then salute Jizzlord as a unit. I think it’s those little moments that make it really feel like it’s a little friendship group you’re watching, because I can write dynamics on a page, but it’s that chemistry that kind of glues it together.

I feel like I’m going to regret asking this question, but you called the character Jizzlord, so I feel like this question is fair. Did you ever come up with any alt names for that character?

MORAN: Oh my god, no! It was always that.

Okay, I was just curious. [Laughs]

MORAN: I think I came up with that before I came up with the regular character name. I think Jen was really late in the game. I was like, “Ah, I gotta call her something. Jesus.” Just a generic name. [Laughs]

Just curious to see how quickly we could get this video flagged on YouTube.

TYERS: We’ve had great joy in finding out what the different translations of Jizzlord is in different languages. It is mental.

OXENHAM: They’re amazing!

MORAN: What’s the French one again?

TYERS: French is Éjaculerdieu. [Laughs]

Oh my god, this is brilliant!

MORAN: I’ve got a friend in Norway and he sent me, “Oh, by the way, in Norway it’s called Seed Lord,” but there’s just a little umlaut above the E.

I guess we know what I’m gonna be Googling later.

Image via Hulu

Speaking of alts, Emma, I’m curious about your process when picking the powers for the characters. Can you walk us through that? Were there any particular reasons why certain characters got certain powers?

MORAN: I just have a master document of just, if it comes to me on a day, I’ll just note it down if it’s funny. So there’s quite a lot that I haven’t actually used yet that I keep trying to get into the show. It’s kind of a light satire, so we try to pair powers with what might enlighten a bit of character for someone. So with Carrie, I’m very sorry but you’re a bit of a pushover and you don’t really know who you are, so the fact that other people speak through you kind of speaks to that. And Kash is just irresponsible and not very mature so he can just undo mistakes so he never has to learn from them. I think for main characters we want to do storylines with, we try to give them something that’s gonna really challenge their character and make them grow, and then other people I’m just like, “It would be very funny if you could just make someone jizz their pants.” [Laughs] So I’m like, “I’ll put that in.” So the throwaway ones are just freebies. They’re just quite fun.

Máiréad, I’ll put you on the spot creatively right now. If Jen could pick the power she was going to get, what would she choose? But then also, can you tell me what power she would benefit the most from having?

TYERS: Oh, that’s so good. I feel like immediately she would want to be able to fly because that’s the hot power. That’s the one that gives you a status in the world, so I think she would want to be able to fly. But I don’t think, again, just in classic Jen style, I don’t think she’d be very good at it.

And then what would she benefit from? What she would learn from?

TYERS: I wonder if it was something kind of like Ian’s power, her stepdad. He empathizes too much with people. He has an ability to empathize or soak up people’s feelings, and I think maybe Jen could benefit from being a little less self-absorbed, maybe.

I’ll throw a question about powers to all three of you now. Let’s say you had to have a power. Of all the powers that we’ve already seen in the show, which one would you want most, but then I also want to know the one you would want least?

MORAN: Oh, I think I would like the turning back time one just for everyday interactions. Like when you say, “Yeah, you too,” when a waiter says, “Enjoy your meal.” Just little stuff like that. I think I would take any of them. No, I don’t know if we’ve seen it, but I would hate mind-reading because I don’t want to know what everyone’s thinking.

OXENHAM: Also, Gordon’s. I don’t know if I’d want Gordon’s.

TYERS: No, definitely not. No.

MORAN: Nah, I’d take it.

OXENHAM: Really? [Laughs]

MORAN: Yeah. I’d get a fun glove collection.

Which is the character that poops stuff out? I’d rather not have that one.

TYERS: Yeah, no. The phasing through walls would be fun that Ade has, or the super speed as well. Magnet Girl, that’s a bit — you wouldn’t really want to be a magnet. Just isn’t very efficient, is it?

OXENHAM: Teleporting. I think teleporting would be good.

Image via Hulu

Sofia, Carrie’s power feels like one of the most unique acting challenges. Can you tell me a little bit about how your prep process differs when she’s channeling something versus when you’re playing her in any other scene in the show?

OXENHAM: Basically, I have a Zoom call with the actor who will be doing the voiceover for it, and I will basically watch them physically, watch how they speak, and then basically find someone that I think might represent them on YouTube and then study their physicality, the way they move, the way they speak. Then when we’re filming, I do the voice and the physicality, and then they come in post and re-record over my lines, matching kind of what I do. But a lot of it’s just from watching and observing the different mannerisms, the different ways they move. I usually start with the people I’m channeling quite a lot physically, and then take it from there because it kind of feels like that’s quite a good way. So I try to make them as physically different to Carrie as possible so I don’t get kind of confused.

I love how clearly you were just able to break that down.

More specifically now, I need to know about doing the scenes when you’re channeling Charles II, and you’re essentially acting with yourself. It’s Episode 7 in Season 1, I believe, and Jennifer [Sheridan] directed that one. What are some things that she’s able to do for you as an actors’ director that help you do an entire scene with yourself?

OXENHAM: That one was quite weird because I was actually flirting in the mirror with myself, which I felt was a really strange experience. [Laughs] But she really helped by explaining exactly how it was gonna be edited and shot. She used the Gollum reference, which really helped me because then I could be clear in thinking which one I was. And then, also, we had a recording of Julian [Rhind-Tutt], who plays King Charles, a recording of him so I could listen a bit to his intonation to then keep that clear. But she also just allowed me to kind of go with it, have a lot of takes, have a lot of time until she felt that we’d got it, which I guess makes you feel kind of at ease and like you can take the time to kind of mess up, you know what I mean?

That’s the best. So good. That’s a perfect environment to have on set.

Before we get into the first episode of Season 2, I have a couple of broader questions about Season 1. I always love hearing about the unexpected magic that you can find on set. Can you recall a scene that changed the most from script to screen because of something that came up on the spot?

TYERS: There was the scene in Episode 8 where we were sitting back-to-back. It didn’t necessarily change from script to shooting, but it was a tough scene to do because we were back-to-back and basically one of the sound guys had heard that there was a reflection of the boom in one of the pictures, and it was one of the pictures of me that was on the wall of me as a little girl. He said, “Okay, so we’ve got a picture of a little boy that’s causing reflections,” and I just went, “That’s me!” And then we were back-to-back with each other, so any time we felt either of us giggling we just kept laughing.

OXENHAM: We couldn’t stop.

TYERS: We couldn’t stop laughing. But from script to screen — it’s funny, stuff obviously gets cut out and it takes me ages to realize it. I watch it and then I go, “There was that line about two years ago that we shot and it never made it.” But yeah, I’m struggling to think of one.

That’s the best thing in the world though, when you can have the experience of doing everything on set and then you don’t even realize because, even though you’re in the show, you’re so engrossed in the final edit. That’s the coolest thing.

TYERS: It’s a thing of, like, Emma’s scripts are so tight that there is no such thing as reshoots. We never reshot any scene, I don’t think.

MORAN: There’s stuff that gets bigger. I think the big dance scene in Episode 7. I think I just wrote, “They dance,” and then some beautiful person got a routine together. So there’s stuff that I’m surprised to see because I’m quite lazy when I write a script. [Laughs]

Related ‘Extraordinary’ Cast Talks Superpowers and What Drew Them to the Series Máiréad Tyers, Sofia Oxenham, Bilal Hasna, and Luke Rollason also reveal their favorite episodes to shoot.

I’ll jump into asking about dancing because that’ll take us quite nicely from Season 1 to Season 2. For the dance in Season 1, how detailed was the scripting there? Was it a specific style that you knew you wanted them to do? Was it something that was formally choreographed after the fact? How did that come to be?

MORAN: I just wrote “they dance to this song.” I think I wrote “Jizzlord coming over her shoulder,” and the sort of romantic moments, the romantic beats. But I was like, “I’m not a choreographer. I’m not gonna try to write ‘left, right, up, down.’” That’s not gonna go very well. Leave it to the experts.

Máiréad, can you take it from there? What happens next?

TYERS: We had two choreographers who were amazing, and they came in and showed us what to do. We had the best time ever, as you can imagine, choreographing that and learning it together. It took a few goes for the lift to happen, but we got there. But yeah, it was so much fun. We loved doing that. And then shooting it was the best thing ever. It was so much fun.

Was it a similar process for the opening of Season 2? Was it scripted that way and then the choreographer came in?

MORAN: I think so, yeah. I’m the worst writer in the world, I’m just realizing. [Laughs] “They dance.” You make it up.

TYERS: Yeah, it must have been. And I love the way it starts because I think it’s such a bold opening to a second season. I think if you told Jen at the start of Season 1 that she’d be dancing at the start of Season 2 — well, she doesn’t really know she’s in the season, does she? But anyway, I think she’d be like, “What? I don’t dance.” [Laughs] And then two weeks later, she’s done two dances.

We’ve got two dances at this point. The next request has to be, can we have a musical episode of the show?

MORAN: Wow! Funny you say that. That’s not a spoiler. Yeah, we do!

OXENHAM: This series!

MORAN: I mean, it’s not like a full musical Buffy [the Vampire Slayer] episode, but there will be some musical theater. I think you can guess the character that’s gonna do it as well.

OXENHAM: It’s really cool.

I feel like I could just end it here and go home happy. I’m so excited! That’s the best tease ever. I have many other questions, though.

Emma, a very specific question about the coach character that Jen meets at the clinic because I found it interesting that a lot of what we’ve seen at the clinic is very unwelcoming and cold, and then all of a sudden the coach steps in and he’s very patient and warm and understanding. Did you know that that character had to have those qualities or did you ever toy with the idea of making him like everybody else from the clinic?

MORAN: No, I always kind of thought it should be — because I think you could have went down a route with the clinic where, in a very superhero way, it’s all about a secret chemical or a machine. But I like the idea that it was kind of diving more into Jen’s psychology, and if she’s not getting a power, it’s probably something internal that’s holding her back. But yeah, I really liked having [that] because it’s such a hostile world for her, so it’s nice to give her a character that she can take this kind of slightly vulnerable journey with. And I think it’s always interesting to — and as the season develops, this might develop — give her a character that’s quite similar to the relationship she has with her dad, because that I think is something that maybe needs to be challenged a little bit in a new season. And just seeing Jen with that kind of slightly paternal figure, it was a very fun sort of thing to write throughout the season.

Image via Hulu

Getting into the mind space aspect, I love theory and lore and building worlds. Do you imagine that everybody has a mind space like that, but to varying degrees of messiness?

MORAN: Yeah. Actually, I think this comes up a bit later in the season as well, but everyone’s mind space is completely unique to them. So there’s a really boring man who’s his client where his head is just like the exact replica set of a car show TV show or like a game show. Everyone’s sort of got their own. If you went into, say, Carrie’s mind, you could tell it’s Carrie immediately. So we wanted a space that felt like Jen, where it’s quite messy and unorganized, but quite character-full, and you can kind of see her in it, and that was really, really fun. We were talking with the art department quite a lot on that. I think we used like, 25,000 books or something for that set. It was magical to walk through. It was fantastic.

That sounds incredible!

MORAN: It kind of evolves. It’s a moving set as well, some pieces. It kind of evolves and grows with the season and with Jen’s journey. As a set nerd, it was fantastic.

Oh, that’s so cool. I don’t want to ask for spoilers, but at the very least I’ll ask for Easter eggs. Emma and Máiréad, are there any little Easter eggs that you really appreciated on that set that people should keep an eye out for when they get the opportunity to watch the episode again?

TYERS: The level of work that the art department went into, and the detail that they went into was incredible. A lot of the books, I think there was one there that said, Pubs That Don’t Ask for ID, or Chip Shops That Give You Free Chips Sometimes. There’s random books that they put together, and not only did they make the books which, you know, hopefully you might get to see the titles of, they had written blurbs on the back, and in such detail. It felt so rewarding, but also when you feel the level of commitment, obviously we’re all working hard every day and everyone on the crew is working hard every day, and when you see little things like that, you’re like, “Oh my god, we are all invested. We all have the same level of dedication to this, and you care about the characters as much as we do.” It was amazing, so I would recommend pausing it and just having a little look.

MORAN: Yeah, definitely pause and look at the book spines. I remember I saw one, I don’t think it’s even on screen ever, it looked like a kind of book you get in a children’s therapist office and it was just like, My Trauma by Jen Regan. [Laughs] And they’d obviously find “Ginger Child” into Getty Images and slap that on the cover. It was great.

Good Dogs I’ve Seen really spoke to me. I feel like everybody’s mind space library needs that.

I had another theory question I skipped over. Again, I do my homework, and I went down the Reddit rabbit hole and people have theories about everything. The one that really caught my eye was people were theorizing what the spirits that Carrie channels do when she’s not channeling them. Have you ever put much thought into that? This person specifically said it could be like they’re taking a nap, they get the call, and then they go back to bed. And then I started to picture Beetlejuice where they’re all just sitting there waiting for their number to be called.

MORAN: I think I wrote a line that I cut that was just like an exchange between Carrie and Kash where he’s like, “Oh, did you just confirm the existence of God?” [Laughs] Carrie’s like, “I think I did? Yeah. Oh well!” Yeah, I always thought it was kind of like they don’t exist unless Carrie’s channeling them, because I think a lot of the time when you channel them, they’re quite confused, right? They’re just like, “Where am I?” It must be horrible to become alive again and then immediately die again. In a way, that’s absolutely horrific. I haven’t thought about it that deeply. I feel like I might have written a horror movie, actually. [Laughs]

Image via Hulu

To tee up the rest of the season a little, Emma, I’ll throw the first question on that to you. Can you tell us another element of superhero storytelling that you’ll introduce that was especially fun to explore this time around that you didn’t last season?

MORAN: Oh, gosh. I guess origin stories, because Jen’s sort of slightly digging into herself and origins. I don’t think Kash has fully left the superhero train yet, so I think he’s trying to sort of mythologize himself and his previous exploits because he’s not quite ready to let them go. So yeah, that’s tangential, but I think we’re sort of digging more into character. So I feel like that’s slightly it, but I feel like this season I kind of enjoyed stepping away from the 1-to-1 parody and just kind of really getting into good, flat-share sitcom character dynamics a little bit. And there’s less funny superhero costumes this year. No, wait! No, there’s some good ones.

OXENHAM: Yeah, later on.

MORAN: Later on there’s some heinous ones.

Good teases! I like this.

For the two of you now, can you tease a new quality that they get later in the season that would make Season 1 you go, “I can’t believe I get to do that with this character one day?” This is so hard while avoiding spoilers. I apologize!

TYERS: I think Jen begins to question how one-sided the relationship may be with her and Carrie, and maybe how dependent she is on her, which I think then also allows Carrie to kind of grow in her own independence. I think that that was something that I was wanting her to kind of realize, because it’s quite obvious. They kind of enable each other to have that kind of relationship, so then once that’s questioned, I think they both grow and it kind of changes people.

That’s like half of her mind space library. There are books about Carrie in there like, The Times That Carrie Cleaned My Room.

How about for you, Sofia?

OXENHAM: Carrie kind of — I think I can say this — she starts to explore herself as a more sexual person. That’s okay to say, right?

MORAN: Yeah!

OXENHAM: Which I maybe wouldn’t imagine from the first series because she explores that in quite an intense way.

I wasn’t going to end with this, but then, Máiréad, one of your answers made me have to ask it. It’s one of my favorite questions to ask lately because this is an industry where people give each other awards, and that is wonderful, but I find that no one says good job to themselves nearly enough. Can you each tell us about something you did in Season 1 or maybe the first episode of Season 2 that you can look back on and say to yourself, “I am proud of what I did there?”

OXENHAM: That’s so hard. [Laughs]

TYERS: Do you know what? It’s the last shot of the whole first season. The last shot is me lying in bed and Carrie’s toes are next to me. They had actually called cut by that point, and Fia tickling her toes was completely just us. That was Máiréad and Fia acting, and I think I get such joy when I watch myself smile. [Laughs] It’s pathetic! But it’s just because I know it’s real. If you were to do that as Carrie, it would still feel real, but I think it feels like a perfect kind of rounding of that whole series to know that that was a genuine thing that we did, a genuine moment.

I love that. It was a beautiful answer.

OXENHAM: I’m gonna say, I think the fight in Episode 5, when I look back to that day, because I think we have had so many good moments together where it was all friendly and giggly, and then that day we tried to go method [laughs], and it lasted about four minutes.

TYERS: We were like, “Okay, you sit on that side of the room, I’m gonna sit on this side, we’ll put our earphones in and just keep a bit separate.”

OXENHAM: And we stared at each other like this [glares], and then we couldn’t and we just started giggling. But I think getting through that and then getting through the fight because that was kind of more of a challenging scene, and it was quite rushed on the day. We didn’t have that long. So I think when I look back to that moment, I’m proud of that.

MORAN: This is really hard. I’m so Irish, I can’t do that. [Laughs] I fell asleep a lot on set.

TYERS: What about when you were an extra on the set?

MORAN: Oh, I was in Episode 8!

TYERS: You actually see her in the background.

MORAN: Yeah … No, I can’t tell that. That’s just me falling over. I guess it was just a moment where I saw these guys interacting on set with each other, be in between takes and I saw what a little gang they’d become, and I was like, “Oh, I wrote that.” It was just quite a proud moment where it was like, “Oh, I’ve created this little group that I hope people sort of feel at home watching.” It was just very real and flashy in that moment, and I was like, “Oh, I’ve done that!” So that was the one. And my parents came to set as well, which is always a very big, “Daddy, look at me,” kind of moment. [Laughs]

TYERS: And we got pizza that day, so I think they thought we were really high-budget.

Extraordinary Season 2 premieres Wednesday, March 6th on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ in the rest of the world.

Watch on Hulu