{"id":95727,"date":"2019-09-10T10:25:38","date_gmt":"2019-09-10T14:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/this-close-gets-even-more-up-close-and-personal-for-dramatic-and-guest-star-filled-second-season\/"},"modified":"2019-09-10T10:25:38","modified_gmt":"2019-09-10T14:25:38","slug":"this-close-gets-even-more-up-close-and-personal-for-dramatic-and-guest-star-filled-second-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/this-close-gets-even-more-up-close-and-personal-for-dramatic-and-guest-star-filled-second-season\/","title":{"rendered":"‘This Close’ gets even more up close and personal for dramatic and guest star-filled second season"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘This Close’ gets even more up close and personal for dramatic and guest star-filled second season<\/b><\/p>\n

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\"THIS<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Sundance Now<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The GLAAD Media Award-nominated series This Close<\/em> premieres its highly-anticipated eight-episode second season on Tuesday, September 12th, on streaming service Sundance Now. The series is written by and stars Shoshannah Stern and Josh Feldman, who are both deaf, while Josh also identifies as gay<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing deaf is a messy thing. Not only does it means different things to different people, for me sometimes it means different things daily,\u201d Shoshannah recently told Entertainment Tonight<\/a> about creating the sexy and often quite serious series. \u201cSo we went about handling our show the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n

We caught up Josh and Shoshannah to get their take on what fans can look forward to.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WHAT CAN FANS EXPECT FROM SEASON 2 \u2014 WHAT NEW ADVENTURES ARE IN STORE FOR OUR PROTAGONISTS, KATE AND MICHAEL?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We flip the script at the beginning of the season by having Michael be the more stable one, or at least appear to be, in the friendship, as Kate becomes more unmoored. Michael tries to make it work with Ryan again, but he\u2019s still in denial about a lot of things. Kate definitely takes more risks this season as she tries to find her voice at work, and as a single woman<\/a> \u2013 but risks don\u2019t always pay off. We\u2019re going to see how that affects those around her and shapes her as a woman<\/a> and human being.<\/p>\n

\"Josh<\/p>\n

HOW WILL THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KATE AND MICHAEL EVOLVE THIS SEASON?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A recurring theme we\u2019re going to see this season is family. We\u2019re going to see a lot of both of Kate and Michael\u2019s respective families. When you go through trauma together as Kate and Michael have, it bonds you even more. However, because of how close they are, sometimes they can take that bond for granted, so they definitely find their friendship tested. It takes work to make a relationship survive \u2013 even friendships – and Kate and Michael are about to discover that.<\/p>\n

YOU HAVE AN INCREDIBLE LINEUP OF GUEST STARS FOR SEASON 2; TELL US ABOUT WHO YOU HAVE AND WHICH CHARACTERS THEY\u2019LL BE PLAYING?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have Marcia Cross playing Kate\u2019s mother, Millicent Simmonds playing Emmaline, a friend of the family, and Austin Nichols as Shep, Kate\u2019s first love, showing up in Episode 2 alone. Then we have Lisa Rinna, who plays Ryan\u2019s mother, Margaret Cho who plays a new acquaintance of Michael\u2019s, Camryn Manheim, who plays a therapist, and Steven Weber as Michael\u2019s father.<\/p>\n

YOU RECEIVED BOTH PEABODY AWARD AND GLAAD MEDIA AWARDS NOMINATIONS FOR YOUR FIRST SEASON; WHAT DO YOU THINK IT IS THAT RESONATED SO MUCH WITH AUDIENCES, WHICH LED TO THE SHOW BEING SO CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED?<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Josh) Honestly, we don\u2019t know! We just wanted to tell a story that was as human as possible.<\/p>\n

(Shoshannah) I watch television to get out from behind my own two eyes. I get tired of seeing the world through them sometimes, and I\u2019m always curious about other people and their experience and how they see the world. Sometimes I wish I could step into their body and borrow their eyes for a bit. I don\u2019t think I\u2019m alone in that regard, otherwise, television and film wouldn\u2019t be as successful as it is. I think this is a story that hasn\u2019t been told through this perspective before, and so I\u2019d like to think that\u2019s what people have picked up on.<\/p>\n

\"Nyle<\/p>\n

WHERE DO YOU THINK REPRESENTATION FOR CHARACTERS WITH DISABILITIES IN FILM AND TELEVISION IS HEADING? IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION? OR IS THERE STILL QUITE A WAYS TO GO?<\/strong><\/p>\n

While there\u2019s certainly been an exciting uptick in deaf and disabled characters being seen on the screen, there hasn\u2019t been as much uptick in representation behind the screen. Disability and diversity are still seen as two separate conversations when they need to be one and the same. One in four Americans identify as having a disability, but disabled characters are shown onscreen only 2% of the time, and 95% of those characters are played by able-bodied people. While we\u2019ve made some exciting strides, such as having the first deaf superhero in the MCU played by Lauren Ridloff, a deaf woman<\/a> of color (in\u00a0The Eternal<\/em>s, coming in 2020), we also have the situation where CBS All Access cast a hearing actor to play Nick Andros in The Stand, one of the most iconic deaf characters in literature. It was disappointing that the people involved with casting that role weren\u2019t willing to have an open conversation about it.<\/p>\n

WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU BOTH BEEN UP TO IN YOUR CAREERS RECENTLY? JOSH, I KNOW THAT YOU WERE PART OF THE SUNDANCE INSTITUTE\u2019S MOMENTUM FELLOWSHIP, IN CONJUNCTION WITH WARNER BROS.<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Shoshannah) I did an independent movie called The Magnificent Meyersons<\/em> about a dysfunctional family in New York City. Richard Kind and Kate Mulgrew play my parents and Lauren Ridloff plays my girlfriend<\/a>. I can also confirm that I\u2019m returning to Supernatural<\/em> for its final season to reprise my role as Eileen Leahy. I have some very exciting things coming up after that and horizons I’m hopefully broadening, but I\u2019m not allowed to say anything about that at this early stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Josh) <\/em>My Momentum fellowship has been amazing, it\u2019s been great getting to know the other fellows in my cohort. I\u2019m currently writing a feature and will be shadowing directors with Ryan Murphy\u2019s HALF Initiative so I eventually can start directing.<\/p>\n

This Close<\/strong> returns to Sundance Now with new back-to-back episodes on September 12th. Additional back-to-back episodes will continue airing on Friday, September 13th, Thursday, September 19th, and Friday, September 20th<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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September 9, 2019<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Issues:\u00a0<\/div>\n