‘Mr. Robot’ season 2: Casting director on getting Craig Robinson aboard

While the second season of “Mr. Robot” may not be airing on USA until we get around to July, there are a few interesting things that are going to be coming up that we can discuss with confidence. For one, we’re going to see Elliot Anderson have to deal more head-on with his dissociative nature; also, we are going to meet some new characters in this world. Grace Gummer is going to have a key role in the story, and we’re also going to get none other than Craig Robinson from “The Office” spending a little bit of time with Elliot.

Did this casting shock anyone else? Probably so, since it is almost “Breaking Bad” esque. If you think back to when the Vince Gilligan series was at his prime, you likely remember how he gave a major role to Bob Odenkirk, a man known mostly as a comedy writer and sketch performer.

So why go ahead and book Craig here? This is something that casting director Beth Bowling describes to Deadline in terms of some of what creator Sam Esmail appreciates in his guest stars:

“I think Sam is into the idea of rediscoveries … He doesn’t want anything to feel like in the TV world, so he always wants to cast things differently than what people would necessarily think it would be.”

In looking at the casting and the overall format of this show, which is often stream-of-consciousness and told from the perspective of someone not in touch full with reality, it is pretty clear that this sentiment with Esmail and his sensibility is true.