Death and Other Details interview: Pardis Saremi talks Leila, season 2 hopes

In just a matter of hours the latest Death and Other Details episode is poised to arrive on Hulu — what lies ahead? Think in terms of more mystery, deceit, and hopefully some revelations about both Viktor Sams and Imogene’s mother.

One of the things that makes the show so thrilling to watch is its cast — an eclectic and fun group of people who you may root for and/or suspect at every single turn. This includes Pardis Saremi (pictured above with Angela Zhou) as Leila, a woman who came on board the ship with her own secrets. She’s been on the hunt for Viktor Sams for some time and is extremely paranoid at every turn — and for good reason, given what Sams and his associates are capable of. The one person she fully had on her side was her wife Anna and now, that relationship seems to be broken beyond repair. As a result, she has cast her lot in more with Teddy and Rufus in the hunt for answers and justice.

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So what did Saremi have to say about her character, the story so far, and her hopes for a season 2? Read on to find out!

Matt & Jess TV – I want to jump back in a time machine for a moment to when you first learned about the role. How much were told, or were you just finding stuff out as you got more and more scripts?

Pardis Saremi – Oh no, they laid it out for us all at once. It was crazy. I think I’m still processing that meeting actually (laughs). They had us come into the writers’ room, meet all the writers, and talk through our characters. That was the first time [creators Mike Weiss and Heidi Cole McAdams] really laid everything out for us.

I think I was just silent for thirty minutes and said absolutely nothing. They are just so clever — I couldn’t keep up with the twists and turns just sitting right across from them, but it was so exciting. I remember leaving that meeting and feeling like ‘I can’t wait to start.’

How did having all that information help with your performance? I imagine if you didn’t know what’s coming up, it could be hard [trying to understand] what’s motivating her.

It helps a lot, at least with this sort of thing. I don’t know if that’s the case with every genre, but with this one there are constantly new suspects and we’re looking at different people at all times.

What about her appealed to you the most?

I love so much about her, but primarily my favorite thing about Leila is that she’s so strong and so sensitive at the same time. I feel like we rarely see that three-dimensional of a character, especially in women. I really didn’t want her to be this stereotypical ‘crazy person.’ With Anna she is more sensitive and you see the way somebody would be with their partner. Then, when she’s off on her own, she’s in this detective mode. She’s a whole person.

I think that’s really true and one of the more striking scenes to me [so far was] watching her check around the room for hidden cameras or bugs. She feels to me like one of the most thoughtful people on the show, where she is really thinking things through. With a lot of other people, I’m just like ‘what are you doing?!’ a lot of the time.

The funny thing is that she maybe seems a bit brash, but she’s actually not. Everything is so thought-out, and that is the big reveal about her. Everything seems off-the-cuff but it’s not. She is incredibly thoughtful and the paranoia is rooted in reality.

She already had paranoia and trust issues early on this season, and that’s before she found out everything about Eleanor and Anna. At this point, is there anywhere that Leila really trusts?

I don’t think Leila gives up on Anna until she asks for the divorce — until that point, I think she so wanted Anna to believe her. It was so hurtful that her own wife would accuse her. I think that was the biggest hit when it comes to trust.

With this little team starting up [with Teddy and Rufus] she’s a little more trusting, but I think there’s something about Leila where she is always going to stand on her own two feet at the end of the day.

I know it’s a broad question and you can’t give anything away, but moving into the final episodes this season, how crazy are things going to be?

Oh, it’s nuts. You just gotta hang on and keep watching. It’s really worth it, I swear.

Hypothetically, Leila is still out there. Would you want to come back and do a season 2?

Hypothetically if she is there at the end of the season, I would love to. I love this cast and love our writers and the story. We just had the best time filming and I love the character. I could play Leila for the rest of my life (laughs).

How optimistic are you and the cast feeling that we could get more?

I think we’re feeling good about it. We’ve all been optimistic about the show from the start; we all really love it and none of that has gone away. We’re really excited and hoping that we get a second season.

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