Servant marks the second small-screen project from executive producer and director M. Night Shyamalan and has been a smash hit for he and Apple TV+. The series revolves around Dorothy and Sean Turner as their lives as grieving parents is upended when young nanny Leanne seemingly brings their child back to them, though with potentially dark consequences for them all.
In time for the latest chapter to premiere, Screen Rant spoke exclusively with stars Lauren Ambrose and Nell Tiger Free to discuss Servant season 3, its shift towards including more humor, being just as eager as fans to learn the show's mysteries and more.
Screen Rant: Going into Servant season 3, I'll start with Nell and then Lauren, what was it like seeing the scripts for the new season and learning of your character arcs and where they're going with this new chapter?
Nell Tiger Free: It's always so exciting when we get our new scripts for new seasons. All of us are playing the same guessing game that you guys are as to what the hell is going to happen. It's definitely a feverish read as soon as they get sent over. For season three, we had so much time to plan, because of the pandemic, so we had the 10 scripts ready to go and we had them before we started shooting.
For me, whenever I get the episodes, I sort of read them all in one sitting until like 4 a.m. and then they become this kind of fever dream that I have to pick apart and sort of re-understand as we're shooting. But yeah, it's just as exciting for us to find out what's happening to our characters as it is for the fans of the show and people watching and I just can't wait to get my hands on season 4 and see how the hell this thing's gonna end. [Chuckles]
Lauren Ambrose: Yeah, it's always exciting to find out what we're going to do and I was struck by a lot [with season 3]. There's some really funny scenes and moments, I think the writers did a great job with that side of the show, and the opposite of the the grief and sorrow and horror, there's some really very funny episodes and funny moments.
What would you say for each of you was the biggest creative challenge for you going into this season in comparison to the past ones?
Nell Tiger Free: I think that my character has changed so much since season 1, that this kind of new strength and this new edge to Leanne comes in season 3. And also paranoia plays such a big part in the first half of the season for my character that I had to sort of tap into that and really try and hone that emotion and try and execute that emotion with as much truth as I could. So that was creatively quite difficult for me, there was a lot more physical challenges for me in season three as well, I do a lot more stunts, a lot more running, a lot more screaming, a lot more skulking around the house, if that was even possible.
But yeah, it's just stepping into this new version of Leanne, which is such a different one from the girl that we first met. So it almost feels like I'm playing a different character, because I sort of know how to do the original Leanne and this new Leanne I was having to learn day by day and try and understand it. So that was actually a bit of a challenge for me, but it was rewarding one.
Lauren Ambrose: I spent a good amount of time on set with some very ornery babies. [Laughs] We have sets of twins that come in and play Jericho, so in addition to my acting duties, I'm a mama in real life, but this even pushed my skills to the brink. It was lessons in patience and clandestine snack feeding between lines, other people's lines sometimes to keep people happy and sated and quiet. [Laughs]
Servant season 3 begins streaming on January 21 on Apple TV+.