Exclusive Interview: The Cast of Space Force Chats Season 2

The wait is over! Season 2 of Netflix’s out-of-this-world series Space Force is ready for liftoff.

Created by Steve Carell and Greg Daniels, the laugh-out-loud comedy picks up with General Naird (Steve Carell) and his underdog team having to prove their worth to a new administration while dealing with interpersonal challenges. Will the group come together or fall apart under the pressure…? Space Force is only human after all.

Pop Culturalist had the pleasure of speaking with stars Jimmy O. Yang, Diana Silvers, Tawny Newsome, and Ben Schwartz about Space Force Season 2, what audiences can expect from their characters, and how they grew their bond as a cast.

PC: Jimmy, I wanted to start with you first. This season, you’re joining the writers’ room. How did that opportunity come about? How has your work behind the scenes made you a stronger actor?
Jimmy: It’s all credit to Greg Daniels. He’s so open to our pitches, and he talks with the actors. Even in Season 1, the little arc between Tawny and I was the result of us going to the writers’ room and talking about it. So in Season 2, I thought maybe I should take a chance and see. I sent him a couple of scripts of mine, and then lo and behold I was in the room. It was a great experience. I learned so much from Greg Daniels and Steve Carell every day in the room for twenty-four to twenty-six weeks.

It was great to be able to write an episode that’s quite close to my heart with the Chinese delegation coming in and then having my dad being one of the guest stars. It was a very special experience being in the writers’ room for that long. I didn’t have to study that much as an actor. I knew the scripts. All seven of the scripts were very well written. I knew what happened before and after that. That really informed the character and my acting. Not only did I know Chan’s arc, but I started to learn everyone else’s also.

PC: Diana, this is the longest that you’ve lived with a character. Did anything surprise you about the experience? What’s been the biggest takeaway?
Diana: Seeing where a character can go when you have more time with them. There are so many different avenues, especially at this character’s age. I’m twenty-four and Erin is seventeen/eighteen. Even at my age, I feel like things change so quickly and at such a different pace from a teenager’s. Playing someone in high school who has all of these things thrown at her, all these weird curveballs, and how she has to adjust and work through them and how she matures—that was new and exciting to explore during Season 2.

PC: Tawny, in addition to the work that you’ve done on screen, you’re also a musician. If you had to pick a song that best describes your character’s journey in this series, what would it be and why?
Tawny: It’s very tempting to say “It’s the End of the World” by R.E.M., but I won’t say that. [laughs] She’s going through a lot. Maybe something that’s grungy and frightening. Maybe something by Garbage. Has anyone brought up Garbage yet in a junket? I aim to be the first. Either that or “Let’s Go Get Stoned.” She’s a little nihilistic. She’s like, “Let’s give up a little bit.”

PC: Ben, your character always says what’s on his mind, which creates a lot of really hysterical moments. Do you have a favorite moment of F. Tony in Season 1 or 2? As an actor, how do you keep him grounded?
Ben: Great question. It’s one of the things that I had a conversation with Greg about at the beginning. I wanted to make sure it didn’t feel like Jean-Ralphio, another character I played in Parks and Recreation. I didn’t want to make it feel cartoonish. The goal was to make this character grounded and to show you that he’s overcompensating, whether because of a lack of a father figure or whatever it is. I’m happy that you asked that question. It was definitely something we’ve been trying to make sure of—that he stays grounded—but also to let him have his big energy moments because it’s a fun character for throwing a little energy into scenes.

As far as one specific scene, there is a scene in Jimmy O. Yang’s episode (which by the way, for someone who’s writing on a television show for the first time, his episode is unbelievably funny and well crafted—he understands the characters and it was great). We were all really excited to do his episode, but there’s one moment where Steve Carrell is trying to pick up some tofu. It’s really, really funny. It’s me on one side, Diana on the other. Steve is trying to pick up some very loose, floppy tofu, and it made us crack up. It was one of the scenes that killed us. We thought it was so funny.

PC: That’s such a great scene in Episode 3. Jimmy and Tawny, there’s an unexpected bond that forms at the end of Season 1 between your two characters. What can you tease about that relationship heading into Season 2?
Jimmy: There will be a lot of ebbs and flows in that will-they-won’t-they relationship. They’re both very capable people, but they don’t approach personal relationships in the best way. Even though she’s been on the moon, that’s probably not a great thing for a personal relationship, whereas for Chan, even though he is an amazing scientist, he might not be very good at reading people and how a relationship works because he tries to approach everything as a math problem. We definitely see a lot of growth between the two and a lot of ups and downs as you can see.

Tawny: A lot of miscommunication. People think they’re being direct or being clear, but really we see how, as Jimmy said, this scientist and this soldier were never trained to speak the same language. Watching them figure it out and the extent to which they are able to figure it out is really sweet. They’re these completely different people who’ve figured out how to have a relationship and maybe more.

PC: Final question for the group. The first season establishes who these characters are and the various dynamics between them all. What can fans expect from this upcoming season? How were you all able to grow your bond as a cast heading into this new season?
Tawny: I’ll answer the second part real quick. We grew our bond as a cast because we were only allowed to hang out with each other. I don’t even think we were allowed to hang out. They told us not to hang out when we weren’t filming. But all it took was Steve Carell being like, “We get to go to dinner, right?” We were like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” [laughs] It’s great we’re all such lovely people who get along really well.

Diana: Also, basketball. We all really bonded over basketball. It turns out that we all like each other, which was great, and enjoy spending time with one another.

Jimmy: Which is surprisingly rare.

Tawny: Ben and Jimmy taught me to do my first layup. I’ve never done one before.

Ben: It’s on camera and she nailed it.

Tawny: It’s bad. It’s bad. But thank you.

Make sure to follow Ben (Twitter/Instagram), Diana (Twitter/Instagram), Jimmy (Instagram), and Tawny (Twitter/Instagram). Watch Season 2 of Space Force on Netflix today.