Exclusive Interview: Heather Morris and Luke Cook Chat The Bystanders Podcast Season 2

Co-writer, co-director, and co-producer Heather Morris and star Luke Cook are bringing us the highly-anticipated second season of The Bystanders.

A zany, scripted, dark comedy that explores the bystander effect – a social psychological theory that states individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when in the presence of other people.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Heather and Luke about The Bystanders podcast Season 2, the recording experience, their collaboration, and more.

PC: Heather, when you headed into Season 1 of The Bystanders, you said everything was so new for you and the creative team. What did you learn from that experience that you were able to bring into Season 2?
Heather: The Bystanders podcast is a beautiful creation of art and music. It almost feels like a play that you’re listening to. It feels like this wonderful play unfolding in surround sound. We really loved how we created that in Season 1 with Tory Cummins who did our music and Alex Carter and Tim McKeown who did the sound engineering. Then we had our writers, Ash Lendzion and Jaclyn Hales, who also created and directed.

For Season 2, I jumped on board as a writer as well. We also had casting and that’s how we nailed down Luke. The project got a lot bigger in Season 2. It was so helpful that we had those tools so we didn’t have to reach out and ask friends.

But it was also a lot more of a learning curve. We had so much more on our plate. It proved beneficial because I feel like we have so much under our belt now to help us as creators going out and doing more, especially in the TV and film realms. With as many hurdles as there were for this, it definitely helped us a lot.

PC: Luke, you’ve done it all throughout your career. What was it about this script, this medium, and this character that resonated with you?
Luke: Firstly, I didn’t have to fly anywhere to do it. [laughs] Also, I loved this character. He’s absurd, funny, evil, and all the things that I wanted to get to do. The character immediately resonated with me.

PC: Heather, like you were saying, you stepped in as a writer this season. When you’re creating these characters, I imagine you have an idea of who they are, but once you cast everyone in their respective roles, you want to give the actors the freedom to interpret and make these characters their own. How did you create the space for the cast to do that?
Heather: Luckily, we were able to just send the sides and the actors sent them back. There was no live casting room, so we weren’t giving notes. We basically got ten to twelve tapes back per character that we sent out. We had Luke in mind already. We knew we were interested in him for a role. I had a feeling about which character he would play, but we had to hear him first. I think he read for a few different roles. I think he read for Dirk and somebody else. But with him, along with Ignacio Diaz-Silverio, the second we had their tapes, there was no need for notes.

We didn’t have to have a separate meeting with Luke before we got on Zoom where we had to be like, “Let’s discuss the character. We love what you did, but we want you to go in this direction.” It was like, “No, he nailed it. We can’t wait to work with him.” We probably had to give him one or two notes, but he killed it.

PC: Luke, podcasting is a relatively new media. Which of the techniques that you developed for film and television translated well for podcasting? Were there any new techniques that you developed for this project specifically?
Luke: You know, I’ve seen people do different techniques only recently. I’ve been amazed at what I don’t do, and maybe I need to learn some new techniques. [laughs] But for me, there’s no difference in technique unless I hear about a new one or I start doing a new one. It’s similar to acting. Heather is aware of this because she was present when I was recording. I was moving physically as if I was gesticulating, etc. to make sure that everything came through on the mic—how it informs the voice, even if it’s not quite heard. I moved as if I’m actually playing the role physically as if you can see me.

Heather: It’s helpful too. I’ve taken a few of those classes for the techniques that you use when you’re doing voice-overs. He nailed it. He knew exactly what to do. As a producer, we want to make sure we’re getting studios going forward for these actors because we want the sound to be as crisp as possible and not have to worry about, “Am I making noises on the mic that I shouldn’t be?” On the technical side, we’re excited about doing more studio work.

PC: Heather, you’re writing, producing, and directing this narrative podcast. Have you found that the work that you’ve done behind the scenes has impacted the way that you approach your work on screen? How helpful is it to have that experience as an actor as you collaborated with this cast?
Heather: The cast was so inspiring. We had so many great performances. It definitely did. Just having the knowledge that I know about the lucidity and comfortability that you have on set makes the character so much more fun and rich. We were just talking about that a second ago: just being a joy to be around, especially in a setting like this where there are actors who don’t have jobs and to be grateful for what we have.

We provided a platform on The Bystanders where you get to play around—and not only with a zany, fun comedy, but there’s cool character development happening. You’ve got some cool characters. You’ve got Joe Lo Truglio, Kathleen Turner, Margaret Cho, and Luke. It was really cool and helpful as an actor to watch.

PC: Luke, similarly, is the experience different when you’re working with a creative team that has experience in front of the camera? What was it like getting to collaborate with Heather and the rest of the creative team?
Luke: It was awesome. They gave me notes that I loved and found really helpful. It’s always fun. I trusted them to give me notes that pushed me in the right direction, which isn’t always the case. Sometimes they’re pushing you in the wrong direction and as an actor you just have to do it. [laughs] Even if you don’t agree. But I was working with pros.

PC: Heather, in Season 1, you all hosted an aftershow with your cast. Is that something you’re planning on doing for Season 2?
Heather: It’s definitely something we want to do. I know we’re excited to get more into Season 3 and some of the storylines that could form. We had so much fun diving into the bystander effect, the psychological phenomenon that the more people who are present in an emergency, the less likely they are to help. There are so many different ways you can look at that. We’re excited about how we can pivot into Season 3 and what it would look like if they do help. Because in Seasons 1 and 2, nobody is helping. In Season 3, what happens if you do and what are the repercussions of some of the situations where people do help and it backfires on them? That’d be interesting to dive into. I know the conversations are great, but that’s what we have you guys for!

Make sure to follow Heather (Twitter/Instagram) and Luke (Instagram). Listen to The Bystanders podcast today.

Photo Credit: Tandem Photo (Heather)