Back in 2009, Adam Scott landed his first leading role on a low-key comedy called Party Down, playing a struggling actor who returns to catering when his career gets derailed by an embarrassing beer commercial. The cult classic series ran for just two short seasons before Starz pulled the plug and its talented cast members went on to star on long-running shows like Parks and Recreation, Glee, and Silicon Valley.
And yet somehow, when Scott and I sat down to chat earlier this month, he had just finished shooting the first episode of Season 3.
“It’s really weird in a really lovely way,” Scott, who is currently promoting his excellent new drama series Severance, premiering today on Apple TV+, says in this preview from next week’s episode of The Last Laugh podcast. “Just being together again in the pink ties—and just like any group of friends, there’s that particular chemistry that switches on when we’re together. And this whole past week we’ve all been marveling at how long it’s been, but then how it doesn't really feel like it’s been that long when we’re all together and laughing at something stupid that someone says or does.”
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During the shoot, someone pulled up a photo of the cast—which also includes Ken Marino, Ryan Hansen, and Martin Starr, among others—from their final day of shooting Season 2 in 2010. All Scott could think was, “We all looked so young.”
Returning to the show, Scott says he realized not only how much he missed his co-stars, but also “how great it is to watch these ridiculous, fun, sweet characters back in action.” He adds that showrunner John Enbom “hasn’t missed a beat, and what he’s writing for everyone is just so terrific and funny.”
“So, so far so good!” he continues. “It’s been really, really, really fun.”
When I point out that there is something sort of depressing about the idea that these aspiring actor characters are still working as cater waiters more than a decade later, Scott laughs and says, “I certainly don’t want to spoil anything, but there’s a really fun way of showing how the time has passed.”
In addition to the original Party Down cast members, Starz recently announced that Jennifer Garner, Zoë Chao, and Tyrel Jackson Williams have been added as series regulars, with James Marsden joining as a recurring guest star for the six-episode run. And yet, Lizzy Caplan, who played Scott’s love interest Casey, will not be back, apparently due to scheduling conflicts with her new series based on Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s novel Fleishman Is in Trouble.
“Yeah, we were all bummed, including Lizzy,” Scott tells me. “It was a blow, for sure, because she’s incredible and brings so much to the show and to the role of Casey. Of course we were hoping, as she was, that it could all be worked out, but it's just so hard to nail everyone down. The stars aligned to get all of these people together. And maybe it’ll happen again and Lizzy will be available, who knows?”
Subscribe to The Last Laugh podcast now to hear our full conversation with Adam Scott about ‘Severance’ (premiering today on Apple TV+) and more when it drops next Tuesday, Feb. 22.
