Are there any topics or episodes in particular that you’re excited to come out and to have people see and respond to?
Penny: All of the above. Oh my gosh. Sometimes, when I was reading this season, there are topics where I may have had a different thought, and because of the writing and because of the execution, I [had] to think, get in my quiet space, and go, “You know what, I never thought of it that way.” To learn something, to change someone — good or bad — is a powerful tool. And we will do that this season. Definitely.
Adrianne: I agree.
One of the things I find fun about watching this show is that each episode is its own contained story, but there’s also this overarching story throughout the season. What is that like for you as actors? Do you know where your character is going from beginning to end from the start of filming, or are you going one episode at a time?
Adrianne: Well, Penny and I had this in common. We got all of the scripts well in advance, and neither of us read them. But I liked the element of surprise.
Penny: Yeah.
Adrianne: Also, we got massively out of order — not even just episodes; we’re talking pieces of episodes. It was kind of that thing. I’d be like, “Seth [MacFarlane], what am I doing here?”
Penny: He knows everything. This is in his world.
Adrianne: I’m like, “Okay!” Because we didn’t know what we were doing day to day or moment to moment, which kept us on our toes and probably kept things very fresh.
Penny: Even [in] Episode 3, there was some of that we shot, and then the rest we didn’t shoot [until] the very end because Keyali [Jessica Szohr] had a baby.
Adrianne: Yes.
Penny: It’s like, “Oh, okay.” Didn’t that [episode] take two years, almost?
Adrianne: We started with one that took three years. Yeah.
Penny: It was a long time.
Adrianne: It was really interesting, too, to try to shoot around Jess [Szohr]. It was crazy because we’d shoot portions of the scene at the bridge, but we wouldn’t see her. Then, when she came back, it was like, “Poor thing. All of her coverage at once — sorry, girl.”
