Interview with Michelle Ashford & Sarah Timberman for Masters of Sex

21 July 2014

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Where does Season Two pick up?

Michelle Ashford: Season Two essentially picks up where we left off. We proceed this way for about six episodes then episodes seven takes us ahead about three years.

Sarah Timberman: The first episode deals with time and perspective in a very exciting fashion. It unravels the way in which it’s possible for two people to share an intensely intimate experience and yet reach entirely different conclusion as to the meaning of that encounter. So the first episode moves both forward and back in time. After the first episode, we proceed chronologically until the middle of the year, where we make what I think will be an exhilarating jump.

Can you shed some light in upcoming storylines regarding Libby, Langham, Betty, Scully and DePaul?

MA: Libby has a big transition this season, going from a woman who believes a happy nuclear family is the answer, to a woman who starts to question that belief. Langham also undergoes a big transition but, as he’s a character immune to self-reflection, he essentially bobs along like a cork in the ocean no matter how drastic his travails. Betty happily returns as the Pretzel King’s wife but happiness is not really in the cards for her, although she does become part of the Masters & Johnson family. DePaul and Johnson go on a significant journey together but I don’t really feel comfortable saying much more than that.

ST: Libby, a new mother in an extraordinarily complicated marriage, will go off the rails a bit in the first half of the season and begin to find meaning in her life in unexpected places later in the year. As Michelle said, Langham will continue to bob along – quite entertainingly – like a cork in the ocean. Scully, Betty and DePaul will all, in very different ways, be compelled to face difficult truths about themselves and make life-changing choices.

Do you plan on introducing any new characters this season?

MA: Yes, many new characters. One of the fun things about Season Two is we enter a very different world from Season One. Masters is flung out into the universe, untethered from the security of his hospital. That all takes out characters into very surprising directions and with that comes an entirely new set of characters. This has been one of the most satisfying things for us in Season Two – how many new faces have joined.

ST: We’re only halfway through the new season and already have had the pleasure of working with an amazing group of new actors including Sarah Silverman, Courtney B. Vance, Keke Palmer, Danny Huston and Betsy Brandt. And then there are some who had to leave us last year – like Annaleigh Ashford – who have returned and a few who appeared briefly last year – like Greg Grunberg – whose stories have become more central this season. It’s a by-product of the novelistic nature of the storytelling with this show and it’s something we really love.

Annaleigh Ashford is a series regular this season. What made you bring back her character in a more substantial way?

MA: We loved Annaleigh and decided we wanted her to stay with us once we saw her in the pilot. Then she was cast in Kinky Boots and went off to be a Broadway star. But our experience with her was such a happy one and her character was so rich and interesting, we decided it just made sense to bring her back into the fold. Betty is a very unique voice on the show and it is an energy we felt added to the tapestry.

ST: The very first scene we ever shot for the pilot was a scene between Annaleigh and Michael – and we fell in love with Annaleigh’s ‘Betty’ on the spot. She so perfectly captured the spirit of the unapologetically outspoken (and very funny) woman Michelle had created. And, as we know from Season One, the complications of Betty’s life and circumstances are such perfect fodder for our show; so we laid in wait for the perfect moment to try to lure Annaleigh back. Happily, we succeeded.

What are some of the challenges in bringing the real lives and accomplishments of Masters & Johnson to television?

MA: We do feel obliged to stick closely to the actual story so we have to think about how to tell the stories we want to tell and also be true to the facts. We are rigorous about presenting the science as it was. Where we tend to take more leeway is in the peripheral characters. We feel we can stay true to the spirit of the show and still bring people into their lives that may not necessarily been there or are composites of people they knew.

Will the show reflect the events of the time period it depicts?

MA: Yes, definitely. Masters & Johnson started by hiding their study, essentially toiling away in obscurity behind closed doors. But the more their work is presented to the world, the more they interact with the world. And this was a fascinating time in history, a time they ended up participating in a very significant way. They became part of history, so history more and more becomes part of the show.

ST: Absolutely, Our series will touch upon the movements of the time – the various challenges to what were traditional ways of thinking and living. That said, the show will remain at its heart an exploration of the most intimate aspects if the lives of our ensemble. But I think these strains are completely consistent, since as we know ‘the personal is political’.

ENDS.