Mary Foltz Gillespie talked with Emmy Raver-Lampman & Ritu Arya talk about the final season of the show.
The Umbrella Academy from Netflix is in its fourth and final season and what a season it is! Six episodes of drama, action, comedy, and that put finality to storylines and concluded with a heartfelt ending. I had the chance to participate in a roundtable chat with two of the cast, Emmy Raver-Lampman who plays Allison Hargreeves and Ritu Arya who plays Lila Pitts. Two wonderful actors who talked about their feelings regarding the series, specific episodes, and how they are dealing with the end.
Question from Mary Gillespie, Skewed and Reviewed – Welcome! One of my first questions is, it’s the end. Which is very sad, I cried at the last episode. But how are you handling it being over? Do you have other plans and what are some things you did to prepare yourself for the end?
Ritu – I wish I was more prepared! I’m a wreck, we are really emotional today. We said goodbye to the show when we were filming the last episode and then we sort of moved on. Our lives have moved on in the year and a half it’s been and now that it’s about to come out, we are doing this press so it’s like open the wound up… we’re being asked to revisit our experiences. I am so grateful that I’ve got another newfound appreciation for these amazing, beautiful humans I’ve got to work with and now have in my life and I’m so grateful we get to do the press for this because I get to hang out again. It’s so worth it on a personal level and also obviously to promote the show and say thank you to the fans and celebrate. Because we got to say goodbye I wasn’t expecting to feel this bittersweet about it. It’s nice to know that life goes on, I’ve got stuff lined up, I’ve got a show coming out in a month’s time, Paris Has Fallen, and I am sure we will be doing press for that. But it’s nice to be saying goodbye right now and taking it in.
Emmy – It is bittersweet, I think we all thought we said goodbye and then this past week kind of getting together again it’s like, Oh, Gosh! We’re all back together again and talking about the show, reminiscing, and recalling all these fun moments on set. It’s been seven years for me and six for you (Ritu) and it’s just been such a journey. It changed all of our lives in such an incredible way. I think we all felt incredibly lucky going into the fourth season knowing it was our final season. A lot of shows don’t get that privilege. They just get cut off and they go and shoot a season and then find out later that that was the end and never get to say a proper goodbye. I went in definitely not wanting to take any moment for granted and just really soaking it all up. The Canadian Tundra was a little less cold and the long days on set were a little less long and being able to just appreciate and just soak it all up.
Question from Nick Spake Flickreel.com – When you read the script for the final episode, what was going through your head and what did you feel?
Ritu – It’s quite funny because I had to film some of the last scenes before we’d even started the shoot. We had to come in for a week or two earlier because it was location-based and they could only have the location then. But the scripts weren’t ready, so we read the last scenes, and I was like I have no idea why this is happening! So, I called Steve and he filled me in with what was going on with the show and I was like, is this a joke? There were so many surprising moments! And then we would read the episodes as they would come and it’s a delight! Like, ok, I’m setting the evening aside to read it because I love the show so much. It’s the best feeling getting to read the episodes. And when I saw it end, I was a wreck! I was really, really upset. But I was also nostalgic and grateful and really proud, it was all the feels.
Emmy – I agree, it felt like an ending that I think everyone could be happy with and proud of and kind of tie up all of these journeys that at so many moments throughout all four seasons were so all over the place and so far away and so separate. I think it really brought everybody back together in a really beautiful way.
Ritu – I think what has been really interesting as well is the shows meant so much to me, like you said, it has changed our lives and we see that people love the show, we hear about it and we get all sorts of messages. But this week has been amazing getting to meet a lot of fans one-on-one in person. I’m like Oh WOW! You guys love the show as much as I love being in it and as much as it’s meant to me, people have been interviewing us and saying they cried when they watched the last episode. This isn’t just me because I don’t want this to end, people are attached to this show because it’s been special for people, and it is really uniting and that’s a blessing as well.
Question from Kevin Kittle with The Cinema Files – Both of your characters have some pretty robust character arcs over the four seasons. Have there been any changes to your character’s path that you found particularly interesting or compelling?
Emmy – For Allison, I think season two, having the whole family thrown into the 60’s and how that kind of steered her narrative. I felt extremely honored and grateful to have the opportunity to tell the story of what I believe to be the unsung heroes of the civil rights movement which is the women. And I took that very seriously and with a lot of tender loving care and did so much research and reading and just trying to dip a toenail into trying to understand how that could have felt and been like and I wanted to be as respectful as possible. I think for me as an actor, as a human being, that was a highlight of my life and my career to tell their stories through Allison and then to also have that on a platform that is watched all over the world. I think a lot of people like to think that the civil rights movement was a really long time ago and it was not. We are still fighting for a lot of the things that were being fought for during that time and it was really beautiful to have that opportunity to tell her story. I’m really proud of that season and Allison’s journey.
Ritu – I’ve been so lucky with Lila. I’ve loved playing her and she’s been on an incredible journey. Season two was just a dream come true. She came in as like, who is this crazy girl from an insane asylum who’s playing all these tricks on Diego, and then you find out there are so many twists with her in that season and who she is. The cast didn’t know until they read the last episode of that season of what happens with her and that she is sort of one of them. And then in season three she goes away and then she comes back and then the relationship she has with Diego and then this season it goes even further because it starts six years after the last season. This has been the best, the biggest blessing getting played, this kind of journey because you don’t get that in the world of Umbrella, like anything can go, they do that and can justify it to make it happen. That’s what’s been amazing, the creative license we have with this show. Lila started off as this very rebellious, selfish, one lone ranger and by now she has kids, she’s in a marriage, and she cares about her family, and she’s got family now. That does something to you, it makes you not as selfish. It makes you think about others, and she still has that playfulness and that mischievousness that there’s a depth now to her, and as people we grow. We’ve been doing this show for years, and every year you change so much, so it’s been beautiful to keep playing and keep evolving as well as these characters.
Question from Mary Gillespie – One of the things I love about the show is the comedy. There are some scenes that just have me rolling in laughter. One of the ones from this season was the song. I’m sure you know which one I’m talking about; you’re driving down the road in the van and it just keeps playing. Was that something that was planned? Did someone just throw that in at the last second or did you know that was coming?
Emmy and Ritu – What’s interesting is it was actually a different song when we were filming! It was this weird song that was very bizarre called Daddy Finger. We were all like, this feels wild! That song was on repeat. The song that is on the show when we were watching it was a wonderful surprise.
Emmy – I was like “wait, did I know that? I didn’t know that, it was different! It was a different song!” We knew that there was this song that was slowly making us all crazy, very much like the Lamb Chop song, the song that never ends.
Ritu – That is truly one of my favorite sequences, it is so funny! Every time I watch it, it makes me laugh. We had so much fun filming it too.
Emmy – That’s also the thing, when there’s music, and I always love watching tv or movies when they are in a nightclub or they are at a concert or something, and they are shouting over the music. That is actually not what is happening on set. They play like 8 bars of the sone and then they have to cut it out and everyone is dancing in silence, talking in the background in silence while you’re pretending to yell over music that’s actually not playing. It is so weird and so they play a couple bars of the song for us to do the scene and pretend it still plays. But by the end of the day it was so in our heads because we’ve listened to the start of the song a zillion times.
Ritu and Emmy – we would go to sleep singing it…Daddy Finger.
Question from Nick Spate – You have been playing these characters for four seasons and several years now. What are you going to miss the most about your characters?
Ritu – So much. I loved playing Lila. I think that everything’s a game for her and it’s that bit that is so fun. Theres spontaneity, she just doesn’t care what people think. She’s amazing. She’s so strong, she’s such a badass.
Emmy – I think we both had the privilege of playing these incredibly strong, fierce women. I’ve loved that about Allison, and I also loved that we see a different version of Allison with every one of her siblings. When she’s having a scene with Viktor, there’s that Allison, and then when it’s Luther it’s that Allison, and when it’s Klaus, it’s that Allison. And now, we are in this season getting a new version of her that we have not met yet which is playing out with Claire. I’ve loved how it’s almost unintentional because we’ve doing the show for so long that these different actors pull different versions of Allison out of me depending on what the situation is. I think that’s what’s so beautiful about this show that there’s so many different dynamics all at play at once. And, we’re all kind coming in and out and winding around and twisting around each other all the time and I will miss getting to play all these different versions of this woman.
Question from Kevin Kittle – Have there been any scenes that either weren’t shot or were cut?
Emmy – So Many! Allison’s cold open in the pilot was actually this insane nightclub scene and we shot it. I was in this fierce dress. It was very much like Ben’s cold open as the Sparrow where I was in this nightclub surrounded by all these people drinking champagne, and then all these paparazzi come up to me while I’m in this nightclub and I can hear the news that Reginal Harvey is dead. It was this insane sequence that we shot in a nightclub and then it didn’t work. I don’t think you understood that she was an actor, you didn’t understand her celebrity. So, they changed it to the red carpet cold open which I love. I knew while they were filming that they weren’t using that and using something else but there were so many. Even this season there is a whole sequence during the road trip that was cut.
Ritu – I feel like this one, more than other shows I’ve done, has often stayed true to what was on the script because there’s so many characters. And that they have had to really try and fit these things into that amount of time. I’m always interested to see how they edit it and what takes they use. Especially with a character like Lila because she always says what’s on her mind. I’ve had quite a lot of free license to just say random stuff in moments where nothing’s happening. So I’m like, which one do they use? It’s always fun to see.
Emmy – You are right, there are some things that have been cut. When we are shooting the first episode, only three or four episodes are done being written so while we are filming, the rest of the show is still being written. So much of our show is location-based. There is so much money, effort, and time and the sets are so big and it’s just such a big show that I think they’re really careful and really specific about what needs to tell the story and what is fluff. When you cut one scene then half of someone’s story doesn’t make any sense. We do a lot at the end, there’s usually two weeks of reshoots. While we’re filming, they’re putting all the episodes together, so I think that’s also happening in real time. Steve is really good about knowing what is missing, what we need to add, or what didn’t work that we need to re-shoot. Like the scene in the beginning, that’s one of the first things I shot and then by the end of filming season one, he was like, it doesn’t work in the cold open so we need to re-shoot,
Ritu – I remember asking in season 2 when Lila’s fighting everyone and was power mirroring people and not getting the chance to mimic certain people’s powers. Even with the Sparrows in season three, what if she could do this or that and do all of their powers? They were ideas that were sometime written, and they just weren’t timed right.
Emmy – I don’t think it’s full scenes, its tightening and condensing because there’s so much. Scenes that were initially 25 minutes long end up getting shortened to 15 to give you what you need to know because there’s so much going on.
Question from Mary Gillespie – Give us one or two of your most memorable moments either on or off set. What are some of the memories because you all look like you were really close and had a great time.
Emmy – I think some of my most memorable moments on set, while the cameras were rolling, was the sit-in in season 2. Stephen Surjik who directed that episode just took such incredible care of me and everybody that day. It’s such a really powerful, difficult scene to pull off, there’s a lot going on and I think that was a really difficult moment as an actor but also just as a human being and for everyone one set. A lot of people were asked to do a lot of really difficult things and I just think that there were really beautiful moments where I just saw everyone come together to tell this story that’s not easy to tell. And we did a lot of dancing on this show! Especially coming from a musical theater background! We rehearsed for weeks for the season opener in season 3 with the Sparrows versus Umbrellas. Like dance off, dream, fight, sequence thing and that was amazing. But then getting to spend all that time with Tom (Hopper) during season one to do the Allison and Luther dance, that was really beautiful. A beautiful scene and sequence. I was so proud of Tom because he does not consider himself a dancer and he rocked it! So sweet! I think the magic of the show is when all of these insane characters come together and it writes itself. And so I think those were some of the best days on the set; when we’re all trapped in a room together, or a car together or a mansion together or whatever it is. Those were really fun days on camera and off and I think that’s the magic of the show, because there wasn’t a lot of acting happening, we all just are just goofy, and that brother/sister relationship really does exist in real life and so those days were always really fun.
Ritu – I think literally the same. I mean, season two, I had such an amazing journey that I got to play with David (Castaneda) , I love the Lila/Diego stuff then. I loved all the fight training I got to have with this show, I loved all the stunts. That was such a dream, I’d never done anything like that before this show. So, getting the training for that and being in the wires and just really getting to kick butt was so cool! And then season three, getting to have this whole section in Berlin, and drumming, and then coming back and getting to play with Wanna and have this little family was so fun. And then this season there is a lot of stuff with all the family together and that was my favorite stuff for that same reason that these people are my family. There were these big moments of when we are doing this dance routine, we’re playing this game, we’re having this laugh. But it’s those little moments where Emmy’s in the corner reading her book, and Aidan’s (Gallagher) in the corner with his headphones one and we’re all here. Elliot (Page) is napping, and this is your group and you just feel so comfortable getting to be around these people which only time brings and spending time with people and knowing that we’re all here for an amazing purpose with storytellers. And that is something I’m so proud of. We get to tell these stories about these characters with trauma and through humor and joy. And that essentially brings people together because it reminds us of our humanity. Even if it’s in a superhero genre that we remember to open our hearts and through this representation, we get to see all these different kinds of people and it reminds us of our oneness. It feels like it’s been the biggest blessing every day getting to be part of this show and get an even bigger blessing to take these people away from it. So, enjoy the show, have the best time, but we’ve won by getting to meet each other and get to continue hanging out and got this experience. Just so, so blessed.
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