How do you top a season of globe-spanning political intrigue that concludes with the sudden death of a president? The Diplomat creator Debora Cahn did so by letting that moment play out over the course of an equally thrilling third installment, which saw a conflicted Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) watch as former Vice President Grace Penn (Allison Janney) — who just admitted to being part of a terrorist plot — assume the role of the highest office. To heighten the tension even further, Grace handpicks Kate’s husband, Hal (Rufus Sewell), as her Vice President — a position for which Hal had been grooming Kate. Marital, and political, turmoil ensues. 

“What we’re always looking to do to keep blood in the series is reverse status relationships,” explains Cahn. Grace’s catapult to power, and how it impacts Kate, Hal, and Grace’s husband, Todd (Bradley Whitford), shakes up the world of The Diplomat. “At a certain point it became clear that Grace becoming president could reverse every status relationship in the show at the same time.”

AT FYSEE: The Fall Edit, Cahn, executive producer Janice Williams, and the thriller’s ensemble cast —  including Russell, Sewell, Janney, Whitford, David Gyasi, Ali Ahn, Ato Essandoh, and Nana Mensah — reunited to unpack the power dynamics and unexpected plays of the series’ third installment. 

An edited version of their conversation follows.  

David Canfield: Let’s just start with that cliffhanger at the end of the first episode. When did you know you wanted Hal to occupy that VP role, and how did that define the season for you?

Debora Cahn: I think the essential problem with Kate from the get-go was that there was this notion that she might be ready for something more, and other people believed it, and she didn’t. [When people think that way, it’s because] they’re concerned that everybody who believes it is wrong, that they’re not ready or that people don’t really want them. So it seemed like the only fair thing to do to the character was make it clear that that was true. 

Keri, you have such a great arc this season, and there’s this beautiful mirroring in the moment in the premiere when you find out that you are not going to be vice president, and the moment at the end of the season, where you really have to absorb a betrayal. And I wonder if you could just talk about playing moments like that where your character’s so visible and she has to be so composed, but at the same time we’re really on this ride with her in terms of her realizing what she wants and then navigating not getting it.

Keri Russell: The constant power play in relationships is so fun — and true in government, especially in the foreign service. People are constantly shifting jobs, and relationships are moving, and a new president is in, and where do I stand? So all of it is delicious and so fun. This season felt incredibly personal and more intimate at times and it’s a complete treat to get to do this job.

Rufus, what’s so interesting about that moment from Hal’s perspective is he does very quickly try to think of how Kate can get something out of it as well. And I think that speaks to the enduring, complicated love of this marriage. I wonder if you could talk about that a little bit.

Rufus Sewell: What’s lovely about playing the scene is that we didn’t really have to decide how to play it. It was just the total shock. What you see is what happened; no one moves because we were just dumbfounded by it. I think right from the start, Hal has wanted this for Kate, but as soon as it goes the other way, of course he’s very shocked, but in his head, he’s right, right? He is someone for whom, whatever the play is, that’s is what you do. And if the play had been for him to be vice president, then they would’ve both been going towards that. He’s been 100% behind her, but another door is cracked open.

From here, we get another very complicated season of marriage between the two of you. And that leads to an interesting dynamic between Kate and Dennison. So David, can you talk about working with Keri a little bit, finding Kate at this new stage of her marriage and what we see happen between you guys?

David Gyasi: I learn a lot from [Keri]. It’s one of the most interesting and frustrating things about Dennison: there’s this connection and this pull [to Kate], and then there’s his head, which is like, “We must be above reproach. We can’t do this, we can’t do this.” As an actor, you’re like, we can bro. Honestly, bro, get yourself. We can do this. We can, absolutely, trust me. It’s going to be all right. There are elements, when you get to play someone like Dennison, that live in that space of envy of the party that you see going on, but it’s not for you.

Bradley, you’re the newcomer this year to this group, but of course not new to working with Allison Janney. Talk about being married to Allison Janney.

Bradley Whitford: I was so jealous of this show because I could see Debora writing for everybody in their voices and everybody’s blood flowing. And Allison and I have talked about it. We were independently jealous of experiences like this because nobody really knows how to do storytelling. And there is a kind of alchemy that is required, and you can spot it. So I was just dying to be a part of it.

Allison, the scene where you essentially realize that Grace is about to be president is fascinating. The way that you play it and how you kind of have to take in that news. What was it like figuring out what this would mean to her, because it’s very complicated in the way she navigates it all season long?

Allison Janney: There’s so many different levels going on in Grace, this is not how she thought she would be president. I think she’s someone who is absolutely ready to take on the job of President. She deserves it. She’s a very seasoned politician. She’s ready and capable of doing this, but there’s so many things that could rip this moment away from her. And she’s aware of that all the time, and yet she’s doing this. 

There’s so many wonderful things to play. And then bringing [Bradley] in, and just getting to play with him and all the history we have together — just baked right into our relationship. It’s just amazing. It’s so much fun.

One thing that happens with this plot development is the world of the show gets to expand in a really exciting way. We get more action with the president and, Nana, with you. I was so excited to see you get more scenes in the flesh because there’s a lot for you to navigate within that, but talk a little bit about being more fully enmeshed into the world of the show in that way.

Nana Mensah: It’s a joy. Spending more time in that world has been so grounding and wonderful because I’m not on a Zoom screen. I feel like Seasons 1 and 2 I had to kind of phone it in, literally. It’s been great to actually be in the room and have these opportunities. It’s helped contextualize some of the relationships. Getting to feel the fabric of these big decisions that she has to make 35 times a day, getting to actually see some of the [repercussions] play out. Her relationship with Stuart and the heaviness of the weight of the lies that she has to tell — on one hand it can make her extremely unlikable, but, I don’t know, I have empathy for her. It’s a tough gig.  

We obviously, as viewers, have maybe more information than your characters sometimes do in terms of who’s responsible for what and who’s allied with whom. So this season, what was it like to play some of those moments where you may be a little bit more in the dark than the show has viewers in the dark? 

Ali Ahn: I think that Eidra is a character who is really good at masking any kind of emotion. What’s so great about the show is with every character, some people might find [them] villainous, but there’s a real moral center as to why each person is doing what they’re doing. And I think that tension [that arises from] doing what you think is best, to which someone else might be like, “But that’s really shitty,” is the truth of what it is to be a human in this world.

There’s always been an interesting contrast between your character and Ato’s in terms of level of idealism and how each sees this world. Ato, there’s a journey that Stuart goes on, maybe a bit of a reality check. Can you talk about playing that a little bit?

Ato Essandoh: I think out of everybody, Stuart’s the one who doesn’t know shit. Season 1, he knew everything. Season 3, he don’t know shit. And there’s an ideal that Stuart is trying to achieve, but it’s hard to do what Ali just described and not take it personally. These are relationships these people have. And so [with] Nana’s character, Billie, it feels like a betrayal, but it’s a professional betrayal. It’s necessary. It’s the ideal that Stuart is now trying to learn how to navigate with Eidra, with Kate. Kate is his ideal, but even she has to play dirty. And Stuart is trying to figure out how to play dirty, how to catch up, and how to be part of the cool kids, which he’s not right now. And I don’t think he’s ever going to be, which is fine. But that’s what these people do. Stuart is the deputy chief of mission, and the operative word is the mission. It’s not Stuart. And so that’s what he’s got to keep in his mind as much as he wants to maybe strangle these really smart, really capable women who are way better than him. 

Russell: The people who work in government are for the team. They’re for the group, they’re for the mission. And I love that about the show. Those people are really important and they’re doing incredible work. 

What you’re saying though, Keri, is a testament to how a great ensemble operates, where it feels like you guys are all always lifting each other up and you can feel in your scenes together that there’s a real symbiosis in the performances.

Essandoh: The story is the mission, so every single person here arrives to tell this story. It’s not about Keri, Rufus, me, anybody. And that’s, I think, what works about our collection of people, because we’re there to tell the story, which is the mission.

Russell: Because sometimes [with] the big thing that’s happening, it’s less about the big thing and more about the person who’s standing in the back and the way they’re taking what’s happening. That’s equally important. Debora and the team cast incredible actors to play every single part. And you have to have those actors. There’s not one person in this cast who isn’t incredible.

Sewell: And that’s always been one of the really exciting things about the read-throughs is you see someone you’ve never seen before who might just have a couple of lines. Definitely when we’re working in New York and also in England, people who might be doing plays in London or whatever — really, really accomplished actors come in and do something. But you can tell that everyone is incredibly qualified, even overqualified, [and at the same time] grateful to be there, because not all jobs are like this. It’s like being part of a theater group, really.

I think authenticity of space is so important, Janice, and the way we feel like we’re always in these rooms — and [yet] the show has gotten a lot bigger over time. And I wonder if you could talk about how you figured out — as a team, on the producing side — how to allow the show to still feel real while also giving it that sense of scope, going into these places that feel like they’re not a regular movie set.

Janice Williams: It always starts with the writing and then, “Who are the people who are going to be in these spaces? Who are the characters who are going to be in these spaces?” The truth of the matter is these really important private conversations are happening, [and] they’re often tiny conversations in corners. They’re happening on the world stage in these incredible places. These are the places [at which] this kind of policy happens. But it happens with a really quiet voice sometimes. And I think what’s interesting is the juxtaposition of [that] — the quiet voice, the people behind the scenes who are trying to keep us safe every day.