Alison Pill went from playing a moody Borg Queen on Picard to morphing into an even moodier, fist-clenching, fed-up 1950s homemaker in the retro-futuristic world of Apple TV+’s Hello Tomorrow! It’s been a bumpy ride for Pill’s character, Myrtle, who’s been hellbent on uncovering the truth while a bunch of traveling salesmen hawk lunar timeshares. With Billy Crudup at the helm of the trippy sci-fi comedy, the show has delved into the delusions people often find themselves buying into while also keeping optimism ever handy.

With the season finale streaming today, April 7, viewers are wondering how Crudup’s character, Jack, will send people to the moon with no real viable means to do so. Myrtle’s been played throughout the season but in later episodes seems to have clung onto newfound hope. Will it last? Alison Pill shared more about the series and her character with MovieWeb.

Fly Me to the Moon

MovieWeb: When you first got the script, what really stood out for you what made you really want to be in it.

Alison Pill: A bunch of the scripts I got were where I was being kept on hold at the company I was calling, and just talking to the machines, and sort of talking about Myrtle’s marriage, her mother and just sort of her own life frustrations, which are all relatable. Then, also relatable, was the rage Myrtle experienced. That thing where there’s not a real person on the other end of the phone. Nobody is listening. That’s a feeling I’ve definitely had as a consumer. So, when I first read those scenes, I thought, yeah, this speaks to the frustration of so many of us have feeling unseen by these giant systems trying to con us. So, for a vengeful homemaker to step in, and try and stop it, felt exciting for me.

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MW: It’s great to see your character move through these episodes. What did you really want to infuse into Myrtle and what viewers experienced?

Alison Pill: Our showrunners, Amit Bhalla, Lucas Jansen, and my friend, Haneefah Wood, and a bunch of other people were all around, and I was like, “I think Myrtle is the only one not lying. You know, she tells a few fibs in terms of how she gets certain things. But overall, she’s very clear on her motivations.” Which is, “Someone lied to me, I’m going to bring them down.” And Haneefah made the argument that she’s lying to herself—that the moon will solve her problems. You know, this dream of escape, and a new location, meaning you won’t have to be around yourself and your choices, which of course, isn’t true.

MW: Never works, right?

Alison Pill: And it was like, is lying to yourself lying? Is that the same thing? She thinks it is. And I think everybody in this series, to some extent, is lying to themselves. But I also think there is a truth of purpose in Myrtle that is rare and anyone just to say, “I have this idea, I’m going to go for it.” That’s all that matters. That drive is what I was most interested in bringing to the character and the show, as well as the kind of desperation, but with strength and purpose.

Buying into Illusions

Apple TV+

MW: Why was this the best time for a wild retro-futuristic show like this to come out?

Alison Pill: I think we are all struggling deeply with the promises that capitalism has made to us. That buying the next thing that finding the new place or the new experience will fix us, fix our society, fix everything. And most of those promises are empty. They just are. So, I think as we struggle with that — layoffs through the tech industry through the film industry, and more — there’s a feeling of unsafety and broken promises that pervades how we live today. You know, what if Social Security is off the table? If all these promises we took for granted aren’t kept, what does that mean for us? So, I think, an exploration of those things while in the midst of a sort of funny romp, gets to the heart of many of those questions, It’s the perfect time for that. I think we’re all feeling that lack of safety.

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MW: Working with Billy Crudup, who also serves as a producer here, must have been interesting.

Alison Pill: Billy Crudup has been one of my favorite actors, and I think he does such extraordinary work in this show. The things he was exploring are also necessary for this time. And just this aging man trying to make a place in the world based on expectations he had from previous generations, and how those expectations have come to define him. His character still tries to find the dream in it all, as well as the hope and optimism, which I think is genuine.

That’s the special thing Billy brought to this, because it could just have been very easily about a con man. Yet he remains incredibly likable because he’s Billy Crudup, and very few people can walk that line in the way that he does. Plus, he’s just the most generous actor and producer No. 1. He’s a joy to be around.

MW: What do you hope audiences take away from all this, especially after the finale airs?

Alison Pill: Audiences may be surprised by the finale. But I hope people take away some laughs and some new favorite people that they’ve met. Hopefully they think the characters are special on this show. And I hope people are able to look around at their own lives and see where they might be if not lying to themselves, sort of telling little fibs to themselves about what something might do for them. You know, like buying that new lipstick which will “change your life.” It probably won’t. It might for a day, you’re still going to have to live with you and the choices you’ve made. Which I think is ultimately what the show is about. You cannot escape your choices.

Hello Tomorrow! is streaming on Apple TV+.