[Editor’s note: The following contains some spoilers for Season 2 of Surface.]

Summary

Season 2 of the Apple TV+ series ‘Surface’ follows Sophie uncovering secrets in London’s elite society.

New characters Quinn (Phil Dunster) and Grace (Freida Pinto) bring complexity to the story and challenge motivations.

The co-stars discuss the nerve-wracking yet freeing experience of joining an established series.

The second season of the Apple TV+ series Surface follows Sophie (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) to London to further unravel the secrets of her past as she learns more about her own lost memories. While there, she realizes that elite British society will go to great lengths to protect their own, so her connection with Eliza Huntley (Millie Brady) becomes her way in on her quest for answers. But a journalist seeking to expose the Huntleys and Sophie’s husband James’ (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) desire for the truth makes things even more complicated, leaving Sophie to figure out what comes next.
Once in the Huntleys’ orbit, Sophie finds Eliza’s older brother Quinn Huntley (Phil Dunster) and his fiancée Grace (Freida Pinto). But it’s hard to understand anyone’s true motives or whether Quinn’s seemingly darker tendencies are something to worry about when it feels like they know more about you than you can remember about yourself. During this interview with Collider, co-stars Dunster and Pinto talked about the fun of joining the series in its second season, how every project is nerve-wracking, the dynamic between Quinn and Grace, the fun they had together when they weren’t filming, and how they felt about the way the season ends.

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Collider: How different is the experience when you guys show up as two of the new guys of the second season of a series like this, that’s also a very complicated story? How did it feel to figure out where you guys fit in as actors and characters?
FREIDA PINTO: For Grace, she’s such an outsider that there is no way to fit in. For me, as an actor, yes, I feel very liberated that I can just come into a second season of a show that’s already established and has got a great fan following. And then, at the same time, because of the nature of how my character is written, being an outsider, I got to play her and set her up the way I wanted to, of course, within the guidelines of the script and our showrunner, Veronica West. So, it was very freeing and fun as well. Knowing that there were a bunch of new cast mates, I felt like I had other people who were trying this for the first time in Season 2, so I wasn’t alone. It was really fun building it from scratch, even though it was a second season.
Phil Dunster Wanted His ‘Surface’ Character to Be a Real Person in a Mad World

“It’s fun to live in that headspace for a little bit.”

Image via Apple TV+

Phil, what was that like for you, coming in as this guy that nobody’s quite sure what to make of? How was it to figure out where he fit into the story?
PHIL DUNSTER: It was really fun. I don’t think I’ve done something like this before, where you’re conscious about what the tone of the show is whilst also trying to make a character who is just a real, normal person. The Huntley family are real people, but in this really mad world, that’s this heightened, elite, privileged world. That was a fun challenge. And also, it’s fun to live in that headspace for a little bit, of how the other half live. It’s great to see the way that the tone of the show is established in Season 1, knowing what you’re coming into, that hard bit of the work’s done. And Veronica was so good at explaining what the story would be without telling you what the character had to be. She was good at giving you scaffolding, and you could build the house around it.
Do you guys always get nervous anytime you start a new project? Does it go away the moment you start shooting, or does it take a little bit of time to feel like you’ve found your footing?
PINTO: For me, every project is nerve-wracking. It doesn’t matter how many projects I’ve done. And I’ll be also very honest with you that, even once you get comfortable in the character, because of the nature of how the show is shot, you come in and you have this big moment that you have to be ever so present for and that you were not shooting three days before that. That was also very nerve-wracking for me. I don’t like not being busy. And there were such heavy, intense moments in this show that I had to make sure that I was delivering it from every angle and every emotion. For me, the start of the day is always a bit nerve-wracking. So, it’s not really project-based, it’s day-based.
DUNSTER: It’s also tricky because you don’t fully know quite how it’s landing because of the fact that the performance is not wholly in your own hands, as an actor on TV and in film. In theater, you can see the immediate response from the other actor and you know that is what is being experienced, by and large, by the people. Maybe that’s not nervousness. Maybe that’s just lack of control for actors.
PINTO: I have this very funny anecdote. My third film was this Woody Allen movie and it had this incredible cast. For some reason, the day that I had to start shooting kept getting delayed, so my nervousness kept getting stretched out, which was so annoying. One of the days that I was waiting in the trailer, when I didn’t shoot, I met Sir Anthony Hopkins and I was like, “I’m so nervous.” And he goes, “I always feel like I’m going to get fired from every project.” I was like, “No, you’re just saying that.” And he goes, “No, I still walk into every project like it’s my first and I still feel like I’m going to get fired because I’m not going to be able to deliver.” That was such a moment of, “Okay, it’s okay to feel the nerves.” It’s actually important to feel the nerves because you don’t get complacent when you do that.
DUNSTER: That’s such a bleak insight that even Anthony Hopkins still gets nervous.

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Phil, did you try to understand this family and what it would be like to be a part of this family? When you’re born to privilege like that, how does that shape someone, especially a son, and how did that shape who your character became for you?
DUNSTER: I tried not to make him a caricature. I didn’t want him to live in a vacuum. He lived in and amongst these people. He is who he is because of these people. When I say “these people,” I mean his family and his loved ones and also the people he works with. With some of the projects and characters you’re like, “I think I understand this guy, or I understand what that would feel like,” but Quinn Huntley is part of a select few. It also extends into the relationship between Quinn and Grace. He is an individual within that, but then this is a couple within that same world.
Freida Pinto Says That Her Upbringing Was Much More Transparent Than the Huntleys in ‘Surface’

“When you grow up in India, everyone needs to know what’s going on in your life.”

Image via Apple TV+

Freida, how did that shape how you viewed their relationship? With a family like this, you’re not just in a relationship with one person, you’re in it with the whole family because they very much have a say and an influence over everything.
PINTO: I think it really helps being Indian. When you grow up in India, every person is your uncle and your aunt, and everyone needs to know what’s going on in your life and becomes part of your life. With this, it’s slightly darker. The Huntleys have so much to hide, which is not as transparent as my Indian upbringing, where everyone just tells you everything, even when you don’t want to know. It is almost daunting for her to not get answers when she senses something is not quite right. Something feels off. Even with this man she’s going to marry, something doesn’t feel quite right. What is not said, but what I’m hoping also comes through and is expressed enough with the way I played this character is that there is love and there is also an ambition. She sees herself being part of this family, to do the things that she wants to do as well. It’s not like this is her ticket, but this love allows her to do things that she would like to do as well. It’s complicated for Grace.

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What did you guys most enjoy about having each other there to work off of? Did you guys have any particularly memorable or stand-out moments together?
DUNSTER: Any time that Freida would show me a photo or video or voice notes of her child was a highlight. No disrespect to any of the Surface family, but that’s probably my highlight. [Her] child is probably the cutest, most gorgeous child out in the world. Sorry to my nieces. You guys are.
PINTO: Aw, thank you. He was 18 months old or something, at that point, but I was like, “Oh, my God, he did a poop today!”
DUNSTER: I didn’t want to say it, but that was my highlight.
PINTO: It’s the inbetween moments. It’s the video sharing, but also us talking about what we desire to do in this industry and where we really struggle and where we don’t feel heard and how much we have to push. It’s very comforting to know that no matter where you come from and what kind of career path you are on, us actors will always bond over the struggles and how we come out of it. It’s not complaining. It’s more about finding solace in each other’s stories as well.
DUNSTER: Something that I found really inspiring with Freida and with Gugu is how industrious they are. These are creators. They’re not just actors. Freida has their own production company and learning about that was so brilliant and inspiring for me. I loved that. And I would say it depends on what actors you’re talking to, in terms of complaining.
PINTO: I didn’t find our relationship to be the complaining kind.
‘Surface’ Stars Phil Dunster and Freida Pinto Are Still Looking for Answers After the Season 2 Finale

“The end of Season 2 brings a glimmer of joy shrouded in a whole lot of questions.”

How did you guys feel about where you leave things with your characters and how the arc completed this season? Do you feel like you had a sense of closure with them, or do you feel like they’re still drifting somewhere out there?
DUNSTER: I feel like there’s still a lot. That’s a really exciting thing about the ending of Season 2. We don’t quite know the ramifications of their decisions, which I love. It’s not wholly dissatisfying. It’s just that there’s one last stone left unturned.
PINTO: The end of Season 2 brings a glimmer of joy, but that is shrouded in a whole lot of questions. For Grace, I would say the same. Even through what might feel like there are lighter moments ahead of us, there are a lot of questions that she still wants to be answered.

Surface

Release Date

July 28, 2022

Network

Apple TV+

Directors

Kevin Rodney Sullivan, Jennifer Morrison

Writers

Leigh Ann Biety, Erica L. Anderson, Raven Jackson, Martín Zimmerman, Tony Saltzman, Dan Lee West

Surface is available to stream on Apple TV+. Check out the Season 2 trailer: