In Jim Rash’s Miss You, Love You, Jamie (Andrew Rannells) arrives at the home of his boss’ mother Diane (Allison Janney), sent in his place to help her plan her husband’s funeral. Unsurprisingly, she’s not very happy he’s there, but they soon break down barriers and discover how to be there for each other.
Awards Buzz spoke with Rannells and Janney about what spoke to them from the script and the chance to work with Rash. Rannells shared:
“I found that the fact that it was both of these characters who just really feel like they can do it best alone and that they don’t need help and they’re not going to ask for help and they’re not going to share with anyone, I related to that. And yet, because of these extreme circumstances they find themselves in, they do need to lean on each other and they do unexpectedly open up to each other and it makes it easier for the moment for them to go through what they’re going through. I think that that element of connection or needing connection that Jim has put into the script, I found just really appealing to get to be a part of.”
Janney highlighted the unusual dynamic, which allowed their characters to be quite open and unfiltered with each other:
“To have these two characters be complete strangers is the perfect setup for everything that happens, because of course it sets up Diane to just loaded for bear. She’s furious that her son is not coming and he sent his assistant in his stead. And she feels absolutely every right to just say whatever she wants to him. It doesn’t matter. She can be rude, mean. None of us can do that with the people we really know and love in our lives. It’s very hard to have conversations and things, but with someone you don’t know, things come out.”
Watch the video above to hear what it’s like to make a two-hander like this as compared to their previous work in large ensembles.
Miss You, Love You premieres Friday, May 29th at 8:00 p.m. ET/PTon HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max.
