The Afterparty is back and I had the opportunity to chat with Sam Richardson, Zoë Chao, Tiffany Haddish, Zach Woods, Ken Jeong, and John Cho about season two. The first three episodes are currently streaming and new episodes will be released every Wednesday through September 6.
From Academy Award winners Chris Miller and Phil Lord, each episode of “The Afterparty” explores a different character’s account of one fateful evening, all told through the lens of popular film genres and unique visuals to match the storyteller’s perspective. In season two, a wedding is ruined when the groom is murdered and every guest is a suspect. Detective Danner (Haddish) returns to help Aniq (Richardson) and Zoë (Chao) solve whodunnit by questioning family members, star-crossed lovers and business partners, and hearing each suspect’s retelling of the weekend, each with their own unique perspective and visual style.
Chao, who reprises her role from season one, explains, “We get to go further into the genres and explore different themes because a wedding is two families coming together. There’s just so much rich fodder when you bring families into the picture.”
“I’m truly excited for people to see the tenth episode finale because I think the plane has landed very well and it’s a treat if you followed along every episode,” Richardson expresses. “You can solve it [the mystery]!”
“In season one, I did not know who the killer was at all until we were shooting the dang scene because I didn’t get the final script for the episode until like maybe a day or two before and then I was being a little bit lazy because I was tired. So I didn’t learn my lines till that morning and I was like, ‘Oh dang, that’s who did it?’ I was in complete shock,” Haddish reveals. “But this time, I was doing my work, my due diligence and I could not figure out who it was until I got to the last bit and I was like, ‘Woah, okay, I was completely wrong,’ and I would say, pay attention to the dart board in the office.”
Woods gave me his own theory: “I’m gonna give you the hot scoop for your viewers, readers, etc. I will tell them who the killer is and this season, it is osteoporosis. It’s one of the few murder mysteries where it’s an internal ailment that fells the victim, and she [Detective Danner] turns diagnostician in the end and she solves it.”
“Well, season one was my favorite show last year — myself and my wife’s and so, just being a devoted fan of the show, there’s so many things to watch within the genre,” Jeong says. “It’s like these clues have clues and that’s the thing, I’ve actually rewatched season one of The Afterparty and like on Zoë’s animated episode, there were clues from within that gave you more answers on the second viewing. They have layered this so much and it’s so rewatchable on so many levels.”
So what’s the trick to solving the mystery? Cho mentions, “If you’re looking for clues and you’re tempted to pause and zoom in on something, if you’re tempted to do that and you think I’m overthinking this, I would say you’re not overthinking it.”
The cast shared which genre they would want the story of their life to be told in, what fans should be paying attention to in order to solve the mystery, exploring new themes, and more!
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Please note: all three of these interviews were done prior to the SAG-AFTRA Strike. In support of the strike, please donate to the Entertainment Community Fund.
