Getty Chuck Lorre and Michael Douglas of 'The Kominsky Method' speak onstage during Netflix TCA 2018.
The Kominsky Method season 2 will be released on Netflix at 3am Friday, October 24. After the show’s critically acclaimed first season, fans have been highly-anticipating what’s to come for the story and its characters. Ahead of the second season’s binge-able debut, we were able to uncover some information about what to expect from the new episodes, including returning and new cast members.
Netflix’s official synopsis for season 2 teases “The sun isn’t setting yet on aging actor slash acting coach Sandy Kominsky and his longtime agent Norman Newlander in the award-winning Netflix comedy series The Kominsky Method. Academy Award® Winners Michael Douglas (Kominsky) and Alan Arkin (Newlander) continue their journey as two friends tackling life’s inevitable curveballs as they navigate their later years in Los Angeles, a city that, above all else, values youth. This season, Sandy meets and bonds with his daughter’s new boyfriend (guest star Paul Reiser) who is uncomfortably close to Sandy’s age. Meanwhile, Norman reconnects with an old flame from his youth (guest star Jane Seymour) and after fifty years, they decide to start again. Nancy Travis and Sarah Baker co-star.”
According to IMDb, Michael Douglas, Alan Arkin, and Sarah Baker (who plays Mindy Kominsky) are credited as appearing in all 8 of the second season’s episodes. Graham Rogers and Lisa Edelstein co-star again as Jude and Phoebe, respectively, and Melissa Tang is also returning as Margaret.
As for the new additions to the cast, according to Entertainment Weekly, Kathleen Turner will be joining the show as Ruth, Kominsky’s ex-wife and the mother of his daughter Mindy. Bringing Turner on-board was Douglas’s idea, which makes sense considering their relationship working together on three films earlier in their careers. He told Entertainment Weekly ““When I saw the part that [series creator Chuck Lorre] had written, it just reeked of a kind of a War of the Roses divorce, and she’s just so good. I was just so happy she said yes.” Later he added that he hopes that, if the show is renewed for a third season, she will have a bigger role to play on season 3.
According to Variety, Jacqueline Bisset was originally cast to play Kominsky’s ex-wife (who was named “Gabrielle” at the time). Casting changed once creative determined that the character was no longer going to be French within the story.
The show’s creator, Chuck Lorre, talked to Deadline about how the show has evolved from season 1 into season 2. He said “The first season was a walk through the darkness in Norman’s loss of his wife and his health issues. While health issues will remain part of the series, things change markedly for Norman and Sandy…it’s unexpected. I wanted to write how the light can flicker in the dark for people…all for the better.”
Watch The Kominsky Method season 2 on Netflix, out Friday, October 25.