The addition of The Morning Show’s newest cast member Jon Hamm has “everybody excited.” Emmy-nominee Reese Witherspoon said Friday during an FYC event at The Edition hotel in West Hollywood.
As she prepared to begin production that same day, Witherspoon discussed Hamm joining for Season 3 as media mogul Paul Marks. “I might have gotten a lot of phone calls from my friends when they announced Jon Hamm,” she said.
“He is the greatest,” she added. “It’s such a good part too. You’re just going to get the full Hamm. Wait, that didn’t sound right,” she laughed.
“He is a very complex character,” she continued. “He’s a media mogul and he gives Billy Crudup a run for his money, which I think is the most fun part too, because Billy could eat a scene like I’ve never seen somebody eat a scene, and Hamm gets to come in and give him a great foil.”
“It’s Alien vs. Predator,” she joked.
The Morning Show follows the professional and personal lives of employees of media conglomerate UBA, specifically, its morning show hosts Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) and Bradley Jackson (Witherspoon), with ousted anchor Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell), news division president Cory Ellison (Crudup), host Laura Peterson (Julianna Margulies) and journalist Maggie Brener (Marcia Gay Harden) among others.
Alongside Witherspoon, who is also an EP on the show, Crudup and Harden are also Emmy-nominated for their roles this year.
At the end of Season 2, one of several cliffhangers was Cory’s declaration of love for Bradley. Asked how she thinks that might play out next season, Witherspoon said, “I think they have a certain trust. I think some things might have happened. I almost don’t know too, I always ask the writer, ‘Has something happened [between them]?’ and she’s like, ‘Hmmm something might have happened.’ Season 3 will be really interesting.”
Witherspoon also addressed the show’s handling of cancel culture in Season 2.
“By the end of this season pretty much everybody was canceled,” she said. “So, it was a real moratorium on, ‘Can you cancel a human? We’re all just human.’ There was that great scene with Marcia Gay where I was like, ‘I think if people take accountability for that they’ve done, I think we have to give them a little bit of grace. We have to start being a little more graceful toward each other, you know? Instead of dismissing human beings categorically for being fallible.”
Season 3 will see other changes too, with showrunner Kerry Ehrin making the move to a consultant role, and Charlotte Stoudt stepping in as showrunner.