Hollywood Reporter | Kaley Cuoco

Extraits de l'interview

You went right from Big Bang into The Flight Attendant. Why not take a break?

Taking a break would definitely scare me. You're easily forgotten, too. You've got to stay relevant. But also know when too much is too much. It's kind of a fine line.

Who helps you walk that line?

I've been with the same team of nearly 20 people — agents, managers, attorneys, publicists — since I was about 15. During the last few years of Big Bang, they were all telling me, "You might want to start thinking about the next step." They knew I wasn't planning, so it was one of my managers who told me to look out for an article or a book that I liked. One night, I was swiping through upcoming books on Amazon and saw The Flight Attendant. I read one sentence and called my attorney: "Have you heard of this book? And, if you have, did Reese Witherspoon get the rights?" I was assuming she probably did. (Laughs.) I had not even read the book yet, and all of a sudden I have the rights — I guess I'll just walk into [soon-to-retire Warner Bros. Television Group chairman] Peter Roth's office with it and say, "Hey, let's make this."

The Flight Attendant was one of the first series to go back into production after lockdown. How did you navigate the new protocols?

It's called The Flight Attendant, so there's a lot of stuff on planes with lots of extras. Not [ideal] during COVID. Luckily, we'd filmed a lot on our plane stages that we could reuse. But we had to change some scenes tremendously. We had maybe six extras the whole time we shot [the final episodes]. We just kept moving them in different areas and putting hats on them. It sounds bad, but we couldn't keep bringing in new people.

How has it changed your perspective on the business?

I'm amazed by anyone who gets anything made. Getting things funded is so hard. I'm less judge-y about things that I see and shows that I watch. "What do you think about this show?" Well, they made it. It's fucking on TV. They win.

What did you learn working for Chuck Lorre for as long as you did?

I know some people are scared of him. But there is a reason why he is so successful. He knows exactly what he wants. He takes nothing less. And he is very loyal if you are good to him. That's where I found my senior vp, Suzanne McCormack, who worked for Chuck for years.

As you move forward, who are you trying to model your career after?

Definitely Reese. She's the obvious one. And everyone knows I've been obsessed with Jennifer Aniston for 20 years. I love her. And Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Regina King, who's making amazing choices.

And three of those careers broke out on long-running sitcoms.

These are women who played very specific characters that the world fell in love with and went off and did other things and did them brilliantly. That's a big deal. It makes me believe that I can be something after Big Bang.

What's next for you?

If we get our season two, we'll be jumping back in around January. I'm really hoping that happens.

Wait, isn't The Flight Attendant a limited series?

Hey, everything's a limited series. (Laughs.) If you don't get picked up, you go, "Oh, that was just a limited series." If you do get picked up, you're like, "Yeah, fuck that. We're doing season two!"

Interview complète