Note: This article contains plot spoilers for Homecoming.
Julia Roberts turned in a hell of a performance on Amazon’s Homecoming, the acclaimed podcast-turned-series from Mr. Robot’s Sam Esmail. Unfortunately, it’ll have to suffice for fans of the show. Per The Hollywood Reporter (with a confirmation from Entertainment Weekly), the actress won’t be returning as the memory-bereft Heidi for the show’s planned second season. She will, however, remain an executive producer on the series.
This provides some clarity for why the first season ended with Heidi tracking down and finding her former patient, Walter Cruz, when, on the podcast, that search comprises much of the second season. Esmail, though, has made it clear he was never beholden to the podcast’s structure. In an interview with The A.V. Club last year, he told us he didn’t even listen to the second season, saying he and his team “wanted the TV show to be its own thing.”
“We’re working on a second season, but we have a very different trajectory for our show,” Esmail told THR, who note that the second season will be built around Bobby Cannavale’s Colin Belfast and Hong Chau’s Audrey Temple, who now lords over him at The Geist Group.
One can likely assume, then, that Stephan James’ Walter and Sissy Spacek’s Ellen, won’t be returning, what with their roles being Heidi-centric. It does, however, mean that we could see more of Shea Whigham’s Thomas Carrasco, whose interest in Geist has, shall we say, been piqued.
8 Comments
Sad to see Julia Roberts and possibly those other fine actors go, even if that was somewhat planned all along.That being said I’m very down for more Bobby Cannavale and Shea Whigham adventures in this universe. Also after the last season of Mr. Robot and the first season of this, I trust Sam Esmail.
totes. i’m in for all of this . I may even give Mr Robot another try , Rami Malek just won me over as Freddie Mercury.
Mr Robot is fucking brilliant.
That’s a shame. She was really terrific in the first season, and it will feel very weird to have the show move on without her. But I can kind of see where they’ll take it, and I’ll be tuning in regardless.
But will her wig return?!?
I’m really not interested in a second season*. This was a great story well told. Done. Now create something else. Sometimes it’s OK to just let it be.*of course I’ll watch it
To their credit, lots of people panned the second season of the original podcast, so I can see why they decided to take another direction with the TV series.Heidi and Walter’s storylines, at least, already wrapped up rather nicely last season. Cautiously excited to see where to go from here without Julia Roberts.
I love this goddamn show and Sam Esmail is brilliant.