Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for The Four Seasons
Netflixis set to take viewers on an emotional journey through the course of a year with their latest heartfelt comedy,The Four Seasons. In the series, six old friends take what is supposed to be a relaxing weekend away, only to learn that one couple in the group is about to split — spoiler alert: the split unravels quite hilariously. The three couples — Kate (Tina Fey) and Jack (Will Forte), Nick (Steve Carell) and Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver), and Danny (Colman Domingo) and Claude (Marco Calvani) — are shaken up by the news, which begins to transform their lives for the next year. Said to be a heartfelt love letter to long marriages and old friendships, the series follows the six friends through four vacations, opting to continue their longstanding tradition of quarterly getaways, where they must face the new reality of their dynamics, with old and new issues shaping the series' comedy and drama.
In an interview with Collider’sTania Hussainfor the Fey,Lang Fisher, andTracey Wigfield-created series, Domingo and Calvani explore their chemistry in the series, discussing the history of their real-life friendship and how it influenced their portrayal of husbands inThe Four Seasons. The conversation also delves into the emotional highs and lows and comedic moments in the series, including Kenney’s portrayal of Anne, her character’s self-sabotage, and how the cast navigates the emotional balance of the series' material.
Colman Domingo and Marco Calvani’s Real-Life Friendship Became the Heart of ‘The Four Seasons’
“We just immediately loved each other.”
COLLIDER: Colman, your character, Danny, is part of a unique dynamic with Claude, and I’m wondering how did your real-life friendship influence your on-screen chemistry? Because you guys are so cute. I would love to hear how you guys brought that to life.
COLMAN DOMINGO: I’ll attempt to kick this off pretty quickly. We met just a year prior to shooting this. A friend just had an event together, and then we ended up at another party together, and we became fast friends, these two couples — me and my husband, and Marco and his husband. Then we went to a random dinner date over at their house, and afterwards, this is while we were starting to do casting, and we were thinking about who would play my husband, and my husband, Raúl, said, “What about Marco?” I said, “Oh, Marco!” But I knew Marco as a writer-director, and his husband is a very formidable actor, a very well-known actor…
MARCO CALVANI: Whose name is Marcos [Pigossi], as well! [Laughs]
DOMINGO: Who is also named Marcos. I said, “Well, Marcos is kind of younger.” He said, “No, Marco Cavani.” I said, “Really?” I said, “Well, let me suggest them to Tina [Fey].” I said, “Well, I don’t know. I don’t know if he still acts.” I called him, and I said, “Would you mind putting that on tape?” He put himself on tape. Tina presented two wonderful options after they looked athundredsof people and said, “One of the people we love is your friend Marco.” I said, “What? Are you kidding?” I saw his tape, and I thought, “Oh, that’s my husband!”
CALVANI: And here it is, the writer-director, suddenly an actor again.
DOMINGO:I just thought that he brought something so fresh and unique, and already in our pretty new friendship, we just immediately loved each other. I just felt like we could be playful with each other, and we can interrogate scripts, and the language of creating work together. We already had a fascination with each other, so I think that’s already baked into the cake, and then we just let it fly.
CALVANI: Also, there’s true love and respect and admiration here, and a desire to work together. Then, you add tothis, also,this[gestures at the three of them together], and then when we got on set, there was Tina, Steve [Carell], Will [Forte], and Kerri. The love became bigger, and immediately we bonded, and we melted immediately all the fears that each one of us had all together. We made a collective fire and we became strengthened. I’m glad that you can perceive that through the whole show. And trust me, I felt like, “What am I doing here? These are legends.”
Claude felt like the viewer’s friend.
KERRI KENNEY: Yes!
DOMINGO: That’s exactly it. He’s our way in.
Kerri Kenney Breaks Down Anne’s Chaos and Grief in ‘The Four Seasons’
“Each character has surprising realizations of how they feel and the depth of how they feel of possibly losing their partner over an accident.”
I love that so much. Kerri, I want to ask you about Anne. Her boat scene is so funny and also very raw, and I felt like I knew somebody who was like that, like, they just don’t help themselves. It was so good, though! My sister and I were laughing really hard. How do you tap into that kind of honest self-sabotage?
DOMINGO, KENNEY, CALVANI: [Laughing]
KENNEY: Ha! Listen, it’s interesting that you say, “How do Itapinto that kind of raw self-sabotage?” On a daily basis, minute by minute, I’m trying to getoutof raw self-sabotage, so I don’t have to tap into it. I just have to relax into my true nature. She’s messy and chaotic, andso desperately wants connection. That’s not a stretch for me, for better or for worse. But getting the opportunity to see a full journey of a character, I am so grateful because the imagined connection that she had with her friends and family at the very beginning that very quickly becomes untetheredallowed me to get to take that journey and have people come along with the journey of watching the floating in spaceand the flailing and then ultimately coming back around to new connection. It’s all in the writing, it’s all in the words, it’s all Tina Fey, Tracey [Wigfield], and Lang [Fisher]. They just handed it to me, and I just had to relax into it. It was already all there.
The fact that you guys were laughing about that, what was the scene that cracked you up the most? Because I will say, the “Candle in the Wind” had me. How did you guys balance the emotion of the scene with the comedy? Because Terry’s in the back singing over very sad news.
KENNEY: Toby Huss is a longtime friend of mine. He’s been onReno 911!a hundred times. I had no part in the casting of the boyfriend, and Tina said, “What about Toby Huss?” And I said, “Oh, absolutely!” When he said “kerndle,” do yourself a favor: pause the moment you realize what the song is, because you don’t know in the beginning. I have paused 100 times on Coleman’s reaction when he realizes what song it is. It ispriceless.
CALVANI: We were laughing out loud.
DOMINGO: We heard “kerndlein the wind,” like, “What?” [Laughs] I’m laughing thinking about it. That was the funniest scene for all of us. It was one of the best ones. Any time we were just around a table, anytime it’s the whole group, it’s just really funny.
There’s a lot of emotion in this show, and it’s not just the humor. Were there any moments that caught you off guard about how deep you had to tap in for something? Nick’s death was a big loss for everybody, and I’m hoping we can see Season 2, where everybody’s grieving through those emotions throughout the seasons.
CALVANI: We’re hoping, too!
DOMINGO: Yeah, same here. Each character has — and maybe it’s in Episode 6 —surprising realizations of how they feel and the depth of how they feel about possibly losing their partner over an accident. Like, “Oh my God, I didn’t realize how devastated I was or how I’ve been hiding a feeling.” And it’s like that for every character. So, I feel like that episode, I think for all of us, was very emotional.
KENNEY: So much loss. Anne had already lost her husband. I think now she was realizing she might also lose her daughter, which is the only thing that she has left. Colman directed that episode, and as an actor, being directed by an Academy Award-nominated actor…
CALVANI: Two times!
KENNEY: Two times!There’snothinglike it. It felt delicious.
CALVANI: Yeah, really, you held our hand.
DOMINGO: I like being in there with my fellow actor. I feel like it’s just being part of the birthing of it all. That’s what we do together, you know? That is my pleasure.
