- What are you gonna do about that?

(upbeat music)

- [Crystal Bell] Talk to me a little bit,

what was it like going into season two

knowing that season one was such a hit?

I could imagine that it made going out

as a cast really hard.

- It had me in the... - For a bit.

- Yeah, for me, I think that was part of the beauty

of making season one is that we had absolutely no idea

if anyone was going to watch it,

if anyone was going to care about it,

if anyone was going to talk about it,

so we were just kind of making the story for ourselves,

and trying to make the best thing possible,

and that's all that mattered, so going into season two,

I was hoping that on everyone's part

it was the same feeling that we were just going into it

trying to make something great again,

not even thinking about the outside world

or what people should expect or nothing,

but how many eyes are going to be on it,

which is easy to think about while you're making it,

but just trying to put that aside

and just focus on making a great story again,

so that's what I think honestly, but...

- Yes. - Yeah.

- A lot more people cared though.

- Well, again, when people see going out as a cast, though,

must have been really hard,

'cause when people see you together

they'll probably immediately freak out.

- Yeah, a little bit.

There were a couple of times where we'd just be

grocery shopping at Costco or Target

or Wal-Mart or something and we would just

have people recognize us and it was a weird thing, too,

as someone who's never had to go through that,

'cause it's like, "I'm just getting some cheese.

You don't need to get a picture, it's not that special."

But then it's also very sweet the things that people

will say to you and how the story has impacted their lives,

so yeah, it's great, too.

- On the flip side of that, I went to a Green Day concert,

by myself, but I thought I was so famous, and I was like,

"Oh my God, this is gonna be so bad,

everyone's gonna recognize me."

And I did take a few photos after the concert was done,

but then this couple turned to me and was like,

"Can I get a photo?"

And I'm like no (laughing), and then they were like,

"You're not gonna take a photo of me?

I just want to get a photo

with me and my husband." (laughing)

My friends started laughing at me,

so that was big reality check.

- Yeah, I remember right after the show came out,

Tim and I saw Chance the Rapper in San Diego,

and right after the concert ended,

we got mobbed with people to the point

where stadium security had to pull us aside

and take us to a VIP room to make sure that we were okay.

It was so weird. - Damn, Alicia.

- You're saying you're more popular than your co-star?

- Oh yeah, oh yeah. - Okay.

(laughing)

- Look, Alicia, I'm just saying.

- One more story, please. (laughing)

- I don't go out.

- I think for you guys, the challenge must have been,

'cause you went through season one,

you feel like you know your character, you're like,

"Okay, I'm building this character,

I know exactly who Zach is, I know exactly who Jessica is."

And you're getting these scripts for season two

and you're like, "Whoa, I didn't know anything at all,

'cause everything's turning on me."

What was that like?

- I think that's kind of the beauty of it, honestly,

is that we have this ability to explore these characters

and to build more of them.

- It's exciting as an actor.

You wanna be surprised and you

wanna be inspired by the scripts,

and we have a great writing staff.

Do one of you guys wanna say something?

- Dylan's a diva, he's making me hold the microphone

as answers the question, sorry.

- I've answered already. - His hands are insured.

- Nope. (laughing)

- Nope.

Okay, yeah. (laughing)

What is the question? (laughing)

- Why doesn't Ross? - I did.

Okay, alright. (laughing)

- Can I get some professional help, please?

- What was the question? (laughing)

Oh, characters and knowing. - Not knowing.

- Not knowing. - Yeah.

Thinking that you know your character,

but not really knowing them. - Right, okay.

So I knew what was gonna happen with my character,

but I didn't know when and how and so then,

I also didn't wanna tell anybody else

so that when we went to the table read,

we'd all experience it together and yeah, that was fun.

At the table reads we'd be like (gasps), "What?"

And then that was great. - Yeah.

- That was a great recreation of our expressions.

- You already knew about Zach and Hannah.

- Yes. - But these guys didn't.

So who was the most surprised by that development?

- I knew early on, I knew early on.

Thanks guys, that was the one secret

that Brian told me early on and I was just

immediately super intrigued and also nervous

about how, thank you, Clay would react to that,

and I think the reaction that he gives

when he goes and confronts Zach about it

is... (laughing)

I think you'd expect from Clay,

but is also really out of line.

Hannah was her own person and can make her own decisions.

Clay just couldn't handle that truth,

and all those elements of truth definitely

take a toll on Clay to the point that he doesn't even

think he knows what the truth is anymore,

but yeah, I know a lot of it was really surprising.

A lot of it was surprising for Clay, for me as well.

I mean, I knew Clay was gonna go on

some sort of downward spiral, but I didn't think he'd be

ending up outside of Bryce's house with a gun to his head.

And that was definitely difficult to shoot,

but I think it made sense for Clay.

I mean, he's got a lot of inner demons, but yeah, anyway.

- I have to say though, Ross, episode six

was one of my favorites, because it also totally felt

a little different than the rest of the season.

I kind of made a comment today that it's

literally the teen rom-com that we deserve.

I need an entire season dedicated

to the Zach and Hannah year, the summer of Zach and Hannah.

What was that like working with Catherine on that,

'cause you guys had such a great dynamic,

and it did feel a little bit more jovial than maybe

the rest of the season. - Yeah.

- It was a nice little intermission

in the middle of the season.

It was great, 'cause Cat and I,

just like with everyone else,

we bonded over the last two years of knowing each other,

and we kind of have similar senses of humor,

so it made shooting awkward sex scenes a lot more fun

and not as awkward, so yeah,

it was just an all around good time.

We got to eat ice cream and walk

and hold hands and fun stuff.

(laughing) - Fun stuff.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

- That's so cute.

- Had your Dawson's Creek moment by the pier,

it was great. - Yeah.

- Cool. - Dawson's Creek.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

- Dating ourselves. - Never watched it.

(laughing) - Sorry, I'm old.

- There's a creek involved, then I'm sure there's a dock.

- Love Dawson. - Dawson and her creek.

(laughing)

- Similarly, though, Dylan, Clay's relationship with Hannah

really changes this season, because obviously,

he sees her as an apparition, as this figure.

Finding that dynamic, so you and Catherine had built up

such a great relationship in that first season,

and then I think it changed in the second season.

What was it like, the changing nature of their relationship?

- Yeah, it was definitely a task in terms of

just figuring out what's the best way

to play the dynamic between Clay and Hannah this season

when Hannah's purely in Clay's mind,

'cause in season one, you're not just telling the story

of Clay in the present day listening to the tapes,

you're also telling the story for Clay and Hannah,

showing how their relationship evolved and how it fell apart

in its own kind of separate story,

its own show in its own right.

This season didn't really have any guidelines.

Hannah was a reflection of Clay's thoughts

and it was his conscience and it was like,

how do you navigate that?

It was a big team effort with Brian, the showrunner,

and Michael Morris in particular,

one of the directors who came and sort of

shot all those scenes with us.

It was a lot of work, but Catherine's so great

and talented and makes it really easy

to play off of her at those scenes, but it's tricky.

You don't want it to play too much like she's a ghost

and you don't want it to play too somber,

because then it just feels extremely melodramatic,

and it's kind of hard for it not to feel

a little melodramatic, but we wanted it

to feel real for the most part.

You wanted it to feel like how Clay and Hannah

would actually be conversing in these situations

to make her really feel like who Clay remembers her as.

And that's why it makes it so much harder

to live with her there, especially when she starts

just reciting Bryce to him later on,

it's just spiraling out of control,

and it's just all a reflection of how tortured Clay is,

what a tortured soul he is.

But by the end of the season, I think Clay is

finally on some sort of path to recovery

and maybe he will find peace one day, but I'm not sure.

We'll see.

- Yeah, he has a brother now, very excited about that.

- Exactly, yeah, crazy.

- I especially love that development.

Devon though, again, your performance this season,

truly incredible. - Thank you.

- I know you've all individually talked about

how Brian would talk to you about your storylines

and your character arcs, so when Brian told you

what a real tragic turn Tyler would take this season,

what were your initial reactions?

What went through your head?

- I remember the first time Brian had talked to me

about Tyler's storyline and it was actually last year,

when we were doing season one.

I remember specifically, we had just gotten the script

for I think 11 and 12, so we were

shooting nine and 10, I believe,

and I got the scripts for 11 and 12,

and as soon as I'm reading in 12,

there's a scene where Tyler buys the handgun,

and I was kind of immediately shocked.

And at the same time, I was like,

"Why does this make so much sense for this character

for this to be the route that he's going down?"

And so Brian asked if he could speak with me

and we talked and he was basically like,

"So, if we get a season two, we're thinking that