By Since its premiere on Comedy Central in 2019, The Other Two has slowly become one of TV’s funniest shows. The series, created by Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, plays into the American obsession with fame, following a showbiz family whose members all want to be on top. The first two seasons established the slightly heightened world where the entertainment industry parodies itself. The show follows two siblings, Cary (Drew Tarver) and Brooke (Heléne Yorke), as they attempt to prove themselves alongside their Justin Bieber-like pop star brother, ChaseDreams (Case Walker), and their Ellen-like talk-show mom, Pat (Molly Shannon).
Season two, which shifted to HBO, saw the family begin to achieve their dreams — just as a global pandemic hit in the season finale. The third season, which premieres on May 4, skips ahead, putting the characters in new hilarious situations that force them to question whether show business is really worth it after all. The cast, who also include Ken Marino as Chase’s manager Streeter Peters, return along with a slew of notable guest stars. Although it’s hard to discuss without giving too much away, suffice to say the antics are bigger, and the emotions are more heightened.
“There are wigs, there are bizarre situations, there is surrealism,” Yorke teases, speaking to Shondaland ahead of the premiere. “There are just big swings this year in a way that was so intimidating reading the scripts, thinking, ‘How will I ground this? How will this be real?’ But it’s just a sign of the faith the writers have in us to do what we’ve been asked to do. It’s really silly and a damn delight. People who love our show are going to have their socks blown off. They really went for it this year.”
For Yorke, being part of The Other Two has been particularly transformative. The actress, who previously appeared on Masters of Sex and The Good Fight, has not only found herself skyrocketing into the spotlight but has also figured out what she wants to do going forward.
“I adapted a novel with a friend of mine, and I’m trying to sell a TV show with one of my best friends, and I’m trying to have more agency over what it is I do, especially in the future,” Yorke says. “I think there’s a lot of power in that.”
Yorke discusses what it’s like to play Brooke Dubek, why people are so compelled by the entertainment industry, and what success means to her.
EMILY ZEMLER: It’s really hard to talk about the new season without spoilers.
HELÉNE YORKE: The talking points they gave us this season are a minefield!
EZ: Season two ended on a funny cliff-hanger. Where do we find Brooke as this season opens?
HY: We have for you and your viewing pleasure a three-year time jump, where we’ve been through the pandemic and we address it a little bit, but then we hop off. Certainly after three years, all of us are just a little bit more insane after having gone through that. What I love about Brooke’s journey basically is “Am I a good person? Do I do enough good?” And the answer is most certainly no. But she’s on a noble quest to be good.
EZ: It seems fair to say that Brooke is doing some soul-searching in the first few episodes.
HY: Yeah. It’s sadly so relatable. I think that the character is embarrassingly relatable.
EZ: When you first started playing her, did you think she would be this relatable?
HY: I did. I mean, I myself am problematically honest and forthcoming with my flaws and open about them. It feels like the more you put out the crap about yourself in the universe, the more you’re in control of it. I have a mouth the size of outer space. That sounded dirty and sexual. And also, she is dirty and sexual. So yeah, I immediately thought that she would be relatable. Anything that we think that is bad about ourselves, she voices. And I think that’s one of the things that makes her a refreshing character.
EZ: Do you think she has become a better person in any way over the course of three seasons?
HY: Um, no. If anything, getting closer and closer to fame and the higher she climbs, the more solidly herself she proves to be. I feel like at this stage in my life, you keep thinking, “Oh, I’ll improve.” But if you’re not careful, everything bad about you just continues to solidify. People can’t change! That’s the message. But I think what’s fun is that she’s unapologetically herself. The writing has taken her in twists and turns where you get to experience that self at various altitudes. Right now, she’s at a higher altitude, and she’s still herself.
EZ: Is it fun to play a character who’s a mess?
HY: In life, we’re all acting like we’ve got it figured out. We all want people to think we’ve got it figured out. We want to feel like we’ve got it figured out. [But] we don’t, and I don’t. Playing someone that flies the flag so freely and going to work as her is almost relaxing in a way because it’s like a manifestation of bad instincts that you’re always working to suppress. If anything, it’s permission to fly the freak flag.
EZ: Does Brooke ever do anything that really surprises you?
HY: More than anything, I find the writing so surprising and delightful because I think it’s so smart. So, anything that she does that I think is surprising is just a reflection of the brilliance of Chris, and Sarah, and our wonderful writers’ room and their inventions of these situations that she finds herself in that feel otherworldly but are basically grounded in reality. Like the idea of being invisible at an industry party is so funny and her being desperate to be seen at that. I think all of us are in those situations and certainly not behaving in the way that Brooke does. I’m just always so excited when I read material that this is where she’s going, and that’s what they’ve dreamed up. It’s funny because people will pitch me their ideas of things they [think] should happen to Brooke, and I’m like, “Nothing you say to me is going to be as funny as something [the writers] come up with.”
EZ: Although the entertainment industry seems really ridiculous on the show, do you think it does reflect reality in some ways?
HY: One of the biggest things that people in the industry come up to me and tell me, “This episode really spoke to me,” is the Chex Mix bitch episode [in season two] where Brooke is spending the entire party pacing outside on a phone call. My publicist, managers, everybody felt very seen by that episode. Everything about our industry seems so cool, and so fresh, and fun, and amazing. And it’s really just a bunch of people super-uncomfortable and hungry at fancy events where they have to suck it in for three hours. The gas you get is so intense after an industry party. You go home, and you fart for days.
EZ: As actors, do you all talk about why this whole family is so obsessed with being part of the industry?
HY: I’m watching Succession, and I’m like, “Why do these people want to be climbing the ladder of this family?” Why would you want to deal with being a part of this? I think Connor is the smartest character on Succession. When you’re in a glittering, shining castle, or you feel like you’re close to it, it’s hard to resist. And if your priorities aren’t straight, if you can’t see the forest for the trees and what’s most important, wanting to be close to that is so seductive. Because what it looks like is so amazing. It’s so fantastical.
Back in the day, we used to treat wealthy people in this way. And we still do it to celebrities. People that are in the entertainment business are our royalty here in the U.S. It’s status, right? We live in a system and we live in a world where we’re all trying to climb and make it look like we’re doing a certain thing or feeling a certain way. But also, we always move the goalposts for ourselves. Once we get something, it’s never enough. Constantly chasing after that is what makes Carey and Brooke, again, relatable.
EZ: Brooke cannot let it go, as we see in this new season.
HY: She can’t let it go. She’s going to get it. And what I find relatable about it is that I wasn’t successful in my 20s. I didn’t get there, and neither did Brooke. She was broke and trying to make it happen and squatting in an apartment building. I was working at the front desk of an exercise studio and trying to make money babysitting. I sublet my apartment because I couldn’t afford it and lived with my friend, whose dog peed through an entire pee pad in the course of a week. I had a disgusting life as a struggling actor.
So once you get there, you’re like, “Oh, my god, I’m here. I have to make the most of it. I have to keep climbing; I have to keep climbing.” Because this moment can pass at any time. I don’t think anybody knows that better than people who have failed, which certainly I have and continue to do.
EZ: Do you feel like you’re a successful actor now?
HY: Yes. I think it would be asinine to give a quote that’s like, “No, I’m not a successful actor.” It’s so funny because I now have a baby, and I hire actresses to look after my baby. It feels like I’ve just basically put money back in circulation that I made babysitting. And the wanting and the insecurities and talking to them about their auditions and their process — it doesn’t change that much. You’re just making money doing what you want to do, and you don’t necessarily have to babysit. But I always say to everybody, the minute a job ends I’m online being like, “Okay, well, I guess I’ll have to go to interior design school and pivot because nobody’s ever going to hire me again.” So yes, I feel like I’m successful. But more than anything at this stage of my life, I feel that I’m successful because I have it in perspective. I think the only way you can experience true success is if you have the entire picture in perspective.
EZ: Initially, you didn’t know this would get a third season, right?
HY: No, and keep in mind we were on Comedy Central for the first season. I mean, I had a feeling it would. [The writers] are just so good. They’re so smart. And their commitment to making a good show so deep. But I didn’t know. And with season two, we started that in February 2020, and we went down for a year and switched networks. Now we have a much broader audience.
EZ: Is there anyone in the cast who is so funny, you can’t make it through your scenes?
HY: Ken Marino. Ken Marino is a nightmare because he’s so funny. He’s somebody that I find myself sticking around on set for longer to, like, watch the little things that he does. Like the time that he got dumped in the pool. We were over at the William Vale [hotel], and I made sure I was around to watch Ken have his eyes open in a pool. God, he’s so funny.
EZ: How nice to be on a show where you want to be there and feel that engaged.
HY: Drew and I genuinely love each other, and we are genuine friends. And I feel that way about Molly and Ken and Case, who we’ve watched grow up. Wanda [Sykes] is one of the nicest people alive. Chris and Sarah, who created the show, I love so much. I’m very aware of how rare that is. You do season three, and you’re like, “I don’t know if there’ll be more.” This is this magical, incredible time in my life being a part of this.
Emily Zemler is a freelance writer and journalist based in London. She regularly contributes to the Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, PureWow, and TripSavvy, and is the author of two books. Follow her on Twitter @emilyzemler.
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