[This story contains major spoilers from the first season of No Good Deed.]
Lisa Kudrow and Ray Romano may have starred on two of the biggest sitcoms of the 1990s and early 2000s. She played the delightfully daffy Phoebe Buffay on NBC’s mega-hit Friends, while he drew from parts of his own personal life to co-create and play the affable and diffident Ray Barone in CBS’ Everybody Loves Raymond. But despite working a few stages away from each other on the Warner Bros lot for seven years, the Emmy-winning actors had actually never met before. Not until they were both cast in No Good Deed, which premiered last week on Netflix.
In the latest dark comedy series from Dead to Me creator and showrunner Liz Feldman, Kudrow and Romano play Lydia and Paul Morgan, empty nesters looking to sell their gorgeous Los Feliz home in Los Angeles following the tragic death of their teenage son Jacob (Wyatt Aubrey). Prospective buyers of the 1920s Spanish-style villa include three families: their neighbors, a washed-up soap opera actor (Luke Wilson) and his conniving, philandering trophy wife (Dead to Me’s Linda Cardellini); a newlywed couple (Teyonah Parris and O-T Fagbenle) expecting their first child; and a lesbian couple (Abbi Jacobson and Poppy Liu) struggling with fertility issues.
In the season finale, Lydia and Paul — who had spent most of the season attempting to hide the truth about what they believed led to Jacob’s passing — discover what really happened on the night their son died. With the meddling help of Jacobson’s Leslie Fisher, who works for the L.A. district attorney, Lydia and Paul deduce that it wasn’t actually their daughter Emily (Chloe East) who fired the shot that killed her brother, thinking he was a burglar. The fatal shot actually came from Cardellini’s Margo, who had been having an affair with the underaged Jacob and thought she would lose everything — including the jewelry that Jacob had stolen from other houses to gift to her — once he threatened to expose their relationship.
While their revelation will not bring their son back, Paul, Lydia and Emily — whose shared secret had eroded each of their relationships — are finally able to get the closure they need to begin healing as a family. “I was happy to just see that [Paul] hides it well but he’s hurt underneath, just like Lydia,” Romano tells The Hollywood Reporter in the joint interview below with Kudrow about the finale. “I think it was important for the audience to see what this couple had at one time at least.”
On a recent video call from L.A., sitcom heavyweights Kudrow and Romano discuss their biggest takeaways from their long-awaited first time working together, how they attempted to find light and humor amid their characters’ unthinkable tragedy — and how they both navigated the dizzying experience of becoming famous during the ’90s.
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Once you signed on to this project, what kinds of conversations did you have with Liz Feldman about approaching and building your respective characters? What was that collaboration like?
LISA KUDROW I wasn’t part of it until way after Ray signed on.
RAY ROMANO Yeah, you weren’t attached yet. I read about three or four scripts, and I was very intrigued just by the scripts. Every script made me want to read the next one, and we spoke about the tone. I knew Dead to Me. I didn’t watch all three seasons, but I definitely watched the first season. I knew this was a tone that was going to be hard to walk the line [between] broad comedy and dramatic, but I knew she was capable of doing it. My biggest concern was that, in the wrong hands, this could not be done well. But I got confident after talking to her because she expressed to me where she wanted it to go. I felt like I was in good hands, and it seemed like I’d be stupid not to do it.
KUDROW I knew it was a yes before I read the scripts, just because I was a big fan of Dead to Me, and I knew that was Liz Feldman. When I heard that name, I knew exactly what that meant. And then the next thing I was told is, “Ray Romano will be your husband in this.” He doesn’t believe, it turns out, half of what I say until he gets proof. (They both laugh.) I’ve always wanted to work with Ray Romano. That was a dream of mine because I’d seen him in other things — movies, Parenthood, and then Paddleton. I was blown away, and he just is effortless. He’s really listening. He’s really just responding.
ROMANO Well, thank you. I appreciate that.
KUDROW And he’s just so good. Oh boy, would I love to work with him.
ROMANO Uh oh. Let her keep going! Go ahead! (Laughs)
KUDROW And then they said, “It’s Ray so far and Linda Cardellini,” and that was also too good to be true, and I said, “Do I even need to read it? I don’t know why I would ever say no to working with [these] three people, and Ray especially.” And my agents said, “Well, I guess dreams do come true.” I read the first three scripts. Then I got nervous, like, “See what happens when you’re like, ‘I don’t even need to read [the scripts]’? You may have killed your son. I don’t know where this is going, but can I do that? I need to talk to her.”
ROMANO By the way — and this is new to me — did you think for a second it might’ve been you that killed him?
KUDROW Yeah!
ROMANO Oh, wow.
KUDROW Because her hands are shaking; she’s holding on to so much guilt. I mean, everything I was reading pointed to guilt. So, why is she guilty? Or did Paul accidentally kill their son?
ROMANO Yeah, well, it would’ve been accidentally for both of us.
KUDROW And then it’s, “Oh, she’s the one that wanted a gun. I see that in the flashback.” That’s just episode two, right? So it’s her fault because she got the gun. I mean, it’s nothing but guilt, but how much? It’s all reasonable amounts of guilt. Anyway, Liz said, “No, you didn’t [kill him].” And I said, “Okay, and my next question is [about] the lights flickering. Please tell me that’s Jacob, and you’re not going to explain it with something else that’s just faulty wiring.” And she said, “No, I do believe that stuff.” And I was like, “Good, so do I.”
Somehow, despite working on the same lot for seven years, you had never crossed paths before, but you quickly realized that you shared a lot in common. Besides being Emmy-winning stars from two of the biggest sitcoms of all time, what exactly did you find you had in common both personally and professionally, and how did that inform your collaboration on this show?
ROMANO Lisa has such a unique way with comedy. I like to think my wheelhouse is underplaying things and the throwaway and whatnot, and I think we kind of complement each other in that way. I have my style of doing it, you have yours, and it was very fun to watch it work together. As people, I think we both approach the script and the writing the same way, and we have the same questions. I think we have the same work ethic too. Everybody’s there —
KUDROW And we want to be there, too. That’s the other thing. We’re both happy to be there. We’ve made a choice to be there. Some people get grumpy about being there, and we both want to be there. The focus is on the [overall product], not ourselves, except to the healthy amount that you need to have some concern about what you’re doing and, is it fitting and how’s it going? They didn’t have playback, and we both have produced and done things, so it wasn’t [that we wanted to watch] playback for vanity or to punish ourselves. It really is to make use of the objective part of our brain to watch and see in the bigger picture: Is it working? What adjustments do I need to make?
ROMANO I know some actors don’t even want to see it. I kind of need to see playback every now and then just to convince myself that I am there, that I’m doing it.
But I tell you what was interesting was, I was never worried about anyone else being funny in a scene. When you’re in what’s labeled a comedy, you want to make sure you get your share of laughs. Never for once was I worried about not getting enough funny lines or laugh lines. I was just worried about making sure it all feels real. Because the show is labeled a dark comedy, but I feel like it’s got just as much drama as it does comedy.
KUDROW And tragedy. That was my concern going into it, knowing what our loss was. That was a level of tragedy that made me apprehensive about, what on earth is going to be light? Their son is dead. That was just something I was a little concerned about.
You share quite a few emotionally charged scenes over the course of these eight episodes, but there are two big moments that stick out as turning points in Paul and Lydia’s relationship: their big fight in episode seven, and their reconciliation scene in Jacob’s room in episode eight. What did you want to convey in those key moments, and how do you think those scenes are indicative of the evolution of their relationship?
ROMANO The first scene was both of us unloading. There are two very different things going on. In the first scene, I wanted to get out how he’s been hurt these last three years, so there was anger. But I didn’t want it to be just pure anger. I was trying to show that there was a deep hurt, which is where it was coming from, and I don’t know if I got it. I thought I did.
KUDROW You got it! (Laughs)
ROMANO That was a tough scene for me. But I remember talking to Liz after that night or the next night and calling her and saying, “I don’t know if I was getting what I was trying for,” and I was just an insecure actor who she had to convince me that it was there. (To Kudrow) I knew you were there. I was playing off of you, and I was so wanting to keep up with you.
KUDROW Wow, that’s nice.
ROMANO That was a boiling point for everything that we were going through.
KUDROW For me, that scene felt more like it was really important for Paul to finally let it out and just express it.
ROMANO He was not blaming you, but suppressing the feeling of the gun being in the house.
KUDROW We both have been so mad at each other, so mad, and Lydia didn’t know what was going on. She didn’t know that [Jacob] had stolen [from other houses]. It felt like he was in trouble, but she didn’t really know why. Is it because Margo fired him, so he felt bad about himself, and his dad is too hard on him? I think that’s a common thing for mothers watching their husband, the father, and son go at it, which is what fathers and sons do.
ROMANO And not to get too dark or serious, but families that go through something like this, a lot of them don’t make it.
KUDROW The secret is killing them and binding them, keeping them together, which is a crazy dynamic. But I think you understand. I mean, you tell me — you watched it. I just bought in because I was playing the person and justifying why everything’s happening. But there’s no one to talk to about it. She can’t get therapy. She can’t talk to a friend. And [Paul] won’t talk.
ROMANO That’s the crazy thing about that situation is that we had to hide everything. So you’re right — there was no outlet for it.
And what about the second scene? I thought it was sweet that Lydia catches Paul talking to the light in Jacob’s room, after he had spent so much of the season refusing to believe any signs that their son’s spirit was still in their house.
ROMANO I was happy with that scene, too. I was happy to see that this guy hides it well but he’s hurt underneath, just like Lydia. Just like the angry scene was important to express, this was just as important, and I think it was important for the audience to see what this couple had at one time at least. It was tricky because I don’t know how much my character believes that he’s talking to his son, but at that point, I think he is reaching for something; he wants somebody to connect to.
KUDROW In my mind, it felt like Paul was surrendering finally: “Okay, you think he’s here in the room? All right, let’s see. I give up. I don’t know what else to do.”
[While shooting that scene] I was standing outside the door and I could hear him in there before I entered. The sound guy was near me, and I could hear it, and I was tearing up just listening to him and knowing what’s happening. I could tear up right now. There’s something about someone who’s been protecting themselves so much, and then finally surrendering again like that and being so vulnerable. That is really touching. Duh! I just say things that are obvious, but yeah, it was nice. But Lydia wasn’t fully there yet, so I had to then put that away and then enter the room. She’s still a little mad.
ROMANO Right! And she just catches the tail end of it too.
Now that Lydia and Paul have sold their house, have you spoken with Liz about what a second season of this show could look like? Have you given much thought to where these characters could go next?
ROMANO We haven’t spoken about that aspect of it. We’ve discussed whether or not there’s a possibility of at least the network wanting it. Will the network green light it and want it?
KUDROW Whatever she has, you mean, for the next season?
ROMANO Yeah. There were a couple wrinkles left at the end with the other couples. But when the time comes, if she has something for us, I’m ready to go.
KUDROW Yeah, me too.
Lisa, you admitted that you watched Everybody Loves Raymond for the first time during the pandemic and have since watched it three times, and Ray remarked that you would often quote lines from that show on the set of No Good Deed. What would you quote or reference back to Ray?
ROMANO Well, I know what her favorite episode is: “The Sneeze.”
KUDROW “The Sneeze”! Well, that opening made me laugh out loud over and over and over again. I just would pull it up on YouTube and show it to my son, and he laughed out loud. It’s like, okay, they’re in the bathroom, and the guy sneezes right in your face — and the look on your face, you were so hurt. You weren’t just disgusted and mad. You were so injured. Your feelings were hurt by it. (Laughs)
ROMANO Because I also knew this is going to cause a ripple effect for the next couple days. I knew what I was in for — my character did.
On the flip side, Ray, do you have a favorite Friends episode?
KUDROW (Deadpans) Did you ever see it?
ROMANO I did see it. I saw it many times. (Kudrow laughs.)
As far as Lisa, of course, everyone knows the “Smelly Cat.” What I loved about Friends was … there is no weak link in there. Normally, when you watch a show that has an ensemble like that, you have a favorite. You have a thing where, “Oh, that guy’s funny, but the other two, three characters are funnier.” Every one of them, I was ready to watch and laugh at what they were going to do. I never felt like, “Oh, let’s just get through this storyline so we can get to the other funny guys.” I just felt you had just an all-star team, and you all had different styles. The writers were great, but you guys also finessed everything perfectly.
I do remember one line that [David] Schwimmer said when you were looking at photos — I forget the episode — and you said, “Is that Monica?” And Schwimmer went, “No, I was trying something.” (They both laugh.)
You were also rose to fame before the dawn of social media, so the attention you received felt particularly concentrated. How would you describe your experience of fame and losing your anonymity in the ’90s? What sticks out to you from that period of your life, and how did you navigate it?
ROMANO Well, Lisa’s was much more magnified than mine. I know that.
KUDROW Really?
ROMANO Yes, of course! You were the Beatles, and we were Alvin and the Chipmunks.
KUDROW (Shakes her head and laughs.) That’s not true! There were six of us going through it at the same time, so we were wondering, how on earth does someone go through this alone? Because it’s a lot.
ROMANO That’s what the Beatles thought of Elvis Presley. The Beatles did say that. They said, “We had each other, and Elvis just had himself.” So you’re the Beatles, but I am not Elvis. In no way am I Elvis. I’m more like, oh God, I can’t even think [of a comparison] —
KUDROW Peter Sellers? (Laughs) I mean, I don’t know what you’re saying. You’re Ray Romano. Everyone knows your name, for sure.
ROMANO I don’t want to say I’m like you, but it’s a weird thing. It’s a double thing. You do think that you’ve made it, and you also think you’re good and you think you’re horrible. I said this line before: Before I was famous, I thought my cab driver hated me. And now, I think my limo driver hates me. The insecurity and the self-doubt is still there, so it didn’t affect me that way, really, and I had my family, and I didn’t go through a crazy [experience where] I had to adapt to this crazy lifestyle.
KUDROW But I didn’t really either, to be honest, out of the six of us. I got married early on to someone who was not an actor or in this business at all. And I think there’s a lot then, as [is the case] now, there’s a lot more attention on the single people and, who are you dating now? And, oh, look at that. That’s a famous couple. So I didn’t have that white-hot focus, and it was fine.
ROMANO Right, you didn’t have the same as Jennifer Aniston and Brad [Pitt] —
KUDROW And Courteney [Cox] and the guys [Schwimmer, Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc]. It was always following them around like, “Who are you with?”
ROMANO I wasn’t in the tabloids. I was in the tabloids once, and they said I was rushed to a hospital with a peanut allergy. I’m not kidding! (Laughs)
KUDROW But I remember the first time. We were friends with the ER cast, and so they would come over and hang out, and George Clooney would come over and hang out. This was before Batman, before our shows were hits. [It was] the first season, and they were doing well. And he came over with a tabloid and said, “Look! They think we’re dating! We’re in a tabloid!”
ROMANO That’s funny! It was great for him. You weren’t married yet, right?
KUDROW Right. I don’t remember which one, but he was so excited. And I went, “Oh, no!” And he said, “No, it’s great.” (Laughs) I said, “No, but I have a boyfriend!”
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No Good Deed is now streaming on Netflix.
English (US) ·