Kaley Cuoco and Zosia Mamet on The Flight Attendant Who Mimics Life

Sure, the HBO Max series The Flight Attendant, about an alcoholic airline employee who eventually becomes a CIA agent, is best known for its impressively outlandish story beats, but because of its cast, Season 2 hits a lot closer to home than you think.

“I’ve been through so much this year, and so much of it was real,” star Kaley Cuoco said of her Season 2 performance as titular flight attendant Cassie Bowden. Speaking to audiences at the comedy’s FYC event at the Saban Media Center in Los Angeles on Thursday night at Television Academy’s Saban Media Center, she joked that it’s even “almost a bit silly” when she’s complimented on her ability to shine on those darker ones Emotions for more of the show access dramatic scenes.

Although she didn’t specifically mention it during the panel, Cuoco alluded to her divorce from rider Karl Cook when the show was filmed from 2021 to winter 2022. The difficult reboot mirrored her character’s arc in Season 2, with Cassie being newly sober. “Sometimes it was a bit much,” she admitted, adding that she left the set after a day playing Cassie and came home “with a certain feeling.”

Channeling what she was going through in real life into her performance was new to the Emmy-nominated actress. “I didn’t plan for that to happen, that’s for sure. It kind of all happened at once, but I think it helped. It was actually very therapeutic,” Cuoco said.

Giving more insight into her process, she said, “Usually I can completely disconnect from work like I don’t bring my work home, so this time it was a little different.” Cuoco, who also serves as an executive producer on the show and even the one who adapted the novel for the first season shared that she decided it was best to be transparent with the cast and crew about their current hardships during production. “Everyone was very aware of what I was going through. It wasn’t a secret. I didn’t want to keep anything secret because it wouldn’t look right. So I got a lot of help and a lot of support. So you see a lot of Cassie on screen, but a lot of people helped put that together on a daily basis.”

Jennifer Rose Clasen/HBO Max

One of those people was co-star Zosia Mamet, who plays Cassie’s best friend Annie and has become one of Cuoco’s closest confidants off-screen. She even lived with her while filming season 2 and “saved me from myself” as Cuoco Leg It. “We really were so lucky with what Kaley said earlier about so much of her art this season of our show imitating life and being an outlet of sorts for it,” Mamet, who also attended the event, said together starring co-star Rosie Perez, The Flight Attendant showrunners Steve Yockey and Natalie Chaidez, executive producer Sarah Schechter, director/EP Silver Tree and composer Blake Neely. “We really have this extraordinary love for each other and Kaley has been going through such a tough time and I’ve been so lucky to be able to be there for her in real life during this time.”

The episode titled “Brothers & Sisters,” which aired at the event, showcased the couple’s dynamic in a scene where Annie finds Cassie after she hits a big snag in her journey to sobriety. “To me, that scene felt so lifelike that my friend was basically in pain. And when someone you love so much is in pain, they don’t need judgement. You don’t need a comment. You don’t need anything, not right now,” Mamet said.

“But in that moment, when someone really hits rock bottom, all they need is your love, and they need you as something to lean on and someone to hold them in that moment.” And it just felt so easy because I love that person so much,” the actress added, speaking for both her relationship with Cuoco and her characters’ deep friendship.

Season 2 of The Flight Attendant is now streaming on HBO Max.

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