‘Servant’s Lauren Ambrose and Nell Tiger Free Tease the Big Changes in Store for Season 2

Television’s creepiest show about parenthood is finally back. This week marks the Season 2 premiere of Servant, M. Night Shyamalan and Tony Basgallop’s thriller that tests the limits of every parent’s worst fears. And as cast-members Lauren Ambrose and Nell Tiger Free teased to Decider, this season is set to be more ambitious, crazy-making, and horrifying than ever before.

Servant centers around the lives of Dorothy (Ambrose) and Sean Turner (Toby Kebbell), a married couple who tragically loses their son as an infant. To help her cope with the loss, Sean buys his wife a reborn doll. But when Dorothy hires a nanny to help her take care of the doll, their coping mechanism becomes a living and breathing baby boy. Last season ended with Leanne fleeing from the Turners and taking her maybe-living, maybe-fake baby with her. The resulting trauma turns this already struggling family completely upside down. Ambrose and Free spoke to Decider about what it was like playing their characters in a different light, while teasing the stunts they had to tackle this season, as well as Leanne’s true identity.

As we see toward the end of Servant Season 1, Leanne stealing the baby Jericho changes Dorothy’s relationship with her husband, Sean. Throughout Season 1 they two constantly butted heads as a delusional wife and a desperate husband trying not to commit a crime. But in Season 2 the pair is more aligned.

“We were a little more together in our pursuit of getting their child back,” Ambrose said. “Of course underneath their relationship is, well love, but this whole web of lies and deception, overall. So that’s there. And then Dorothy takes this incredibly dark turn, which she’s sort of being deceptive about and hiding.”

That dark turn changes the entire course of Season 2. Last season Dorothy was primarily a sympathetic mother whose mistakes could be chalked up to grief. It was revealed that though the original baby Jericho died partially by her hand, her neglect was likely a symptom of postpartum depression. But thanks to Season 2’s pursuit of finding this new Jericho, Dorothy goes full thriller.

According to Ambrose, Dorothy goes from someone, “so traumatized that she can’t even look at this tragedy into somebody who doesn’t like the way everyone else is treating her anymore. She’s had enough, and she’s going to take control. She’s pissed, and absolute rage comes out of this person. Her wants are driven by her maternal need.”

“I always feel like this character is a Joan Crawford character,” Ambrose revealed, “between the clothes, the makeup, the masks that she wears in general, vocal inspiration.”

Conversely, Servant‘s big villain from last season is given a more sympathetic makeover. “Honestly, her character went where I was hoping she would go. All the things happen I was kind of hoping would happen and some unexpected things,” Free said of Leanne’s transformation. Though she doesn’t appear until later in the season, when she does Leanne undoubtedly becomes the emotional center of this installment. “I’m just really excited for people who were a fan of Season 1 to see Season 2 and to see this character they’ve gotten to know kind of pull a bit of a 180 towards the end of the season, without giving anything away.”

Much of Leanne’s change has to with her relationship with Dorothy. “I think Leanne definitely sees Dororthy as a kind of maternal figure,” Free explained. “So when Dorothy fucks up, and she makes a mistake, it’s like this crack in this perfect veneer that Leanne created for Dorothy. She’s created this perfect image of this woman. Seeing that deteriorate, it drives Leanne nuts because she’s put all her faith into this thing. So, yeah, it’s really interesting to see that shift. You definitely see it towards the end of Season 1. But Season 2, their relationship is so different from beginning to end.”

Another big difference between these seasons is the increased physicality of Season 2. Whereas most of the fighting last season happened verbally or through long looks, both actors have their own list of stunts. “I had an amazing stunt double who did the more precarious things for me,” Free said. “So for the harder stuff they did it. But a lot of the tousling and the other stuff, that was yours truly.”

Ambrose’s stunts came with an extra challenge. A couple of her more physical scenes take place during flashbacks, which meant she had a fake pregnancy stomach to worry about. “It was great. These things are always this door to, really for me as a human, marvel at other people’s artistry, marvel at the ability to make the baby belly itself and how they did those various effects,” Ambrose said.

Though these scenes didn’t give her much trouble, she did admit they made her nervous. “I don’t want it to be exploitative, this pain and agony that this character is constantly put through. She basically experiences every single horror that a mother could imagine,” Ambrose explained. “Thriller though as a genre, I think I’ve come to realize through [M. Night Shyamalan’s] leadership and direction, that it’s a way of processing these big things in life. Through the genre you kind of get to explore what is the terror of parenthood in general when you find out you’re having a baby or you’re given this opportunity, even just how vulnerable we are in life. Or what is a marriage and can you trust your partner? We can explore these big ideas through genre. That’s what makes it interesting to me. So as I’m strapping on the fake baby belly I’m like, ‘Oh dear, what story are we telling here? Is this going to upset people?’ But on the other hand it’s an opportunity to think about — I’m a mother too, and I’m grateful to be able to bring the richness that gives my life into this role and this work.”

As for the big question at the center of Servant, it still remains unanswered. It’s unknown if the mysterious Leanne is actually supernatural or if she’s just a regular girl and part of a cult. When asked if she thought Leanne was supernatural or not, the actor behind her emphasized focusing on both sides of the character.

“I’m cautious of giving my true, honest opinion on it … I don’t want to sway people’s opinion. If it comes from me, who plays her, it’s pretty hard to dispel that,” Free explained. “I know in my heart what I think she is. But I think she’s definitely a mix of both. Whichever one is more domineering than the other, if she’s supernatural or not, she’s still a young woman who got mixed up in a cult. We do learn that as the season goes on.”

Season 2 of Servant premieres on Apple TV+ Friday, January 15 at 3/2c a.m. New episodes air weekly on Fridays.

Watch Servant on Apple TV+