The Diplomat Stars Ali Ahn & David Gyasi Break Down “The Cost Of Doing Business” In Season 2

Off the heels of Netflix’s extreme success with the political thriller, The Diplomat season 2 picks up directly after the events of the season 1 finale. Keri Russell plays Kate Wyler, the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, whose husband and fellow diplomat Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell) nearly lost his life in a car bombing. Now the couple, whose relationship has been on the rocks for some time, must stand united as the U.S. government works to uncover the forces pulling the strings behind the recent aircraft carrier bombing.

While British Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear) instigated the aircraft incident, Kate suspects a larger conspiracy at work in The Diplomat season 2, and her team deals with the consequences while handling the arrival of U.S. Vice President Grace Penn (Allison Janney). Her closest collaborators include CIA chief Eidra Park (Ali Ahn), whose romance with Kate’s deputy chief of mission encountered its own troubles last season, and British foreign secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi), with whom Kate shares a certain degree of camaraderie.

Screen Rant interviewed Ahn and Gyasi about Eidra Park and Austin Dennison’s respective character arcs in The Diplomat season 2. Ahn explained where Eidra and Stuart’s relationship stands in the premiere, while Gyasi teases the blockade that stands between Dennison and Kate, and both shared their take on “the cost of doing business.”

Certain Romances Take A Back Seat In The Diplomat Season 2

“I think the technical term is blue balls.”

Screen Rant: This show is incredible. Ali, Edra and Stuart’s relationship is probably one of the most complicated on the show. How have the events of last season shaped their dynamic this season?

Ali Ahn: Well, I think there’s a real push-pull because, on the one hand, Edra was ready to be totally done with Stuart at the end of season 1. But the explosion and the vulnerability, that’s the reality of what they do, and I think makes it a little trickier. She’s having a harder time compartmentalizing those feelings.

Screen Rant: David, Kate and Dennison’s relationship probably shifts the most. How would you describe their ever-shifting dynamic in season 2?

David Gyasi: Well, it’s interesting. Between that relationship Stuart and Eidra’s, there are different stages of relationship. There’s Rufus [who plays Hal], and then me and Keri… Look, the world that they’re in explodes, literally, and everything changes. They have to kind of not focus on that. But there’s something about not focusing on it and not dealing with it. It doesn’t mean it goes away.

Ali Ahn: I think the technical term is “blue balls.” [David laughs] I think that’s the relationship phase they are in: blue balls.

Screen Rant: Meg Roylin turns things upside down this season, and she’s one of the more slippery characters on this show. Can you tease your character’s involvement with her?

Ali Ahn: Eidra is really watching Roylin, and I think that what’s so exciting about working with someone like Celia. She’s such a legend, and I think Eidra respects Roylin because she sees that this woman is smart and a real challenge. But I think she knows that she’s got to bring her A-game because Roylin is not an easy target. She’s a pro, which kind of matches how I felt about Celia in real life.

Although, Celia in real life is also just so deliciously warm and funny and very different from the stern Roylin that you see on screen. She’s really so naughty. It’s lovely.

Ali Ahn & David Gyasi Explain What “The Cost Of Doing Business” Means For Eidra & Dennison

“I think that list gets longer… in order to survive and stay just in the mix.”

Screen Rant: One of the big themes this season is “the cost of doing business.” What does that mean, and how does that apply to your characters?

David Gyasi: I think the cost is silencing what’s going on underneath for him; his soul and his desires and his yearnings — you could argue his life. I think what’s going on costs him a lot in that sense.

Ali Ahn: I think the same. Personal relationships take a backseat, and I also think there are probably actual lives that sometimes you have to decide you’re willing to [let be] expendable for the greater good.

Screen Rant: Speaking of that, what personal sacrifices do Eidra and Dennison have to make for the greater good this season?

Ali Ahn: Eidra doesn’t trust Hal, but Kate is vetting her husband, and so she has no choice but to collaborate with him. I think there are a lot of things that she would not do, but she has to trust Kate. I think that friendship and that alliance is taking precedence over other things that Eidra would prefer.

David Gyasi: Obviously, the Kate-Dennison relationship is one, right? We’re not going to go there. But then there’s also this interesting thing around his integrity and who he is as a person, in terms of his relationship with Trowbridge and the politics around that.

Because I think when you are in that environment, especially as a person of color in that environment, there’s stuff that you might have to let slide. And I think that list gets longer — personal attacks, but also morality and policy and things like that — in order to survive and stay just in the mix.

More About The Diplomat Season 2

A deadly explosion in the heart of London shatters US Ambassador Kate Wyler’s world (Keri Russell). Struggling to rebuild the lives that broke and the team that split apart, Kate’s worst fears unfold: The attack that brought her to the UK didn’t come from a rival nation, it came from inside the British government. As Kate chases the truth, her only real ally is her almost-ex-husband Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell), very much alive, and very much involved. She faces a fraught marriage, a complex dynamic with British Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi), and a threatening visit from Vice President Grace Penn (Allison Janney).

Check back soon for our other The Diplomat interviews here:

• Keri Russell & Rufus Sewell

The Diplomat

season 2 begins streaming October 31 on Netflix.

Source: Screen Rant Plus