With COVID-19 still running the show, all of our favorite entertainment public based events we look forward to have gone virtual. The Paleyfest LA ‘Big Sky’ panel, hosted by Entertainment Weekly’s Maureen Lee Lenker, was a fun one to watch. In attendance were Executive Producers Matthew Gross and Ross Fineman, along with cast members Katheryn Winnick, Kylie Bunbury, Brian Geraghty, Jesse James Keitel, Valerie Mahaffey, John Carroll Lynch, Natalie Alyn Lind, Jade Pettyjohn, and Brooke Smith.
Here’s a list of 5 things we learned during the panel.
Kylie Bunbury gave away the ending of the ‘Big Sky’ Pilot before it aired
During the panel, the cast was asked what shocked them the most when working on Big Sky. When Kylie Bunbury answered, she was a little apprehensive because she had previously let it slip during an interview with Good Morning America, that Ryan Phillippe’s character Cody was going to be killed during the Big Sky ‘Pilot’. Now, I never saw that interview and I’m honestly glad because I didn’t want to know what was going to happen. We know it can be super difficult to keep a secret while filming shows and she’s not the first actor to let something slip during press so, we give her a pass.
She went on to say for her, the most shocking thing about filming Big Sky is all the risks that ABC is willing to take with how dark the show goes. We definitely agree on this, because Big Sky has truly given us some moments onscreen that we haven’t seen before. Executive Producer Matthew Grossman added to this by saying that they wanted every single episode of to end with a mic drop. Mission accomplished.
Jesse James Keitel used the pandemic to channel her character’s headspace
Jesse James Keitel is one of our favorites on Big Sky because she brings something so real to Jerrie. When asked if the cast had any exercises they did to help them transform and get into character, she gave a really great answer. Jesse is from New York and she said that going from New York to Vancouver to shoot Big Sky during a pandemic helped her because she channeled the real feeling of isolation she had into how Jerrie felt being kidnapped. Being away from family and friends and isolated from the world, caused a great deal of homesickness which she was able to use to express how Jerrie was feeling.
John Carroll Lynch helped keep the cast together during quarantine
John Carroll Lynch’s character Rick Legarski was not the nicest person at all and he is the complete opposite of John Carroll Lynch. The cast talked about how much they loved sharing the screen with him, but they also talked about the ways he kept them together during filming. COVID-19 caused a lot of life changes especially with filming. John would organize ZOOM game nights to get the cast together, he would check in with them, give people masks, and he even made baked goods! It was obvious listening to everyone that John is going to truly be missed now that his character is gone.
Cassie and Jenny’s bar fight was the first scene they shot together
Kylie Bunbury and Katheryn Winnick spoke about the first scene they shot for Big Sky. Turns out it was the bar fight. Both ladies agreed it was a tough scene to shoot and it took them eight hours, but they felt it was a great starting point. The reason being, they could truly work together on building Cassie and Jenny’s relationship, and make it that much more authentic.
The next season of Big Sky is going in a totally different direction
Of course we saved the best for last, because we know you’re all wondering about what’s going to happen when Big Sky returns in April. Executive producers Matthew Grossman and Ross Fineman gave us a little insight into what to expect. Because of COVID-19, the series has had to cut episodes down from 22 to 16, but they feel it works in their favor. The plan is for there to be at least seven or eight episodes three times a season which so far, seems to be working well.
When Big Sky returns, it will be three months later and Cassie and Jenny will still be haunted by the fact that they haven’t’ caught Ronald. While they’re dealing with that, they will be thrust right into the middle of an entirely new family with lots of drama. Jenny’s ex-boyfriend is going to add to that when she has to help him with some trouble he’s in. The producers promise that episode ten is going to bring us into an entirely new story filled with entirely new characters. Don’t worry though, Ronald is not going anywhere just yet.
Check out the Big Sky Paleyfest LA Panel on Verizon Media’s Yahoo Entertainment by clicking here.
Big Sky airs Tuesdays on ABC and returns April 13th.
