Mary Steenburgen is set to feel right at home in her upcoming role! On Friday, March 28, Netflix announced that the actress has been cast in the second season of A Man on the Inside.
The series stars her husband, Ted Danson, as Charles, a widowed retiree who “gets a new lease on life” when he goes undercover as a private investigator to help solve a case at a senior living facility.
According to the streaming platform, Steenburgen will portray “a former musician who plays a significant role in the case Charles is trying to solve.”
Since its premiere in November, the comedy has become a fan favorite. Danson, who was nominated for a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of Charles, told that he couldn’t resist taking on the role when it was first offered to him.
“My favorite kind of comedy has serious overtones, and in this case, it’s a very funny premise,” he said of the show, which is based on Maite Alberdi’s 2020 documentary The Mole Agent.
“There’s something inherently funny about a 76-year-old man who is a [retired] college professor, his life shut down, his daughter’s worried, so she says, ‘Get a project,’ and he happens to whimsically find a project where he becomes an undercover spy in a retirement home.”
Danson went on to explain how being a father to his daughters, Kate and Alexis, whom he shares with ex-wife Casey Coates, and Steenburgen’s children, Lilly and Charlie, helped him “recognize myself” in the character of Charles.
“My eldest daughter once said, ‘Your love is kind of hit-and-run. I know you love me, but you kind of come in and love on me and then, got to go.’
Mary SteenburgenI guess it was coming from the fear of relaxing more and more into a moment and not trying to control it,” Danson said. “How we love people and express our love sometimes gets shaded by our own insecurities or [desire] to control.”
He continued, “I’ve had to grow with that, with my kids and with Mary. I’m constantly being challenged to be more real, more present.”
Danson also noted how Charles faces similar challenges in his relationship with his daughter, Emily, played by Mary Elizabeth Ellis.
“He decides [for her],” Danson added. “I’ve done this with Mary. She often says, ‘No, you need to tell me everything and let me choose how to react to it.’
Because Charles decides to protect his daughter from this sadness and pain that he’s going through, which cuts her out completely from being able to be part of his life. It’s really beautiful storytelling. I’m so happy to be part of this.”
Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen have been married since 1995, after meeting 12 years earlier when Danson auditioned to play Steenburgen’s husband in Cross Creek.
They remained friends until 1993, when their relationship turned romantic while working together on Pontiac Moon.
This isn’t the first time the couple has worked together. Steenburgen previously appeared alongside Danson in Curb Your Enthusiasm, It Must Be Love, Gulliver’s Travels, and more. Season 1 of A Man on the Inside is available to stream on Netflix.