Kaley Cuoco has come a long way since her role as Penny, the hot girl next door in hit sitcom The Big Bang Theory. Spanning 12 seasons between 2007 and 2019, The Big Bang Theory was a successful comedy for a whole bunch of reasons. Besides its intellectually stimulating and subtle humour, fans can't deny the fact that Penny's character was one of the most important ingredients that kept the show rolling for over a decade. However, now that the show has ended, Cuoco did not miss a beat to drop a brand new show with a bang of her own.
The Flight Attendant is a rollercoaster thriller about a flight attendant whose life turns upside down when she becomes involved with a horrific murder case in Thailand. Developed by Steve Yockey and with Cuoco as executive producer, The Flight Attendant is an eight-episode limited series. Three of the show's episodes recently premiered on HBO GO and the next two new episodes will be released tomorrow with the finale on Dec 17.
The miniseries is based on the novel of the same name by Chris Bohjalian and stars Michiel Huisman, Rosie Perez, Zosia Mamet and Michelle Gomez. Cuoco herself plays a wild, party-hard air hostess named Cassie Bowden whose plane makes a stop in Thailand. During the flight, she meets a handsome man and the two decide to spend time together in Bangkok. After another all-night party with lots of booze, she wakes up in shock as her latest hook-up is lying next to her on the bed -- a bloody corpse with his throat cut. With no memory of what happened the night before, Cassie flees the scene as she attempts to figure out what happened during her black-out haze in order to clear her name. What unfolds is an engaging mystery thriller mixed with some dark humour to keep viewers binge-watching through the holiday season.
Life recently had the opportunity to join a group interview via Zoom with Cuoco as she talked about her experience of making The Flight Attendant as well as her duty as the show's producer.
What appealed to you about this new project and were you wanting to do something different from what you did with The Big Bang Theory?
Kaley Cuoco and Michiel Huisman in The Flight Attendant.
I've been asked that a lot. After wrapping The Big Bang Theory, I didn't have any goals or like felt the need to get away from this and find the most opposite project. I knew the right thing would come by itself but I didn't know what it was. It may have been another comedy but I was not sure. However, when I actually read the book three years ago [The Flight Attendant], I immediately thought this would make for good TV and what a great character I'd be able to sink my teeth into. So, it was really kind of that simple and three years later we got this thing made and I'm still in shock, but it just felt like the right move at the right time.
You played a friendly, nerdy girl in The Big Bang Theory and now you play Cassie, an alcoholic who's sort of like self-destructive in a way. Was there any challenge?
I think the challenge was how to play a functioning alcoholic, to be honest. Yes, the character is fun and likes to party but this is someone who drinks all day, every day. I don't know if you've ever known anyone like that but I knew a functioning alcoholic who had fulfilling careers, and even functioning families. So, trying to play someone who's just constantly at a different level than me without getting obnoxious was something new. I couldn't play someone who just drinks the whole time, so I had to find a level that was a little manic but also realistic. Those were the moments that needed to be super believable for me.
Apart from acting, what was it like taking part as a producer for the new show?
It definitely helped. Being part of the process from the beginning was an unbelievable experience. As an actor, I do my job and see the product in six months or a year later and think how great it is. However, all that time in between is where the magic happens with all the editing, the production and putting stuff together which is really where the hard work is. Therefore, I have a deep appreciation for everything that goes on from the wrap-up stage to on-air and it is great to be able to have an opinion and play this character as to how I wanted it to be. I had a vision for it and I had a team that helped me bring that to life, so that was really important to me.
The mood and tone of The Flight Attendant is a mix between mystery and thriller. However, at the same time, the show still maintains its comedic element. So, as a producer, did you find it difficult to maintain these elements together in one show?
You would think me choosing my first project post-Big Bang Theory, I would have chosen something with a clearer tone but I decided to find one that was all over the place. As an actor, knowing the behind-the-scenes and how difficult the tone was to achieve, it definitely made me rethink a lot of how I was doing things. Because we were so unsure a lot of the time about how we were going to edit, I would give five different reads and each scene would be filmed in at least 10 different ways. So, by the time we got to editing, we would mix and match because the tone is so not clear and we're all over the place. I wanted to make sure we had a bunch of options, but yes, it was not an easy task.
A street scene in Bangkok.
What kind of projects draw you in or gain your attention? Are you looking into new projects already after The Flight Attendant?
I don't chase certain things. I usually go by my gut and by my feelings when it comes to choosing a project to work on. We have a lot of projects in our company [Norman Productions] that I'm working on behind the scenes. I find that it's going to be a big deal for my future. I want to take over the producing world and tell stories that people haven't told, especially allowing women to bring their voices to the forefront. It's important that we represent these awesome and complicated women with true issues. That's kind of what our company is about and it actually started with The Flight Attendant. This obviously isn't based on a real woman but these are the type of stories I want to bring to television.
As the first episode of The Flight Attendant was shot in Bangkok, can you share your experience of working in the city? Is it true that you got to celebrate a birthday party in Bangkok?
Yeah, we shot the first episode in Bangkok and it was great. I mean the fact that we even got to go there before Covid-19 was a miracle. We shot in the night markets and it was such a beautiful backdrop. We also went to the river and it was amazing as well. We were shooting a scene on Nov 29 at 11.30pm at the top of a hotel in Bangkok with this amazing background. I actually turned 34 on camera with an unbelievable backdrop. That also happened to be the night we wrapped up filming and I flew home the next day. However, after wrapping up, there was a big party for me on the rooftop and they brought up a cake. It will be the most memorable birthday I've ever had so far.
Have you ever had any bad experience while travelling on an airplane?
Well, I travel a lot and the one story -- it's not exactly a bad experience -- that comes to mind is when I was on a flight and was watching a movie and not focusing on what was going. I was not really involved and this flight attendant came up and thought it would be very funny to knock on the wall above my head really loudly and say, 'Knock knock, Penny! Knock knock, Penny!', and I jumped like 10 feet in the air. She was like, 'Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I've always wanted to do that. I love The Big Bang Theory'. I thought the plane was going down and she felt bad and so did I. I guarantee she's never knocked at anybody ever again on a flight.
Zosia Mamet as Annie Mouradian. (Photo: PHIL CARUSO@2019)
Rosie Perez as Megan Briscoe. (Photo: PHIL CARUSO@2019)
