Summary

Lisa Gilroy and Richard de Klerk chat with Collider’s Michael Zimmermann about Twisted Metal Season 2.

The vocal performances provided some of the toughest challenges during production.

The pair had to endure “the most vulnerable thing you can do.”

With over 400 million minutes viewed in the weekend following its premiere, there’s certainly no doubting the popularity of showrunner Michael Jonathan Smith’s Twisted Metal. A huge hit for Peacock, the post-apocalyptic action comedy series follows Anthony Mackie’s John Doe, a milkman with amnesia, who is tasked with traversing a desolate US wasteland to deliver a strange package. Little does he know that the journey will thrust him into enough chaos and danger to last a lifetime. A regular at the top of the streaming charts, the series boasts an impressive 81% from critics and 85% from audiences on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. With that in mind, the green light being given to a second outing surprised almost nobody, with Twisted Metal Season 2 achieving even higher heights with a 95% critics’ score at the time of writing. With just a handful of episodes left in the second season, Collider’s Michael Zimmermann had the chance to talk with two of Season 2’s newcomers, Lisa Gilroy and Richard de Klerk, who portray Vermin and Mr. Grimm, respectively. In the interview below, the duo chat about the challenges they faced heading into production, one of Season 2’s most eye-catching scenes, and go deeper into the motivations of their character, with Gilroy even dubbing it “therapy.”
The Stars Discuss the Challenges of Finding the Right Balance

“It’s almost like Rudy meets Mad Max.”

Image via Peacock, NBC Universal

COLLIDER: Heading into the established world of Season 2, what were the conversations like with Michael Jonathan Smith? Were you briefed, and what did he say? LISA GILROY: Oh, I guess because MJ is so cool with improv, and we could make things up, we just had to be careful not to say things that were too modern, because I think the apocalypse happened in, like, 2002 or 2003 or something, so all the references are older. So that was something to remember, which I love, because I’d never have updated my style or my music taste since then anyway. [Laughs] RICHARD DE KLERK: Yeah, I feel like it was just a lot of excitement. I was a huge fan of the show. I was a huge fan of what they did in Season 1. It was a lot of excitement. MJ kind of broke down what the overall arc of the season was and what it was for me, and it was just this amazing experience. This show balances comedy with heavy action so nicely. What is the most challenging thing about keeping a stunt-heavy show grounded with your performances? GILROY: [Laughs] Sorry, I laugh because I don’t think I’ve ever done a grounded performance in my life, but I think Richard can answer this question. DE KLERK: I think it’s trusting the circumstances and trusting what’s behind what’s going on. I think that that’s something that the show actually does really, really well, which is why the jokes really land, which is why the action is, like, cheerworthy. It’s like watching a sporting event. It’s almost like Rudy meets Mad Max for me. It has a ton of heart. Lisa, I would say that Vermin is somewhat grounded because she wants to just be a part of something. When Quiet and Raven were going off, she wanted to tag along. So, I think she is somewhat grounded in your performance. GILROY: Thank you, Michael. Thank you, that’s nice!
“I did a lot of cleaning that up in ADR in the edit.”

Both of your characters have unique voices in this show. What were some of the challenges when performing and using your voices? Richard, you had multiple; Lisa, you definitely had a certain lisp going on. GILROY: So I guess one of the biggest challenges was getting approached between every take and going, “Hey, ma’am, we simply can’t understand a word you’re saying.” [Laughs] I did a lot of cleaning that up in ADR in the edit, so hopefully it’s fine. It sounded great. What about you, Richard? DE KLERK: It was a challenge in the homework. When I got to set, there would be some times where we sort of shift around some of the voices and put them in different places, but it was very intuitive. It was very, very fun. Were there specific notes that, coming into the show, you knew your voices needed to have, or was it just playing around and finding what works and what doesn’t work? DE KLERK: Basically, for me, it was doing the homework to decide which voices would accomplish my goal. My goal for a lot of the show is to just fuck with people and get them. So, you know, the voices would put or help them as well as we see later. But yeah, I mean, it was a lot of homework. Lisa, did you have an idea of your voice going in, or was it something you talked about? How did you settle on it? GILROY: Well, in the audition breakdown, it said “this character,” I think it said something like, “might have a lateral lisp.” So, of course, I googled it, and it was that little critter from Ice Age. So I was like, “Oh, I can do that.” And then later, on set, talking and laughing with the writers and getting to know them, hanging out, they were like, “Oh, when we conceived of this character,” every time someone pitched a line that Vermin would say, they would kind of do it in that voice. So it became an inside joke for the writers. I was so happy to join in on it. They were like, “Oh, we know it’s stupid, but we always say it with this voice.” And I was like, “Down. I’m going to do it. Perfect.”
Lisa Gilroy and Richard de Klerk Dive Deeper Into Their Characters

“That’s a therapy question, Michael.”

I want to talk about the dance floor scene that you’re all involved in. Were some of those dance moves scripted, or were those off the cuff, because they seemed a little crazy, fun, wild, and like nothing was really choreographed? GILROY: Well, we did a dance rehearsal for the times when we’re interacting together. But I think if you ever see Vermin dancing, I don’t know, I’m not a good dancer. I did a lot of just stationary humping movements, and that’s just, of course, improvised. There is no person in charge that would ever tell someone to do that. But yeah, Rich and I had a dance rehearsal. Proper actors. What was that rehearsal like? DE KLERK: We were in the studio, and it was really fascinating because it was a bunch of gym mats, and then they had cardboard boxes around. So we had this little dance floor, and the choreographer was there, and I feel like it was a really good collaboration between the three of us. GILROY: But I was horrified. DE KLERK: Of course, it’s scary. GILROY: Very scary. Dancing is the most vulnerable thing that you could do. So, to be with a professional choreographer who is suddenly giving you moves to memorize, I’m not very good at that. Really? GILROY: Yeah, it’s hard! I’m not a dancer myself, but I thought working with a professional would help. Did it make you feel less vulnerable, or more intimidated? GILROY: It is a little intimidating because she would say stuff like, “Oh yeah, and then maybe you could go like five, six, seven, you’d add like a body roll,” and I’m like, “My body don’t roll.”

Season 2 is all about winning the tournament and getting a wish. What do you think drives both of your characters to win? GILROY: Well, I know Vermin’s goal is to exterminate humanity and have the bugs take over. What do you think is the reasoning behind that? GILROY: It’s a good question. That’s a therapy question, Michael. Do you think people just aren’t nice to her, and then she feels more associated with bugs? GILROY: Yeah, she probably identifies more with the bug of it all. You know, bugs get chased and killed and squashed, and everyone’s afraid of them without understanding them. So, Vermin probably really relates to that. And what about Mr. Grimm, Richard? DE KLERK: I feel like Grimm wants as many souls as possible. He’s been a lonely man, and the party in his head with everyone invited is just too good to pass up. It’s like a drug. Twisted Metal Season 2 continues on Peacock.

Twisted Metal

Release Date

July 27, 2023

Network

Peacock

Directors

Jude Weng, Bill Benz

Writers

Grant DeKernion, Francesca Gailes, Alyssa Forleiter, Shaun Diston, Becca Black, Alison Tafel

Franchise(s)

Twisted Metal