When Rivals returns for its second season on Friday, May 15, with the first three episodes, one of the characters will look very different. Between seasons, the role of Rupert’s (Alex Hassell) ex-wife and the mother of his two children, Helen, was recast. Anastasia Griffith played the part in Season 1, briefly, but for Season 2, Hayley Atwell is taking over. Rupert Everett has also joined the cast as Helen’s husband, Malise, who’s also Rupert’s former show-jumping coach and mentor.
So, why the recast?
“Hayley wanted to join the show,” executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins tells TV Insider. “We wanted to look at that character and make more of her and use her to dig more into Rupert’s past.”
Adds fellow EP Alexander Lamb, “We loved Anastasia’s performance in Series 1, absolutely, but we felt we wanted to have someone that was more known to American audiences to be put into the show. So, Hayley, known very much for Marvel by the US, came to us and was brilliant.”
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Treadwell-Collins also raves about her performance and explains that showing more of Helen this season is allowing them to explore a different side of Rupert as well.
“[Hayley]’s absolutely wonderful. And we’ve been using her to dig more and show some unsympathetic sides to Rupert, which has been really important to us, to go back to Riders and bring out Helen and show more of this woman that he broke and show that as a slight warning to Taggie [Bella Maclean] as well,” he says.
Rivals is based on Jilly Cooper‘s Rutshire Chronicles books. Riders was the first novel in the series, and Rivals the second. Taggie is Rupert’s love interest, but while the two shared a kiss in the Season 1 finale, it’s unclear what that will mean in Season 2. After all, Rupert was still with Cameron (Nafessa Williams).
“This is the series of consequences. These men are all facing the consequence of their actions from Series 1 and the past,” Lamb teased. “Helen is a big beacon of the consequences that Rupert has done and his children.”
What are you looking forward to seeing with Helen in Season 2? Let us know in the comments section below.
Rivals, Season 2 Premiere, Friday, May 15 (three episodes), Hulu
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