Mare of Easttown was an unexpected television smash: a downbeat, grim murder mystery with at least one upsetting out-of-nowhere death and some of the saddest cheesesteaks ever committed to moving images. (On the other hand, it had lots of Jean Smart and Wawa.) But people loved it and once it ended, the demand for more hoagies and crazy regional accents was swift and passionate. It’s still unclear if Season 2 will happen, but apparently the show’s creator, Brad Inglesby, already has some solid directions it could head.
This comes from star Kate Winslet, who, in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly (as sussed out by IndieWire), reiterated what she’s already said: that while she adored playing Mare Sheehan, the weathered Philly burbs detective, she was a bit reluctant to return. And she wasn’t the only one.
“At the end of shooting we were like, ‘Holy hell we can never do that again. If HBO brings up the idea of a Season 2, we all just have to say absolutely not. There’s just no way we could possibly do it,’” she said. But never say never.
“And then there was talk, like, could there be? Especially when the show was getting such good responses,” she said. “Creatively, Brad has shared some very cool ideas. We will see what happens. I also have to figure out if I can do it. Can I go through it again? It did cost me a lot emotionally to be her, and I have to figure out if I can summon it all up again and do it again.”
Winslet also discussed the reactions to Mare’s unkempt vibe. “People have been enraptured about how s*itty we made Mare look,” Winslet said. “That was very important to us creatively. We wanted to keep it real, and we were strict about it… Find the t-shirt that has a line that hits at the hip at the widest part. Don’t wear a bra, she just got up out of bed. Why would she have a bra on?”
She also had a theory about why her looks received such a warm reception. “Perhaps because of COVID and how much of a struggle that has been for people globally, there was something about how Mare looks that seemed to make people validated in a way,” she postulated. “That was very, very surprising. I did not think people would be so responsive and I’m grateful in a way that we would able to do that.”
So will Winslet once again don that stringy ponytail and chow down on some TastyKake? Only time will tell. But if there is a Season 2, they definitely need to send Mare to the Mütter Museum.
