Helen Villigan from HELL YEAH! (exclusive)

What first attracted you to this project?

Billy Crystal [Laughs]. I’ve always wanted to work with Billy, but also the ideas that come to light in this story are something that I’ve always been curious about and interested in exploring more and learning more about those ideas. Is this life the only life we ​​have? Is there an after? Is there a before? I think through this psychological thriller you start to understand, “Oh, wait a minute, I want to explore these things.” I’m curious about these things, so those were some parts of it.

I don’t want to give away too much about Lynn, but we saw in the trailers that you play this ghostly character. What was it like taking on such a role?

You play it like you’re playing a living person! I mean, she doesn’t know she’s a ghost. She doesn’t know that she isn’t…she’s present. She’s right there. The ideas she puts forward [and] the movement she brings and calls to Eli, the love of her life, her soulmate, reminding him and opening him to something he isn’t open to. He’s Mr. Science, Mr. Facts, that’s what it is and that’s all, but she brings out something that I think is really important and impactful in the show. It’s their romantic relationship and the soulmate nature of their relationship that has to be there for you to believe the other component of what he’s going through.

Most of her scenes are with Eli and you two have such an interesting dynamic. What did you enjoy about working with Billy to explore the relationship between these characters?

Well, we’ve known each other for a while and are friends. It was just…you know, it’s like that thing where you know you’re going out to dinner with a friend that you really love and you haven’t seen in a while. Or you can go on a trip with someone you simply love and whose company you value. That’s how it was. I really miss working with him and being with him more now. It was such a feeling. You know that feeling, right? It’s like, “Oh my God, I can’t wait to do this with you,” and that was the feeling. It had to be. You had to recognize that connection, otherwise the ending won’t be as important as it is.

The way it builds over the course of the series will really surprise people.

I think so too.

That contrast between the supernatural and mental illness… there are so many ways to interpret this show, but what attracted you as an actor to tackling it?

We’ve never seen anything like this before. You’ve never seen a show or story like this before. There was a movie years ago, and I think it was an Argentinian movie, “Don’t Die Until You Tell Me Where You’re Going.” I remember being stunned, moved and really amazed by that movie. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve never seen anything like this on TV, where there are storylines like this that you can really talk about. What I find so compelling about it is that I’ve always been open to talking about it and understanding or trying to understand what else there might be. If we are energy, where does this energy come from? And where did this energy go? How does it transform? What does it all mean?

Of course, these are questions that people have been asking for ages, but in our culture we tend not to talk about them enough. This is the case in other religions and in other countries. Older religions like the Hindu religion are about the course of life and different lives. In the Kabbalah I studied they talk about astrology, numerology and past lives. What does it matter to us? What does that mean? Why don’t we even have these conversations and dialogues with each other? The excitement of that is a big part of this show for me. And kudos to Apple TV+ for coming on air to make dialogue like this possible.

Another series that many of our readers will know you from is Kite-Man: Hell yeah! as Helen Villigan. She’s such a funny character. What did you enjoy about exploring the DC Universe?

Yes! I loved it. I loved it. It’s so funny that you mention it because no one has actually interviewed me about it. Nobody talked to me about it! The group I did it with was simply remarkable. I had so much fun that when I got to play this character I thought, “This is the most delicious fun.” And of course she’s completely slippery, has a terrible mouth and she’s just a really terrible person, and I absolutely loved playing her. I hope we can do more. I was thinking about it the other day and I thought, “I haven’t heard from these guys in a while.” I want to do it again. Let’s go back to the studio and do some of this stuff.” The writing is so great. It’s really delicious.

Before the premiere with the first two episodes on Friday, October 25th.