'The Gentlemen's Kaya Scodelario and Benedetta Porcaroli React to Season 2's Most Tragic Death

The Gentlemen is back for Season 2, and Guy Ritchie's sophomore season of his gangster series has turned everything up to ten. The action, the betrayals, and the drama. Season 2 picks up with Eddie (Theo James) and Susie (Kaya Scodelario) now expanding their business into Italy and trying to get Eddie a seat in the House of Lords. But despite the prosperity, things quickly take a turn for the worse when Eddie decides to betray Bobby (Ray Winstone), which ends with him waking up in a shallow grave and being beaten nearly to death.

Trying to turn over a new leaf, Eddie decides to marry Bella (Benedetta Porcaroli), a beautiful Italian countess with a godfather who is literally in the mafia, but that also ends in shambles when Bella is killed in a plane explosion right after their wedding. Collider sat down with Kaya Scodelario and Benedetta Porcaroli to discuss this wild season. Porcaroli talks about the romance between Bella and Eddie and whether it was authentic. Scodelario discusses Susie and Eddie's relationship, entering the chop (cocaine) game, and exploring deeper aspects of Susie's character in Season 3.

Kaya Scodelario Discusses Susie and Eddie's Complex Relationship

"It was never kind of meant to be a thing, and I think the natural chemistry between the characters has grown."

COLLIDER: Kaya, I just want to talk about Susie's complicated relationship with Eddie, because I think that's one thing that everybody loves watching in this show, and everyone seems to think there is more to them than what they say there is. Do you think there's anything beyond that platonic relationship that they share, and if not, what do you think it would take for them to move beyond that?

KAYA SCODELARIO: I think they don't know yet, and that's what's been kind of beautiful about the journey with them is we've allowed that space to grow organically. Like, it was never kind of meant to be a thing, and I think the natural chemistry between the characters has grown. The situations that they're in have led them to be closer, whether they like it or not.

But also, their ambitions are growing and they have very separate ambitions. They have very separate trajectories in this world, and that's what kind of is an honest representation of that, that they don't have time to be thinking about necessarily their relationship with each other, because so much else is going on. I think also, fundamentally, the fact that they come from such different worlds, there is an acceptance there that their worlds can just never meet.

My hope is that we continue to let that play out slowly and see where that ends up. But there is a love there. There is a respect there. There is a friendship there. There is a very good working relationship there. And I think trying to shoehorn in any kind of romance at this point wouldn't make sense for the journey that we're on this season.

Benedetta Porcaroli Talks Bella and Eddie's Romance in Season 2

"...she has this fear, this sixth sense that something bad is going to happen."

Speaking of romance, Benedetta, I thought Bella was such a lovely figure in Eddie's life. I think she really seemed to love him for who he was, rather than wanting to change him to be somebody else, but even on the day after her wedding, she's worried about Eddie's commitment to being authentic with her and worrying that it's all for business. Where do you think that concern comes from, and do you think she's valid in feeling that concern?

BENEDETTA PORCAROLI: I think it's pretty organic and natural to have this kind of fear because he's super involved in his business. There's so many figures around him, starting with Susie; there is a strange and ambiguous relationship between them — ambiguous in a complex sense. And many people think that they are just getting married because of the business stuff, so she has a real fear because she really loves him, I think. So, what we tried to do was make the love story the most real as possible. It is a real one, but she has this fear, this sixth sense that something bad is going to happen. And we know that we have it as women, the famous sixth sense!

I was going to say Susie wore white to her wedding, so I feel like it's not even a sixth sense.

SCODELARIO: [Laughs] That’s kind of obvious.

PORCAROLI: It’s a fact. Let’s talk about facts.

'The Gentlemen' Season 2 Calls Susie Out in a Major Way

"Morality has always been a big question in our show."

Kaya, there's a pretty devastating scene earlier in the season where Lord Hawthorne confronts Susie and tells her, “You're going to know nothing but loneliness, and you're evil, and you’re poison,” and all these things, and it really seems to get to Susie in that moment. Then, when Joe betrays her, I think that just makes everything worse. Where do you think Susie's headspace is moving into Season 3?

SCODELARIO: I think she's definitely in a very different place. I think Susie's natural reaction to things in life has always been quite defensive and quite protective and self-preservating, and I think she's now having to actually face them and acknowledge them and decide what she wants her life to be, what she values, and whether she is lonely or not.

I'm not entirely sure that she is. I think that it's just questions that are starting to come up. Morality has always been a big question in our show. Eddie starts as this everyday man, a soldier, and turns into this monster, turns into this criminal. And who is Susie outside of the criminal world? We don't really know yet. We haven't really ever got to see that, and Lord Hawthorne is probably the first person that ever calls her out on that and asks what she is without all of this stuff around her.

Susie Is Headed for Problems After Entering the Chop Game in Season 2

"She's kind of moving into a more dangerous world, but one that is truly hers from top to bottom."

It's interesting to talk about her relationship with her father and that they're working together, but she's also being commanded by him. What’s it going to take for her to move beyond that and take control of her father's business, if that's even something that she wants?

SCODELARIO: We’re exploring in Season 2 the idea that she's starting off her own side quest. She's kind of moving into a more dangerous world, but one that is truly hers from top to bottom. I think maybe her father's influence is so embedded within the marijuana trade that it would be quite difficult without an extreme act to overtake him. And so at the moment, she's exploring what can be done on her own and off her own back. But it's a journey that I'm not sure is the right one for her. I'm quite worried about her, but we'll have to wait and see.

I don't imagine she's going to turn out very well being in the world of cocaine, as her father has warned her about.

SCODELARIO: Yeah, many, many times.

I think she's gonna learn a lesson from that.

Scodelario Breaks Down Eddie's Darker Side in 'The Gentlemen' Season 2

"I think the moment that plane crashes, we've lost him."

Just wrapping up, how concerned do you think Susie is about the dark version of Eddie that he's becoming? Because I think for a moment, with Bella, you can see this world of, like, “Oh, he could have a lighter life, maybe a happier life,” but then all of that comes crashing down. Do you think her fears of him becoming a monster are founded?

SCODELARIO: I think so. I think the moment that plane crashes, we've lost him. And I think that that's something that deep down Susie knows that maybe Bobby doesn't quite understand. But I do think he definitely takes a turn into a mode that we are all unprepared for and that we tried to build and tried to shape, but now he is enjoying it almost, and that's when someone can get truly quite dangerous.

The Gentlemen Season 2 is now available to stream on Netflix.