Removed (for now, at least) from Coop's secret life of crime is Mel (Amanda Peet), Coop's ex-wife, who he remains close to and comfortable with. Though she might not be involved in Ashe's schemes, Mel's life is anything but simple. She's searching for meaning after being fired from her therapist job following her public fight with Sam, is repeatedly shut out by her daughter Tori (Isabel Gravitt), who refuses her college advice, and is struggling through every symptom of perimenopause. Oh yeah, she also just got very drunk at a Seder, and her new neighbors hate her. She could really use the comfort of her former friend Sam, which she finally gets in an explosive Episode 5.
During this interview with Collider, Amanda Peet breaks down Mel's complicated life in Season 2, reveals the surprising request she always has for creator Jonathan Tropper, and teases what she thinks is in store for Mel in Season 3.
COLLIDER: A couple of years ago you were part of my first ever junket, and you were so wonderful and I can't tell you how much that means to me.
AMANDA PEET: Oh, thank you so much.
There's so much I want to talk to you about with Mel, especially Episode 5. I want to jump there.
PEET: Wait, which one's Episode 5?
I'll tell you. [Laughs] Mel has a big fight with Sam, who she's been avoiding in Nick's gym. You really let loose. You call her a narcissistic sociopath. It's a really fun scene to watch, and I'm just curious, was filming that scene with Olivia [Munn] as much of a release for you as a performer as it was for Mel?
PEET: It was so fun and in particular, I'm always begging Jonathan Tropper to write me a pratfall in every scene. I'm like, "Come on. It's been like two episodes now since I've fallen over something," so he is always fending me off. But I really love that he put that in this really dramatic scene.
Amanda Peet's Mel Is Going Through the Biggest Changes in 'Your Friends & Neighbors' Season 2
It really does take you out in the best way because she's crying and screaming, and then she just falls. But it's good because it kind of makes her realize maybe she does need Sam, even though she doesn't want to admit it. The theme this season is that Mel is really just losing control of everything, which I'm sure must be fun to play as an actor. Do you think Mel is really mad at Tori for turning down Princeton or is she more so mad that she can't control something that she thought she could control so well?
PEET: I think it's probably both. It's probably a really messy tangle of issues that, in fact, for most people, when they get obsessive about where their child is going to go to college, it probably has less to do with the child's journey and more to do with whatever the parent is sorting out by being so single-minded. That's what I thought when I read it is that she's just kind of…, it's like the intersection of menopause, to some extent, you're losing your looks, your children are leaving the nest, you're a divorcee, you lost your job. So you get to this point where it's kind of like, what is my purpose? What am I doing here? What is the meaning of this nothingness? And I think that's really fun — the way Jonathan made that into her arc — I think is really fun.
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You go through so many different emotions in this season. A lot of it, I noticed, are scenes you have to do by yourself. Sometimes you don't have a scene partner. How is it to act without a scene partner in some of these big emotional moments?
PEET: I like a scene partner. I would say generally I love having a scene partner, but it's also okay to act with a pile of poop, as long as it's fake poop.
That can count as a scene partner. I have to wrap up but what can you tease about Season 3? Anything?
PEET: I don't know anything! Did you talk to Tropper? I feel like Mel is going to start to maybe get some inklings that something with Coop is not as it appears. Better late than never.
New episodes of Your Friends & Neighbors premiere Fridays on Apple TV.
Release Date
April 11, 2025
Network
Apple TV
English (US) ·