Difficult People first look: Vanessa Williams guest-stars in season 3
A version of this story appears in Entertainment Weekly’s Summer TV Preview issue, on stands Friday and available here. Don’t forget to subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.
It’s finally time to meet Matthew’s ex-wife on Difficult People!
EW has your exclusive first look at Vanessa Williams in season 3 of Hulu’s comedy. The actress guest-stars as Trish, the woman Matthew (Cole Escola) once called wife. As fans of the salty series know, Matthew only recently came out as gay, and in season 2’s “Italian Piñata,” we found out that he used to be married and occasionally still thinks about his ex.
“It just seemed very obvious that Matthew would be married to Vanessa Williams,” series creator and star Julie Klausner tells EW. “We love her and we wanted Trish to be someone who was completely gorgeous and someone [who] had like a really, really big heart, and we wanted somebody who would have great chemistry with Cole, which the two of them completely had.”
RELATED: EW’s 25 Best TV Shows in 25 Years
Hailing from Matthew’s hometown, Trish is an innocent balloon artist who ventures to New York to win him back, because she’s still madly in love with him even after he’s come out. According to Escola, their reunion gets pretty messy.
“There was not a lot of talking and we had to be very intimate very quickly,” says Escola, teasing his scenes with Williams. “We do a lot of really crazy physical stuff and she was so game for it.”
He jokes: “Three days later, I was still trying to wash the smell off me.”
RELATED: The True Cost of Famous TV Apartments
This season’s other guest stars include Susan Lucci, Victor Garber, and John Cho as Billy’s (Billy Eichner) new boyfriend.
Difficult People returns Aug. 8 on Hulu.
