More Delectable Details About 'Julia' Season 2! Rachel Bloom Joins the Cast
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Love and adoration for Julia Child never wanes.
It has been more than 60 years since Julia Child's revolutionary PBS television show, and her landmark French cookbook changed our lives.
Although this time has passed, the interest in Child has not waned—so much so that HBO Max quickly renewed Julia, the well-received series Inspired by Child’s extraordinary life, for season 2.
Scores of viewers were charmed by season 1, which ended May 5, 2022, and Julia season 2 promises to serve scrumptious seconds.
At its heart, the series is a portrait of a loving marriage between Julia Child (Sarah Lancashire) and her adoring husband, Paul (David Hyde Pierce), with a shifting power dynamic.
The season 1 cast included Bebe Neuwirth, Brittany Bradford, Fran Kranz, and Fiona Glascott. The guest stars included Isabella Rossellini, Judith Light, Robert Joy, Erin Neufer, Jefferson Mays, James Cromwell and Adriane Lenox.
Chris Keyser (The Society and Party of Five) served as showrunner, as well as executive producer alongside creator Daniel Goldfarb (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel).
The key to the success of the HBO Max series Julia, and fascination with Julia Child more than six decades after her groundbreaking cookbooks and PBS cooking show The French Chef, is something that Keyser and Goldfarb completely understand. It all boils down to the fact, they agree, that Julia Child tends to make people happy.
“There is something joyful about cooking, and cooking fearlessly is what Julia did and taught all of us to do,” Keyser exclusively tells Parade. “It was about saying you don’t have to be an expert; you just apply yourself with joy to something, make what you love, and then share it with the people you love.”
He adds that especially during the pandemic when we were stuck at home, “Food was something we could share and it became one of our sources of joy. Julia is the perfect show for this moment and we look forward to serving more in season 2.”
Goldfarb tells Parade that he believes the show has resonated with viewers because of Julia Child’s values, noting, “Her optimism, competency, work ethic, sense of joy; all of this truly makes her great company.”
Related: Julia Child and Her Husband Made the Sweetest Valentine's Day Cards
Another aspect of the series that Keyser finds so irresistible is the relationship between Julia and her husband Paul Child.
“At its heart, the series is a portrait of a marriage—a loving, working marriage, but one that goes through a remarkable transformation from an old-fashioned marriage to one in which Julia comes into her own and Paul, in an extraordinary, loving, and forward-thinking way understands what it means to be the man behind the scenes," Keyser said. "He is so important in the making of The French Chef and in everything they did. There’s no question that he is now the lesser-known partner who is not in the spotlight, how that tracks with the way they navigated that change and how the world begins to adjust to the way men and women in marriage and outside relate to each other is part of the beauty of the story.”
What happens in Julia season 2?
“There will be a lot of delectable recipes,” Goldfarb promises. “We will continue with Christine Tobin, our incredible food stylist. Beautiful food and the joy of cooking will always be one of the ingredients that are the recipe for the show.
Where will Julia season 2 be set?
"We are going to start the season in France, so that’s going to be a little bit different," he adds. "We’re going to get to spend some time with Julia and her friend and writing partner Simca Beck (Isabella Rossellini) on Mastering the Art of French Cooking Part Two. That’s going to add some new colors and flavors to the show, and they are going to make the second season of The French Chef."
Is there a Julia season 2 trailer?
Yes! The trailer features Julia Child doing the press rounds for Mastering the Art of French Cooking—and some of the sexism she faced during that time. We also see Child pitching the show The French Chef and the rejection she faced for her appearance. We also get a look at her and Paul's relationship evolving, as he tells her he has to get used to "sharing" Julia with the world.
Keep reading for everything you need to know about the mouth-watering Julia season 2. Bon appetit!
What else is coming up in Julia Season 2?
"While Julia and Simca are working on Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume 2, a bunch of the cast will make trips over to France, and we will meet some new people," Keyser says. "Julia is going to return to Cambridge and make the second season of The French Chef. And her fame will increase, and we will explore what that means for public television and for women, both in the workplace and in America in general.”
Related: 25 Julia Child Quotes That Are So Relatable About Food, Friends and Life
Who is in the Julia cast for season 2?
The Julia Season 2 cast includes:
Sarah Lancashire (Julia Child)
British actress Sarah Lancashire began her noteworthy four decades-long career in local theater while teaching drama classes at the University of Salford. She is best known for her roles in television programs including Coronation Street, Where the Heart Is, Clocking Off and Seeing Red. In July 2000, she signed a two-year "golden handcuffs contract" with the ITV Network, which made her the UK's highest-paid television actress.
“We started with a very long list of potential Julias,” Keyser explains to Parade, “and it became a list of one, in the sense if Sarah doesn’t want to do this, we probably can’t make this show. The person we felt could do everything was Sarah, so we hit the jackpot with her.”
David Hyde Pierce (Paul Child)
Actor and director on stage, film and television, David Hyde Pierce is best known for his role as psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on the sitcom Frasier (1993-2004), starring opposite Kelsey Grammer and winning four Emmy Awards and a Screen Actor’s Guild Award.
Related: Everything You Need To Know About the 2023 Frasier Reboot
“I didn’t know that much about Paul Child when they sent me the script for the pilot episode, but I was struck by the relationship between Paul and Julia and the connection between them was so beautiful,” Pierce tells Parade. “Then after saying yes to the series, I started to dive into Paul’s actual life and I just fell in love with him. I think he is the most complicated, interesting person and such a devoted spouse and partner to Julia. I was really taken by him.”
Related: Former Parade Food Editor Julia Child’s Skillet Chicken Supper Is Still a Favorite 40 Years Later
Bebe Neuwirth (Avis DeVoto)
Actress, singer and dancer Bebe Neuwirth is best known for her role as Dr. Lilith Sternin, Frasier Crane’s ex-wife on the sitcom Cheers and its spinoff Frasier. She garnered two Emmy Awards for this memorable role. She's also appeared in Law & Order: Trial by Jury and as Nadine in the political drama, Madam Secretary.
Julia audiences were delighted to watch Neuwirth and Hyde Pierce together again after their years together on Frasier. “Working with Bebe, as it has always been, was a hoot,” Pierce recently told Parade. “I think that she is exquisite on the show. I think she’s found a beautiful way to play this character that is multi-dimensional and very funny.”
Fiona Glascott (Judith Jones)
Irish actress Fiona Glascott is known for her work in London’s West End theater, as well as numerous films and television shows, including Ballykissangel, Fair City, The Bill and Clone. She was a guest star in the final two-part episode of ITV's hit drama A Touch of Frost and appeared in the recurring role of Diane on the BBC/Showtime sitcom Episodes.
Now, she plays Julia’s friend and book editor, Judith Jones, who saw the genius in Julia’s first cookbook and forged lifelong bonds with her, coming to help her with her new TV show and more whenever she called her.
When it comes to her character, Glascott says what initially struck her bout Judith is that a lot of people had never heard of Judith Jones.
“I read her memoirs and a lot about her,” she says, “and I could see how animated she could be and how interested she was in people. I loved listening to how she took her authors out to great restaurants in New York, because she loved food so much, and she wanted them to relax and bring out the best in them. She would do anything to make these authors feel comfortable to get to the point where they were doing their best work, and that really blew me away.”
Brittany Bradford (Alice Naman)
An actress and producer, Brittany Bradford is a rising star who is best known for her roles in Love in New York, Fear the Walking Dead and now Julia, in which she plays Julia’s Child’s friend and TV producer on the groundbreaking show, The French Chef.
“We all loved each other so much and loved working with each other, so it can only get better from here,” Bradford told Parade.
She adds that she loves exploring the many aspects of Alice. “I appreciate how resilient she is, that there’s a lot of people saying no to her over and over, and the fact she is a dreamer, which she says to Julia in the second episode, which carries her for the entire season,” Bradford says. “So it’s pretty awesome to have a character change so much and grow with her confidence and self-esteem as the piece goes on. I think she’s funny, witty, and creative. I just love her!”
Other regulars from season 1 include
Isabella Rossellini
Fran Kranz
Robert Joy
Erin Neufer
Adriane Lenox
Judith Light
Related: Judith Light: On Broadway, Transparent and Fighting Flu
Are there any new cast members for Julia Season 2?
“There will be a whole bunch of new people,” says Keyser. “When Julia and Paul go to France, we meet Simcha’s husband, Jean, and several other people in France, as well as in the United States. There will be new people at WGBH coming in who slightly change the nature of the work environment.”
Rachel Bloom
Rachel Bloom will appear in a recurring role as Elaine Levitch on season 2 of Julia. Her character is described as “a dynamo who comes to WGBH by way of CBS to work with Julia on The French Chef.”
Who is on the creative team behind Julia?
Chris Keyser and Daniel Goldfarb, are Julia’s executive producers. Todd Schulkin is a consulting producer on behalf of The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts.
When will filming start for Julia Season 2?
Filming for season 2 began in July 2022.
Related: What Was Julia Child’s Last Meal? Last Suppers Reveals Departed Celebrities’ Final Meals
When does Julia Season 2 premiere?
While Keyser does not have an exact air date for season 2, he says that the desire of HBO Max is that the new season would run “roughly on the same cycle as the first season. So, I can’t promise, but you can expect it to be sometime in the spring of 2023.”
For Goldfarb, cast, and crew getting renewed was a great feeling. “We opened a writer’s room at the end of February or beginning of March, so we had our fingers crossed. We were cautiously optimistic, but it felt incredibly validating and rewarding to be picked up like that. We also just want to get back and do it again with everybody. It was a thrill!”
When did Julia season 1 air on HBO Max?
Julia debuted on March 31, 2022. The season 1 finale aired on May 4, 2022, leaving viewers clamoring for more recipes, cooking lessons, laughter, and tasty relationship dynamics.
How many episodes were in Julia Season 1?
Season 1 of Julia has a total of eight episodes.
What happened in Julia Season 1?
Julia Child and her husband, Paul, host a lavish home-cooked dinner party in Oslo, Norway, to celebrate the acceptance by a publisher of her first book, cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. A year later the couple is having breakfast in their kitchen in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near her close friend Avis. The kitchen was specially designed by Paul to accommodate Julia’s six-foot-two stature. Julia is invited as a guest on a TV show on WGBH, their local PBS affiliate, and makes the show’s host a scrumptious French omelet.
The episode is a surprise hit and it is clear that Julia belongs on television. This leads to Julia proposing her own cooking show to the network, and after some stops and starts (including financial issues), and her usually supportive husband balking at the idea of her being on TV, The French Chef is born. It is also the start of Julia, who wants to feel relevant and make her mark, navigating her glorious Second Act.
Julia is aided by Paul, Avis, and other friends, and encouraged by an up-and-coming associate producer, Alice, to make an educational cooking show in which TV viewers can make the same recipes that Julia presents.
Throughout the eight episodes of the series, the interactions between Julia, the show’s producers, friends, and family are funny, sweet, charming, and joyful. Other pivotal characters include Julia’s editor Judith Jones, her publisher Blanche Knopf, and her French-based friend and co-author Simca. There are many cooking scenes with elaborate, mouth-watering meals that had all of the cast and crew eating well and begging for more.
Related: 10 Recipes To Channel Your Inner Julia Child!
What is Julia about?
The series is inspired by Julia Child’s remarkable life and her long-running television series, The French Chef. Through Julia’s life and her singular joie de vivre, the series explores a pivotal time in American history—the emergence of public television as a new social institution, feminism and the women’s movement, the nature of celebrity, and America’s cultural evolution.
Where is the series Julia filmed?
Julia is filmed in and around the Boston area.
How to watch and stream Julia
Season 1 of Julia is streaming on HBO Max.
Next, Everything We Know About And Just Like That... Season 2!
