The Other Two is back on HBO Max for its third season. Helmed by former Saturday Night Live writers Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, the freewheeling comedy focuses on two 30-something siblings trying desperately to get it together. Cary (Drew Tarver) is a neurotic queer actor who once got baptized at a Hillsong-esque church in order to rub shoulders with a Hollywood producer, while Brooke (Heléne Yorke), a former dancer, has spent a long time waiting for her big break in life (read: to appear on Variety’s “30 Under 30” list). The fact that Brooke and Cary’s younger brother, Chase, is a global pop sensation loosely based on the Justin Biebers and Shawn Mendeses of the world only makes their flailing feel sadder.
After two seasons of clawing their way to the top in hilariously questionable and self-deprecating ways, however, by Season 3, they have finally arrived. Cary stars in the fictional streaming film Night Nurse, fronted by Beanie Feldstein and Edie Falco, and Brooke has found her footing in talent management. Still, neither of them is quite satisfied. “They’re in their own heads and wondering, I’ve been trying for this thing for so long, but do I actually like it? Is it meaningful?” Kelly tells Vogue, speaking over Zoom. The show’s edge of existential angst stemmed directly from his and Schneider’s own musings during the pandemic. “There’s a conversation in the fourth episode, where Brook tries to go work for AOC,” Schneider shares. “Which is a literal conversation I had with Chris. I was like, ‘I think I need to go work for AOC. I think I could be a good soundboard for her.’”
“I was like, ‘That’s crazy to be, like, 39 and starting as an intern,” Chris adds.
“And then I was like, no, I would just transfer my job to her job and work with her,” Schneider continues, laughing. “I’ve already put in the work, I’m already at her level.”
Schneider has nixed the idea—for now—but her conversations with Kelly led to genuine insights about what they both wanted out of life, and how much they were willing to sacrifice for it. Now, they just had to get Cary and Brooke to the same place in their own ways. “It sucks when you’ve learned all these lessons and worked through them, but, of course, the characters haven’t,” Kelly says.
Below, Kelly and Schneider walk Vogue through what viewers can expect from Season 3 of The Other Two.
Vogue: Where am I catching you both?
Sarah Schneider: Our home we share in Brooklyn. We’re in different rooms.
Tell me how you both met and how the idea of the show came about.
Chris Kelly: We met at Saturday Night Live in 2011, and then were kind of there for six years together. The idea for the show came about in our last-ish year. We came up with the idea for the show and sold the pilot originally to Comedy Central, and when we went to series is when we left [SNL] to do it.
The first season aired on Comedy Central and then, in 2021, the second season jumped to HBO Max. Streaming can be cut-throat when it comes to show renewals and long-term commitments. What do you think helped The Other Two make the cut?
C.K.: I have no idea. Every single thing about the industry right now is absolutely bonkers and to try to make heads or tails of anything is pointless. We’re just trying to keep our heads down and focus on trying to make a show. And God bless everything happening right now.
S.S.: Yeah, I think we’re not even enough on the radar for people to be like, Canceling this will make some good savings! We’re just chucking along. Like Chris said, all we can do is believe in what we’re making. It’s really disheartening to hear that so much work and content is being shelved. And all of these people are being—
C.K.: Fucked!
S.S.: Yes, for lack of a better word.
What can viewers expect from Season 3?
C.K.: The first two seasons are Brooke and Cary trying to make it. They’re trying to win, they’re trying to succeed. They’re doing obvious things and you understand what they’re trying to do. Now Brooke and Cary have both “made it.” They both have the things they’ve been looking for, so their struggle is now internal. They’re in their own heads and wondering, I’ve been trying for this thing for so long, but do I actually like it? Is it meaningful? I’m finally where I wanted to be, but am I where I wanted to be? A lot of their stress is in their mind and body and we try externalizing that in arch, stupid ways. Someone turns invisible, there’s a black and white episode. I think this season is a little bigger and weirder.
Are there any cool guest stars or cameos?
C.K.: Yes, there’s so many people and it’s dumb that they said yes to doing it. There’s, like, Dylan O’Brien, Lucas Gage, Edie Falco, Simu Liu, Fin Argus…there’s so many people we are lucky to have on the show. Some of them are playing characters or playing themselves.
I’m surprised by how often you guys are calling your show dumb or stupid!
S.S.: When we say something is stupid, that’s our highest praise. When we’re editing the show or something, one of us will say, “Oh my God, that is so stupid.” That means “Straight to air.”
C.K.: Yeah, we love a combination of stupid and heart. We kind of approach every episode like that. We know no matter what our season is going to be, we kind of know the drama of each episode. The real anxiety, the real human worry, or how we want to land each episode. Then we try to go about landing that episode emotionally through the stupidest way possible. Through the stupidest, most arch, ridiculous way possible.
Well, that does lead perfectly to my next question. How do you prevent yourselves from going too off-the-rails with the comedy? Do you give yourselves any specific parameters?
C.K.: We always say that as long as it is in service of the story…Brooke decides to leave the industry in Episode 3, and then she goes to an industry party and feels worthless. She feels like all of her worth, all her power, all her cool factor is because she has this cool job. Without that, who is she? Just a 35-year-old woman? “That’s nothing,” is what she says. So she feels kind of invisible at this party. So we just made that manifest. We made her literally invisible. So much of her worth was based on the idea of, I did it! I have this cool thing, I have meaning, I have value. And without that I feel invisible. So all episode she is invisible and struggles with becoming visible again. She can see people, but they can’t see her. And that is very stupid. But as long as it’s serving her emotional storyline, it works.
I love how you approach Cary’s queer identity in his storylines. What can we expect there this go-around?
C.K.: Oh, lord. I think we talked about in Season 1 and 2 how he was always a little bit stunted as a queer person. He didn’t have a lot of relationship experience, he didn’t have a lot of sexual experience. I think that’s kind of over, but we’re seeing other ways he’s stunted as a gay person this season.
How was he stunted before?
C.K.: I think he was a little scared of himself. I think he was a little scared of sex, I think he was a little self-hating and homophobic. So he was scared to have sex and put himself out there. You know, in Season 1 someone told him, “Hey, I didn’t realize you were gay,” and he responded “Thank you,” which is terrible. I think he was just scared of that identity, which he’s gotten over in Season 3. There’s actually times when instead of being scared of the identity, he’s used the identity, maybe even in gross ways. There’s a method actor that he dates that takes on the character of every role he gets—which is always gay. So Cary gets to date, like, all these gay tropes this season.
Sarah, does any of your own self-exploration show up in Brooke this season?
I definitely relate to Brooke this season about being a little more existential about your career and wondering if what you’re doing is meaningful. I think a lot of us had that during the pandemic, wondering what the “true” meaningful jobs were, [thinking about] the people risking their lives to save people. It made me a little existential about my little dumb comedy show I’m working on. But, you know, Brooke does find meaning. It’s more about her own self-consciousness than that what she does is not legitimate.
C.K.: Yes, and giving herself permission to like the life she’s chosen for herself.
What has making this show for three seasons taught you?
C.K.: Oof. I think it’s weirdly taught me the things that Cary is learning, which is that there is only so much you can put into this. Is that a good answer for press? I think it’s taught me that I want less of it. Not of this show, but of… yeah. It’s a grind. We’ve both been struggling with work-life balance. When you make something that you care about, and something you think is good, it sort of can be an all-in thing, because it’s such an intense process. This has taught us, like, what is the percentage of yourself that you put into this?
You mentioned at the start of the interview that you share a house. I’m—
C.K.: We were joking!
S.S.: No, we both live separately in Brooklyn, with our husbands. And our dogs.
This conversation has been edited and condensed. The first two episodes of The Other Two are now streaming on Max.