1 of 5 | Cassie (Kaley Cuoco, right) meets the Diazes (J.J. Soria and Callie Hernandez). Photo courtesy of HBO Max
LOS ANGELES, April 21 (UPI) -- The Flight Attendant's new cast members for Season 2, premiering Thursday, said their characters represent different sorts of danger for Cassie (Kaley Cuoco). Mae Martin joins the Flight Attendant as Grace St. James, a new coworker on the flight crew.
"She's a dangerous influence, a devil on Cassie's shoulder, but unaware that Cassie's struggling with that," Martin told UPI in a Zoom interview. "In my own life, I have danger friends. You have to be careful when you hang out with them."
After Cassie solved the murder of Alex Sokolov (Michael Huisman) in Season 1, she joined Alcoholic's Anonymous. Season 2 picks up with Cassie nearing one year of sobriety.
"Like any new character on this show, I think we're immediately suspicious about what Grace's shadow-self is and what she's hiding," Martin said. "She and Cassie genuinely connect and have a chemistry and a friendship."
Other new additions to The Flight Attendant are not friends. Callie Hernandez and J.J. Soria play Gabrielle and Esteban Diaz, respectively. Cassie meets the Diazes in a hotel lobby, but they are not what they seem.
"We're chameleons," Soria said. "That's how we start on the show. We've got to switch things up."
Hernandez did not want to spoil what Flight Attendant fans might discover about the Diazes. However, whatever is revealed, Hernandez said they stick together.
"We're definitely a team," she said. "We're definitely a dynamic duo. We're passionate and unpredictable and impulsive."
When Cassie helped the CIA solve Sokolov's murder, they made her an asset. Using her access to foreign locations as a flight attendant, Cassie continues working for the CIA in Season 2 when her new mission begins.
Another new character is Benjamin Berry (Mo McRae), Cassie's CIA handler. Cassie proves more challenging to Benjamin than the average CIA asset.
"It's like cajoling water," McRae said. "It's like trying to hold water in your hands. Cassie, she's just all over the place all the time."
Returning characters include undercover CIA agent Shane Evans (Griffin Matthews). Shane works as a flight attendant on Cassie's airline as his cover.
Season 2 is based in Los Angeles, in which Cassie now lives. The show filmed some scenes on location, and Matthews said he appears in scenes filmed in Reykjavik, Iceland.
"You'll see all of these characters escaping through the snow," Matthews said. "It's awesome."
Cassie's best friend, Ani (Zoshia Mamet), and her boyfriend, Max (Deniz Akdeniz), return. They become involved with Cassie's new adventure when they visit her.
"We both really get thrown into the fray in a very big way this season, and it was a lot of fun," Mamet said. "I've never gotten to do anything like that before."
The Flight Attendant Season 2 still has time to direct some attention to Ani and Max's relationship. Ani shows up wearing a ring, but is hesitant to say she is engaged to Max.
"Max is very patiently putting up with Ani's lawyer's jargon in terms of what their agreement is as to what the ring means and for this period of time," Mamet said. "It's all just her being unwilling to say, 'I love you and I want to marry you' because she's a scaredy cat."
Akdeniz said the engagement also opens up additional new drama.
"It was great being able to see the limits of Max's patience and love and see Ani trying to deal with not only the relationship, but their own inner demons and inner conflicts," Akdeniz said.
"Bringing it to L.A. really did put a spotlight on that because it's the next step of their life. Where are they going to be?"
New episodes of The Flight Attendant premiere Thursdays on HBO Max.
