Widow’s Bay Star Kate O’Flynn Talks Dance Choreography and the Duality of Patricia – The Awards Tour Podcast
Her pitch-perfect portrayal of the eccentric assistant to the mayor has made her an instant fan favorite and an Emmy nominee.
Arguably the biggest surprise hit series of the year has been Apple TV’s Widow’s Bay, a genre-bending horror-comedy from the mind of Katie Dippold that has earned a cult following and 19 Emmy nominations. The story follows Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys), the mayor of a New England island community, who is forced to confront a centuries-old curse that plagues the island as he is trying to drum up tourism. Populated by a stellar cast that includes Stephen Root, Kevin Carroll, Dale Dickey, and Jeff Hiller, the series has spawned a breakout fan favorite in Kate O’Flynn, who plays Tom’s eccentric assistant Patricia.
On this episode of the Awards Tour Podcast, Jacqueline Coley talks about the success of Widow’s Bay with O’Flynn, whose efforts have been rewarded with one of the show’s aforementioned Emmy nods. She explains how the project came to her, what her audition process was like, and how she understood the unique tone of the show from the very start. She also discusses what it’s like to work with her talented co-stars and how she prepared for Patricia’s pivotal arc in episode 4, including the inspirations for her iconic dance performance.
Jacqueline Coley for Rotten Tomatoes: I’m curious, what is the part of this show that people are most coming up to you about? I feel like some people might just be in love with the Patricia who’s like, “You should be supportive,” while other people are completely into the horror elements.
Kate O’Flynn: I think the show as a whole just seemed to scratch a nostalgic itch, and there’s just something so comforting about it. And with Patricia, there are so many brilliant lines I got to say, and so many brilliant set-ups. You know, “Are you mad at something I said?”, which is not something I say. [laughs] There’s a lot of iconic lines that were funny from reading.
You know, I read that script, and it’s not often that I find that I laugh out loud reading, but like the surprise, the reveal of what [Patricia’s] wearing on her head [at the end of episode 4], you know, when I read that, I was crying with laughter. And then, I guess what’s surprising about that is that when I saw it, it was weirdly heartbreaking. It’s just got that duality, and Patricia has that duality the whole way through. That is, you don’t quite know where you’re at with her, and I wonder if that’s what hooked people in, maybe.
Widow’s Bay: Season 1 is currently streaming on Apple TV.
