Somebody Somewhere is HBO’s beating heart. It’s gentle and wise but leaves room for growth and learning. Bridget Everett’s Sam has wit to spare, but she keeps newer people at a distance in fear of breaking her heart. Season two is even better than the first, and Everett is undeniably due for a nomination.
Sure, Somebody’s second season delves into pushing the boundaries of a carefully held friendship, but there are two food-related moments that I couldn’t hold back asking Everett at the top of our conversation. Sam tries to bake a cake, and she shares it with her sister, Tricia. Sam is liberal with the directions, so I needed to know how the cake turned out.
“I think they ended up using a gluten-free cake? It was super chewy, but it was close to the description of St. Louis Sushi–kind of bad but kind of good,” Everett says with a hearty chuckle.
Speaking of St. Louis Sushi! The concoction introduced in episode one during the reception of a vocal recital, and it’s made by Tim Bagley’s Brad. St. Louis Sushi is a pickle slathered in cream cheese and wrapped in a piece of ham. Would you try it?
“It was actually good,” he admits. “My friend, Larry, who makes a lot of my clothes, and he is a great visual artist. He’s such a great entertainer. He will shop it around, and everyone loves it. It’s something you have to be talked into trying, but everyone always loves it.”
Murray Hill’s Fred is getting married in season two, and we following the wedding plans all throughout Somebody Somewhere‘s seven episodes. Fred is always so easy to talk to, and his position of master of ceremonies at church naturally allows people to open up to him. The one-on-one conversations, no matter how big or small, are standouts this season.
“It’s very natural [with Fred],” she says. “Murray has been my showbiz buddy for twenty years, and we rely on each other a lot. I think the show has more meaning if you get to know the other people better and not make it so Sam-centric. Everything does bounce off of how things affect her, but I think having him on the show is so important. That’s how we talk, so it was easy for us, honestly.”
Sam is hit with two blows to her psyche when she learns some upsetting news about her sister’s passing as well as when she discovers Joel (Jeff Hiller…I love you…) has been dating Brad. The bond between Sam and Joel is so indescribable for us as outsiders, but Everett telegraphs Sam’s hurt so deeply. The big fight between them is upsetting, because we love them so much.
“We were living together at the time,” Everett says. “After we filmed it, we were in our trailers ready to go home, and I told him that I was going to order food from somewhere. He looked at me, and he said, ‘Oh, I thought you were mad at me.’ I relate to Sam in that moment. When were writing the scene and working on it, I put in the line, ‘I just don’t want you to leave me,’ and I told the other writers that I think we should take it out. I wasn’t feeling it. Carolyn [Strauss] asked me if it was the truth, and I told her that it was. Sam doesn’t want things to change, and she doesn’t understand that there’s an evolution of their friendship. It was heavy, because she’s growing. I care so much about their relationship, and I thought that it would’ve been false if you didn’t see the growing pains.”
When Sam re-connects with her voice teacher, Darlene, we understand how close these two used to be. There is a bond between voice teacher and student that is so special, because your defenses need to be down for someone to pull changes out of your voice. It’s literally coming from inside you somewhere. Everett explains how important that relationship is to Sam.
“The wonderful thing about Darlene is that she sees Sam and what music means to her,” she says. “Sam doesn’t feel special. It’s two-fold. Darlene recognizes something within Sam and that’s unsettling for Sam. It’s also what music means to her. Both of those things rattle Sam but make her want to open up to Darlene, and I really love the pace of those scenes. It’s slower. Sam doesn’t like to be touched, and she allows, without protest, Darlene to touch her in a very vulnerable state. Those relationships are so important, and I’ve seen voice lessons or people being taught on screen–it’s not vocalization. It’s about how people see each other, and I think that’s what we tried to establish. Barbara [E. Robertson], in one scene, brings a tape over to me, and she says, ‘I’m always here.’ It’s such a teacher way of saying something, and it’s so recognizable. I loved the way she said that line. Like Joel, she has a non0threatening, undeniable, warm way of communicating. Sam would be a fool to run away from that.”
After Darlene suddenly dies, there is a beautiful, raw moment where Sam plays the piano and sings, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” The camera is tight on Everett’s face, and there is no tentativeness at all. It’s a gorgeous, personal rendition of the song, and it’s truly a highlight of this entire television season.
“I love that song very much, and I’m sure almost everyone has a personal connection to it like I do,” Everett says, thoughtfully. “Sam, in that moment, is there with her only love–singing. It’s her comfort, and it’s kind of hard to explain. Singing can be painful and comforting at the same time, and that’s how I pictured it. Sometimes, for me, I will be in my apartment or sit down at my keyboard, I will sing to myself to comfort myself. It’s not about loving how my voice sounds, but it’s about being there with a friend. It’s hard to explain. In that moment, her singing was confirmation that what Darlene saw in her was real.”
Since the fight with Joel is such big moment in season two, Sam spends a good portion of the season by herself. Those silences are not wasted, because they teach us so much about what Sam thinks of herself or how she can fall back into dark habits. Episode five ends with Joel slinking away after he knows Sam is angry with him, and she is patiently picking at her eggs benedict. Silence can tell us so much with a character like Sam.
“That’s when you experience what people are going through,” she admits. “Lennon Parham directed that episode and while she is one of the funniest people that I know, she was so thoughtful, and I felt very in sync with her. Shana [Hagan], our DP, and Brenda, our first cam op, helped being a really feminine energy to the set, and that was helpful. I thought it was very easy for Sam to slip back into breakfast for one. She wonders why she even tries, and I like sitting in that. We sat with our editor to find the precise moment before the music drops. Even though the episodes are show, it’s important to let things breathe. Carolyn always says what happens in the cracks is what’s most special. And that’s a big crack for the season.”
Some people think that songs have too much baggage. Once they are performed to perfection, why touch them. In the finale, Sam lets herself loose when singing Laura Branigan’s “Gloria,” and it calls back to when she tells everyone, “You can’t touch Branigan. No Barbra, no Judy, no Branigan.” Everett’s performance has been nominated at GALECA’s Dorian TV Awards for Best TV Musical Performance. It’s a moment about letting go and embracing the goodness that you have in your heart. Is there anything Everett wouldn’t tackle?
“Definitely anything Barbra or Whitney have touched,” she says. “I just don’t have the range that those women have. When they were putting “Gloria” into the script and I thought it was fine, but then I was singing it and I forgot how range-y it was, especially when you have to do it over and over for coverage. I used to be very fearless when I sing, but I don’t like to mess with the greats. It’s been done.”
Somebody Somewhere is unlike anything on television, and it was recently renewed for a third season. It emphasizes the importance of honesty and love, and I could watch 24 more seasons.
“I will do it as long as they will let me,” Everett says with the biggest of smiles.
Somebody Somewhere is streaming now on Max.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIezlm0iTFA
