The second season of Mare Of Easttown is likely to begin filming next year, Kate Winslet has claimed.
READ MORE: ‘Mare of Easttown’ review: Kate Winslet braves a bruising tale of smalltown murder
The first season of the acclaimed HBO crime drama aired in the spring of 2021, starring Winslet in the title role, Marianne ‘Mare’ Sheehan, a detective sergeant who is investigating the murder of one girl and the disappearance of another.
Winslet described playing her character – who not only had to look into disturbing crimes but also dealt with personal issues including a divorce, her son’s suicide and a custody battle with her son’s girlfriend over her grandchild – as leaving her “beat” but “grateful” to play her, she told Deadline.
While it was first designed as a one-off drama – “It was done and dusted, finished” – there have been discussions between Winslet, creator Brad Ingelsby, director Craig Zobel and HBO bosses about bringing the show back in the years since.
Evan Peters and Kate Winslet in ‘Mare Of Easttown’. CREDIT: Michele K. Short/HBO
And, while Winslet was in London editing the Christmas family drama Goodbye June, her directorial debut, the subject of another season came up again. “They were proper conversations around a timeframe when it could be possible,” Winslet explained. “And so I think we probably will do it, and that’s the first time I’ve felt that.”
She added that the new episodes wouldn’t be filmed this year, and would probably be next year instead. “There’s a strong likelihood it would film sometime in 2027,” she said.
The first season was acclaimed by critics and fans alike. It holds an approval rating of 95 per cent on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, and the finale became the most watched TV episode ever on HBO Max when it aired.
Winslet’s performance in particular was lauded, and she won a Primetime Emmy, a Golden Globe, a Critics’ Choice Award and a Satellite Award, among other accolades.
Accepting the Primetime Emmy for Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie in September 2021, she described the show as a “cultural moment” that “brought people together and gave them something to talk about other than a global pandemic,” thanking Inglesby for creating the role of Mare, who she described as “a middle-aged, imperfect, flawed mother.”
Also winning awards for their performances were Julianne Nicholson, who played Mare’s best friend Lori Ross, and Evan Peters, who played Detective Colin Zabel. Also starring were Jean Smart and Angourie Rice as Mare’s mother Helen and daughter Siobhan, while David Denman played her ex-husband Frank and Sosie Bacon featured as the mother of Mare’s grandson.
In a four-star review, NME described the “must-watch crime drama” as a “bruising tale of smalltown murder,” and added of Winslet and her character: “Grumpy, bullish and beaten down after years of tragedy, Sheehan is one of Winslet’s bleakest characters yet. She’s also one of her best.
“Puffing on an electronic cigarette as the drama slowly unfolds (she faces losing custody of her young grandson, too), Mare has a special type of resilience needed to survive in a male-dominated line of work, where every one of her decisions is scrutinised more than a male colleague’s would be. Come for the smalltown mystery that grips as much as it depresses. Stay for the magnetic performance from a real screen legend.”
Meanwhile, Ingelsby’s other HBO crime drama, Task, is set around the same fictional Pennsylvania area as Mare Of Easttown, leading to rumours of the two shows merging at some point. Mark Ruffalo, who plays FBI agent Tom Brandis, previously told Deadline, ‘At some point those two [shows] might run into each other in the future, that’s what they’re saying. It’s not set, nothing’s set.’
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