Interview: Creator Annie Weisman on Stepping into ‘Physical’ Season Two

The 1980s-set Apple TV+ comedy Physical follows Sheila (Rose Byrne), a woman struggling to stay positive against the demeaning voice in her head who finds unexpected purpose in aerobics. Now in its second season, the show is expanding Sheila’s world to show new problems to overcome, potential new allies and enemies, and a broadening of her overall potential.

Awards Radar had the chance to speak with series creator Annie Weisman about getting the chance to revisit this world in season two and what the response has been like to the show so far. 

On the direction for season two, Weisman shared:

“Season two is about her starting to fight external demons, so it’s really about her out in the world, turning that critical inner voice more where it belongs, out on the obstacles in the real world. Now, she’s fighting for control and independence from her husband, from her new bosses and her new world. So it’s fun to see her start to take on some external enemies.”

On being tied to a specific era in time, Weisman expressed:

“Working with this great time period forty years ago gives you this great distance to explore all these really relevant issues today. It just puts them at a nice comfortable distance. Certainly now, dealing with everything we’re dealing with, what we were dealing with shooting during the pandemic, just being in this other time period allows you to get more thematic and less specific, less literal about issues. It’s definitely a production challenge, but it’s a fun one because it inspires a lot of creativity in the look and feel of the show.”

Listen to the full conversation below!

New episodes of Physical premiere on Apple TV+ on Fridays through the season two finale on August 5th.