Netflix’s No Good Deed is now streaming, and the dark comedy features strong performances from leads Lisa Kudrow and Ray Romano. The two sitcom stars talked about their roles in the show, playing against type, and more.
“When Lydia (Lisa Kudrow) and Paul (Ray Romano) decide to move on from their empty nest to forge a new life, they list their gorgeous 1920s Spanish-style villa located in one the most desirable neighborhoods in Los Angeles — and the real estate frenzy begins. Multiple families all race to buy what they believe to be their dream house, convinced it will fix all of their very different problems. But as Lydia and Paul know all too well, sometimes the home of your dreams can be a true nightmare. As they struggle to hide the dark and dangerous secrets that linger inside their longtime home, Paul and Lydia begin to realize that the only way they’ll escape the past is to finally face it,” says the synopsis.
Tyler Treese: I really enjoyed No Good Deed. Lisa, throughout the show we see your character, Lydia really dealing with grief and there’s a lot of emotion to this performance. How was it leading with that? Because that’s really defined her for the past couple of years up until when the show starts.
Lisa Kudrow: Right? Yeah, that was definitely on my mind. And it was finding the, the like lighter moments and the comedy moments and, and how far into grief is she at this stage? It’s been three years, but unprocessed, like never really allowed to talk about it or get help for it in any way. So that entered into the equation and justified the tearing up.
And Ray, you share some really phenomenal scenes with Dennis Leary. How is he as a scene partner? There’s some very intense back and forths here.
Ray Romano: Yeah, he’s great. I know him from standup. We started in standup, I don’t wanna say together, but we did a lot of gigs together in New York, and I’ve seen him across the years. I’ve worked with him here and there. I hadn’t seen him in about five or six years. But he was great, you know, he’s an East Coaster, tough Boston guy, and we give each other s— in a good way. So it was fun. It was fun to kind of get in there with ’em and mess around, intimidate each other, shall we say.
Lisa, there’s this theme throughout the series, and we see it with all of the different couples holding secrets that can harm your relationship. What did you find most interesting about seeing that portrayed in so many ways?
Kudrow: That it’s just so true. I mean, it’s no joke that communication is the most important part of a relationship. And sometimes it’s hard. It’s just hard to do, whether it’s because of a tragedy that it’s impossible to talk about or (laughs), you know, I don’t know. I mean, yeah, even to being afraid to let your significant other know about something, they’re not gonna like.
Ray, your character is always trying to put his family first, but it leads to him just constantly being out of his element. There’s this great scene where you’re doing it, where you have to snort cocaine where you kind of blow your cover for that scene. How was it just repeatedly taking Paul out of his comfort zone? Because it is so much fun to watch.
Romano: Yeah, well, that was definitely me out of my comfort zone, (laughs), I didn’t have to act a lot in that scene. But, that’s what was great about this show. You know, the comedic moments that take you out of your comfort zone or the dramatic ones, or the angry ones. I got to tap into all of these different emotions throughout this whole series, and it’s challenging, but I think that’s a good thing. I think that’s what attracted me to it.
Thanks to Lisa Kudrow and Ray Romano for talking about Netflix‘s No Good Deed.
