PEN15introduced Maya Erskine as a gonzo comedic talent.Mr.
& Mrs. Smithmakes a convincing case for her as a rom-com lead.
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This interview was published on April 17, 2024.Mr.
Read all of Vultures Emmy-racecoveragehere.
By whatever standard you might succeed at British afternoon tea,Maya Erskineand I seem to be failing.
The clientele consists of the quietly posh and, like us, the obviously tourist.
It all requires more attentiveness than Erskine currently possesses.
She has just flown in from L.A. and hardly slept the night before.
Erskine is in town for the U.K. premiere of her new TV series,Mr.
The two tend to make it through by the skin of their teeth.
As Jane and John stumble through their missions, they speedrun the steps of a typical millennial relationship.
Glovers work, as inAtlantaorSwarm,can tend toward opaque anti-comedy, butMr.
& Mrs. Smithis much more direct and crowd-pleasing, likeMaster of Nonewith espionage.
I have to find another moment, she says, laughing.
But these are things that are inevitable in a relationship, or I would hope so.
It was an audacious live-wire concept, full of bits of semi-autobiographical trauma.
So those who recognize Erskines work tend to be familiar with her at her most unhinged.
There have been younger people stopping me, being like, Youre on TikTok right now.
Youre scatting, she tells me.
PEN15was enough to get Erskine noticed by the creators ofMr.
& Mrs. Smith.In the summer of 2021, the series was midway through a complicated development process.
The first name that popped into my head was Maya, Sloane tells me.
Then I asked Hiro Murai, and he said Maya.
And I asked my sister, and my sister said Maya.
All the idiosyncrasies Jane has got loudest once I saw Maya in the role, Sloane says.
WherePEN15had introduced Erskine as a gonzo, Jim Carreyesque comedic talent,Mr.
& Mrs. Smithmakes a convincing case for her as a romantic lead.
In doing press forMr.
& Mrs. Smith,Erskine has run into one specific tic.
During interviews forPEN15,she was always paired with Konkle.
Sorry, the piano is, like, in my head, Erskine says mid-sentence.
She realizes she has fallen into a habit of not finishing her own thoughts.
My brother points it out, she says.
She pauses just long enough for me to consider interrupting.
And then theyre like, What did you just say?
Erskine enjoys the intimacy of working with friends but admits it can be emotionally intense.
The experience of makingPEN15was grueling.
She and Konkle were heavily involved in writing, filming, and postproduction.
We gave it our all, Erskine says.
We didnt know how to be like, Oh, its five oclock lets go home.
It was like, We will be here until midnight.
Thats not sustainable for very long.
They decided to wrap upPEN15after two seasons.
Theyve gone their separate ways creatively for the moment but remain close friends.
In the future, Id love to produce something shes making.
I want to champion her.
I think thats my happy place.
Right now, shes nesting in a new home with her family in the San Fernando Valley.
Especially being a parent, she says, I dont know if I have the energy to do that.
It felt a bit challenging for me, but a good challenge.
The way Im trying to get into it is that its not that at all.
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