Apple TV+ welcomes viewers back into the Turner’s Philadelphia brownstone today with the return of M. Night Shyamalan’s “Servant”, now entering its third – and penultimate – season.
Created by executive producer and writer Tony Basgallop, season three brings us up to speed three months after last season’s cliff-hanger with Lauren Ambrose and Toby Kebbell reprising their roles as Dorothy and Sean Turner, whose marriage now centres on Leanne’s future in their home.
Nell Tiger Free returns to her role as the live-in nanny Leanne Grayson, now completely paranoid that other cult members will find her and threaten her future with the Turners; a future she now feels entitled to maintain. Rupert Grint will also be back as Dorothy’s brother, Julian Pearce, the debonair sibling who goes out of his way to uncover Leanne’s real identity. The new season also introduces a new character, Julian’s love interest, Victoria, played by Sunita Mani (“Glow,” “Wine Country”), a woman Julian met in rehab and whose relationship with Leanne leads to dire consequences.
Shyamalan helmed the first of the third season’s ten episodes, followed by daughter Ishana Shyamalan, who directed both the second and final episodes. The pair also welcomed seven newcomers to the directors’ chairs – Carlo Mirabella-Davis (“Swallow”); Dylan Holmes Williams (“The Devil’s Harmony”); Kitty Green (“The Assistant”); Austrian aunt-nephew filmmakers Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala (“The Lodge”); and wife-husband directors Celine Held and Logan George (“Topside”).
In anticipation of today’s season three premiere, SCREAM caught up with Lauren Ambrose to discuss balancing family priorities, keeping up with the Joneses and keeping in character when it comes to performing the show’s deadpan, pitch black humour…
The 10-episode third season debuts globally with the first episode today, January 21, followed by one new episode every subsequent Friday.
Words: Howard Gorman
