A.P. Bio's Lyric Lewis, Mary Sohn, And Jean Villepique Dish On Season 4 - Exclusive Interview
Every series set in a high school needs a popular teacher clique to set the tone for the show (and their students). For Peacock's "A.P. Bio," that trio is Stef Duncan (Lyric Lewis), Mary Wagner (Mary Sohn), and Michelle Jones (Jean Villepique). Occasionally, Glenn Howerton's Jack Griffin and Patton Oswalt's Principal Durbin are thrown into the mix to spice things up. But at the end of the day, it's the ladies who stick together for schemes and crises alike. Luckily for the show's funniest trio, these actors get along as well offscreen as they do on, with plenty of laughs and fun together.
During an exclusive interview for Season 4 of "A.P. Bio," Looper spoke to Lyric Lewis, Mary Sohn, and Jean Villepique. The trio dished on the hit show's new season, where they'd like to see their characters go in the future, and who breaks most on set. Lewis also talked about a particularly heartwarming scene with Howerton from the new season.
The new kid at Whitlock
Lyric, your character Stef has a really heartwarming moment with Glenn Howerton's Jack this season. Without giving too much away, what was that experience like? And how do you feel about that final product?
Lyric Lewis: You know what? It was so fun because that scene changed a couple of times. At the end of it, it was Stef and Jack. And at first, I was a little like, "Ooh, this is real! This is a real moment between the two," but it turned out so ... It was so much fun to shoot with him. And it was so great just to do what ... obviously, I had my daughter last year, but it was so, like an out-of-body experience to recreate the moment.
But it was actually really great. And he was awesome. And I mean, he has kids. And so I feel like we had this nice just moment of like, "Okay, let's do it." It was great. It was a lot of fun. I haven't even seen it. I can't wait for people to see little Duncan Bambino.
The teacher trio
I love the dynamic between all three of your characters in this unlikely trio that they've formed. What have been some of your favorite trio moments? And did any of you ever offer any input into some of their crazy shenanigans?
Mary Sohn: I will say ... oh, sorry. Jeanie. Something from my real life. Every time somebody has a birthday, namely Mike O'Brien, who is the creator of this series, I will always insist that everybody go around and give each other put-ups. And say, "This year, this is what I observed about you." And in this season, we get to do a round table of put-ups for each other. So I felt like, "Okay, this feels very familiar." Sorry, Jean. Please.
Jean Villepique: I was going to say, the writers invite us into the room usually. This season was a little different because of COVID, but they are very interested in who we are and how we interact. And the pizza slab game in Season 3, that was also from Mary's real life. It's all Mary's real life. [Laughs.]
Lyric Lewis: It is. A lot of it is.
Jean Villepique: But they ask us, they're interested in who we are as well. So I think there's a lot of input. Especially just in the vibe of how we are playful together that we're not even aware of.
Lyric Lewis: Yeah. And they also, I mean, they get even our vernacular so well. I mean, granted, they are writing for the characters, but it's so interesting that right off of the page, so much of it is actually what they've written for us. And that we just, we zhoosh a little bit. But yeah, if they have it, it's already there.
A star-studded cast
This show has a stellar cast. What's it like working with actors like Glenn Howerton, Pat Oswalt, and Paula Pell? And do you have any favorite moments from the set or fun behind-the-scenes stories?
Mary Sohn: I mean, they are incredible. It is like doing a masterclass. And I know I say that every year, but it really does remain that way. And I just remember one time when we were in the waiting room waiting for Lyric's baby to come.
Patton's line was, "Oh yeah. I don't want to hold the baby until her neck muscles come in." But instead, one of the takes, he said, "Yeah, I don't want to hold the baby until her neck comes in." And we lost our minds. We have to wait until her neck grows in. Okay. Very good. But just those moments of more of the behind-the-scenes stuff was really fun.
It takes a village
Jean Villepique: Yeah. Everyone is so talented, but they're surprisingly engaging and very down-to-earth. This cast, these were all the last people we saw before the lockdown of COVID, and we all had been isolated.
Then we came back, and it was our first time, for me anyway, to see people. And it was these wonderful people. We're really lucky. There aren't wild egos. It's very engaged and warm, and playful. So you forget how incredible everyone is because they're so generous and kind in real life.
Lyric Lewis: All the time, I feel like we're constantly playing and learning from each other. And especially for like Glenn and Patton and Paula who have worked a ton — done their own things. They're all so gracious in the way of, we sit during breaks and stuff like that. And talk about the business, but in a fun way, in an engaging way. Where we're learning from each other and enriching each other's lives besides just like, here's [Lewis makes a fart sound with her mouth]. I don't know why I did a fart sound [Laughs]. But we can talk, and it's just, it's such a joy to be on set in so many different ways. So yes.
Jean Villepique: Never fart. Never.
Lyric Lewis: Yeah.
Glenn Howerton: Most likely to break on set
Is there anyone who tends to break on set the most?
Mary Sohn: I think the three of us are pretty bad. Not bad but...
Lyric Lewis: Breaks just get interesting moments. Interesting lines will get Glen. And then it is a wrap for a couple minutes. And it's so funny to watch and see because he tries to get it together. And he collects it, and you see the little twinkle where, like, "He's going to break again."
Can you think of a moment in particular?
Mary Sohn: This is not from ... Oh, go ahead, Jeanie. Go ahead.
Jean Villepique: In Season 3, the janitor came in with ... Brendan Jennings, who plays the janitor ... had a plunger for the toilet, and he said something about like, "It's not so smart for you, Einstein." And he kept getting in Glenn's face, and it just tickled him. It just got him so hard. And I think they did it 20 times. And we were all like, "Do it again." I know it's not good for production, but we were like, "Keep breaking."
Lyric Lewis: It was amazing.
Ditching outdated stereotypes
What has been the most rewarding aspect of your time on "A.P. Bio," and where do you hope your characters go in the future?
Lyric Lewis: Oh.
Mary Sohn: I think for me, what I really appreciate is I feel like a lot of roles before this, I would always have to be like, "And I am an Asian character, and I have to do this or that." Whereas like, I feel like this trio of friends really makes sense. There isn't like that stereotypical overlay on this show.
And as far as ... I would really love to see where Mary takes her art. Maybe does a show at a bank or something.
Lyric Lewis: I'm going to have to ditto you a little bit, Mary. I would say that other shows or jobs, it was like, "Lots of sass from this one. Lots of sass," and things like that. And for this show, it's just, we get to be women and people first and teachers and friends.
But also, I feel like, whenever I come to work, it feels like home. It doesn't feel like I'm going to work or things like that. It's like I'm looking forward to seeing every single person that I work with: from the PAs, from our writers, from top to bottom, everyone from our crafty. We crack up with crafty. We got Joseph, every single person, from top to bottom, I look forward to coming in.
So that has been the best part is that it's an integral family from each part of it. And not just this little clique club over here. Yeah. I'm excited to see Stef's journey as a mother with little baby Duncan. And I really, I keep saying this, I'd love to see the women on vacation.
The full fourth season of "A.P. Bio" is now streaming on Peacock. Seasons 1 through 3 are also available for a rewatch or a catch-up.