Throughout its first two seasons, Love Life showcased all the messy challenges that come with relationships — and didn’t always give viewers the happy ending they’re used to.
The HBO Max series debuted in May 2020, initially following Darby (Anna Kendrick) through her dating ups and downs. The Pitch Perfect actress, who also serves as an executive producer on the show, was surprised by how much she could relate to her character’s journey.
“Even as she’s getting more certain about who she is and what her boundaries are, to me, Darby’s such a different person from episode one to something like episode eight,” the Tony nominee told Variety in July 2020. “But it really isn’t until all the way in episode 10 that she is not looking to be validated.”
Kendrick went on to joke: “I’ll just say this, there was a point where there was so much from my life that it made me very nervous. The truth is, the show just changed so much, so often, and so many other people were so willing to give so much of themselves and the specifics of their life. Whether it was joyful of painful or embarrassing, that it all kind of got blended and remixed.”
At the time, the anthology series had just been picked up for a second season on the streaming service. Showrunner Sam Boyd told Variety that he was looking forward to giving the story a big “reset” in its next chapter.
“Even more specifically than that, our ability to split the difference between an anthology show and more of a traditional ongoing series so that it still feels like the same show and it really feels like you’re popping over and looking at a different person in this same world,” he explained. “There will be these peripheral connections,** but it still will feel, I think, totally fresh.”
When season 2 rolled around, the spotlight turned toward Marcus, played by William Jackson Harper, who realizes he’s unhappy in his marriage after meeting Mia Hines (Jessica Williams). For Kendrick, the Good Place alum was the perfect piece to the Love Life puzzle.
“Sam Boyd and I talked about various iterations of who the next main character would be, whether it was a man or a woman wasn’t even decided yet,” she told Variety in October 2021. “When he mentioned William Jackson Harper, I couldn’t help it but be like, ‘Well, he was on my list of people that I wanted to be one of the potential Darby suitors in season 1.’ So, you know, I love him.”
The Emmy nominee, for his part, gushed over the chance to team up with an “icon” like Kendrick.
“I understand what it’s like to be in your 30s and have things just completely turn on their head,” Harper said of his character. “As far as I’m concerned, Anna’s kind of an icon. She honestly gave me a lot of advice on how to take care of myself and stay standing upright while doing a job like this, which is really demanding. I think she understands how to conserve her energy and how to show up every day when the demands are high.”
Along with Kendrick and Harper, the series includes Zoë Chao, Sasha Compère, Peter Vack, Punkie Johnson and more.
Scroll down to learn more about a possible third season of Love Life:
