A Million Little Things has returned to ABC for Season 3, but the hit drama had more to deal with than just the big Season 2 finale cliffhanger when getting back to business. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a new set of protocols for production, and actress Floriana Lima spoke with CinemaBlend in a recent interview to share the unique challenges.
I spoke to Floriana Lima ahead of the A Million Little Things Season 3 premiere about the changes the show underwent in response to COVID-19 protocols, and the impact that has had on her experience. The actress, who debuted in Season 2 as Gary's new girlfriend Darcy, mentioned one interesting challenge she faced while doing scenes for Season 3 that she wouldn't have dealt with in a pre-COVID world.
On our set, we have our masks on all the time, thankfully. So we have them on all the way up until we call action. The one thing I find tricky is being able to click into Darcy and the character with the mask on and then taking it off. I realized that I need that time before action and even after cut to take a moment like ‘what am I doing, what did I do, what do I want to do on the next page?' So that’s been pretty challenging.
Mask wearing is a protocol on the set of A Million Little Things Season 3 for the safety of all involved, so much so that the masks are worn right up until the cameras are rolling. The new system presented some new challenges to Floriana Lima in her acting process of getting into (and out of) character, which was not something that needed to be considered prior to COVID.
Creator DJ Nash has teased that A Million Little Things will touch on COVID-19 and other big topics of 2020, but obviously, scenarios can be different in terms of how characters vs. actors are responding to the virus. As an example, Floriana Lima talked about the challenges of figuring out how to navigate the loving relationship between Darcy and James Roday's Gary in Season 3, while still being unsure about what is and isn't okay for them to do as actors on set.
Yeah, so kissing is a little tricky, but we are in the same 'pod.' We’ve all kind of attached with anyone who has to work closely with the cast. We’re all in our own pod. We stay as safe as possible we just kind of only interact with each other. We’re also getting tested twice a week...and there are some moments where it’s like ‘Okay, we good? We’re good right? We can do a kiss in this scene is that okay?’ There’s an extra step of making sure we’ve been safe. Our producers are really great at really just making sure everyone’s incredibly healthy so I don’t worry about it, but it’s definitely weird now.
A Million Little Things' cast is also doing two COVID tests a week, according to Floriana Lima. Obviously, it comes with an extra challenge, but all for the sake of giving fans some answers behind that shocking Season 2 cliffhanger and some of the other lingering questions fans may have as Season 3 kicks off.
See Floriana Lima as Darcy in A Million Little Things Season 3 now that the show is making its long-awaited return to television. New episodes of A Million Little Things air on ABC Thursdays at 10:00 p.m. ET. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest happening in the series, and for more news in the world of television and movies.
Photography Courtesy Of Noah Asanias
