I don’t know about everyone else, but when I settled in to watch Season 2 of The Four Seasons, seeing David Tennant appear on screen was the last thing I expected. Yes, you heard that right.
Spoiler alert for those yet to catch up on Season 2 of The Four Seasons, now available on Netflix.
Season 2 of the comedy series, spearheaded by Tina Fey, builds a rich tapestry of character development for Anne, portrayed by Kerri Kenney-Silver. It concludes with a delightful surprise—introducing a character played by none other than David Tennant, famous for his roles in Doctor Who and Rivals. This unexpected twist is as satisfying as it is surprising.
The credit for this stroke of casting genius goes to the show’s co-creators, Tracey Wigfield and Lang Fisher. They revealed that it was Tina Fey’s insight that brought Tennant on board, envisioning the chemistry between Kenney-Silver and the Scottish actor. While brainstorming who could embody the role of Jean-Pierre, Anne’s new neighbor in Italy, Fey suggested Tennant as the ideal candidate.
“Tina, the first person she mentioned was, ‘Well, someone like David Tennant, like a David Tennant kind of guy, as her [Anne’s] neighbor,’” Wigfield shared in an interview with DECIDER about the latest season. “We were overjoyed when we approached him first, and he agreed. He flew in for just one day to film the scene, and he was absolutely charming and looked fantastic alongside Kerri.”
Fisher and Wigfield say that they were expecting Tennant and his team to say that he would have to pass (he is a busy guy, in case you didn’t realize!), but when they reached out to him to see if he might even be interested, they were shocked to find out just how on board he was. For the creators, his appearance is also about setting up something exciting for fans to look forward to in Season 3, should they get renewed.
Fey — who serves as EP, co-creator, and star of the series — made an appearance on Tennant’s podcast in 2019 and the two have crossed paths at events over the years, so while it may have started out as a pie-in-the-sky dream to have the Doctor Who actor step into the world of The Four Seasons, it quickly became a reality. Now, it’s all about exploring the dynamic between the two actors and seeing what they can mine.
“Anne obviously has been on a journey in Season 1 and then Season 2 as well, you know, she’s trying to be Anne 2.0 and have this sort of personal renaissance, but it’s not going great. So there was something really exciting when we were thinking about a cliffhanger for a possible Season 3 of having a romantic cliffhanger, and someone that you would get so excited to see more stories with,” Wigfield explained.
To that, Fisher — who previously co-created Never Have I Ever alongside Mindy Kaling — added that it is their full intention to bring Tennant into the process for Season 3 and that they are just waiting on Netflix to give them the go-ahead. To be clear, however, no one is more excited about the burgeoning potential romance between Anne and Jean-Pierre than Kenney-Silver, who says she’s ready to take on the burden of her character falling head over heels for one of Scotland’s most esteemed actors.
“I lost my mind. There were a lot of ideas thrown around there, I mean, just on paper. I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ I laughed out loud when he said his name was John Pierre, when I read the script — I didn’t see it coming. I’m also not that bright, but I didn’t see it coming,” Kenney-Silver joked.
Earlier in Episode 8, “Maratona,” Anne makes up a fictional boyfriend named Jean-Pierre to make Mark Brett (Steven Pasquale) jealous, only for it to backfire when she has to come clean after oversharing. In the last few minutes of the season, however, Tennant’s character enters the picture and introduces himself as Anne’s new neighbor who got some of her mail. And his name? Jean Pierre, of course.
“How perfect is David Tennant? How perfect? And let me tell you, on the day of shooting, that man and I spent maybe one hour together in our lives. When he left, we were like four-year-olds under a fort blanket,” Kenney-Silver said of the dynamic on and off screen.
She added, “We had a really good time. I think that’s a fun, super weird connection there.”
Here’s hoping that Netflix answers our prayers and gives us a Season 3 so that we can see where this relationship goes.
The Four Seasons Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
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