The cast of ‘Trial and Error’ has returned to East Peck, South Carolina for yet another murder mystery.Season 2 of the comedic true crime mockumentary premiered the first two episodes last week on NBC. We had the opportunity to talk with new cast member, Amanda Payton, about her role as Nina Rudolph and what it was like joining the show for its second season.
The Knockturnal: What was it like joining the cast for the second season of ‘Trial and Error’?
Amanda Payton: It was really a dream come true because I am a big fan of Season 1 of Trial and Error. So it was a little different than coming onto a pilot or a new show because I already knew the show and loved the show.
The Knockturnal: Tell us a little about your character, Nina. What can we expect from her this season?
Amanda Payton: So I don’t know if you’re familiar with Trial and Error itself, but it’s a mockumentary style serialized comedy and it follows the murder trial of a convicted murderer. Season 2 follows Lavinia Peck-Foster played by Kristen Chenoweth. Nina Rudolph is a podcast host who relocates from New York to East Peck to follow the trial for her podcast, M-Town: Where Murder Happens. I play Nina, I come to East Peck, and I’m really kind of the straight man in that I ask the hard-hitting questions and the audience can see the town’s absurdity through my eyes.
The Knockturnal: What was it like working with Kristen Chenoweth?
Amanda Payton: It was amazing. I was a little bit intimidated at first just because I’ve been a fan of hers for so long, and she’s worked in so many different mediums. She is the sweetest sweetheart, like her sweetheartness that you see onscreen and on film and on TV and on stage and in concert is not an act. She is the biggest sweetheart, I love her. And she’s a comedy genius, so doing scenes with her is so much fun because she gives you so much to play with.
The Knockturnal: How did you prepare for this role? Did you watch a lot of true crime shows?
Amanda Payton: So I’m obsessed with true crime shows. I’m the biggest podcast nerd and documentary nerd. If it’s about murder, I’ve been obsessed with it since before it was cool to be obsessed with it. So my character is based on Sarah Koenig from the original ‘Serial’ podcast. I had listened obsessively to all of Serial on the edge of my seat, so I got real lucky here in that my research was just getting to relisten to things that I love. My favorite murder documentary of all time is The Jinx and our season pays homage to The Jinx. I did get to dive in a little bit further to learning about Sarah Koenig and watching interviews about her personally, but it was really nothing I didn’t already want to be doing.
The Knockturnal: Did you have a favorite moment on set that you can tell us about?
Amanda Payton: I think my favorite moment would have to be the last week of filming. I got to do a scene with Kristen and a hairless cat named Fluffy. So Kristen and the cat really got along. The cat liked Kristen almost as much as it liked its handlers. But the cat freaked me out so much. I’m not really ever around cats because I’m allergic to cats, so their actions already I’m not really used to them. But Fluffy was the funniest cat with, I don’t know if I can say this for this interview, but Fluffy was actually a boy and he had the biggest balls I had ever seen on a cat. But just the dynamic between Kristen and the cat and then throwing me into the scene, it was pretty fun. We laughed a lot.
Watch ‘Trial and Error’ Thursdays at 9pm on NBC.
