It’s probably too reductive to put any character in this story into a villain or hero box. But what’s interesting for me is that I read the book when I was a teenager and I was just fully in Rob’s journey and I felt I was on his side the whole time and then rereading it later in life, I was like, Oh wait. When you grow with a book like this, you’re just like, Oh, look at all the ways in which Rob is wrong and totally off the mark all over the place.

I always identified with Rob, which was one of the reasons I wanted to do this. When I saw the movie or read the book, the person who I identified with wasn’t any of the girlfriends, it was the Rob character. And I think one of the biggest shifts has been kind of, people romanticize that character a lot and going back and reading it, he is a bit of a misogynist and a narcissist. But I do think that’s what the book is about. It’s about a person who’s stunted. So I think when I was younger and I read the book, I think I romanticized it in a way where I was like, Oh, this person’s so cool and interesting. And then I think reading it later, I was like, This person needs to work on themselves.

It was really important to me that Rob is still kind of an asshole. Because that, to me, that’s what the story is about. People have said to me, “How does a story work and how are you not able to get a date?” And people think that that’s what the show’s about, a person who can’t get a date or can’t keep a relationship. But it’s really about a person who’s selfish and so no one wants to be with her. It doesn’t matter what you look like. If you’re not a kind person, then relationships aren’t going to work. And you have to eventually look at yourself. So to me, yeah, Rob just kind of being a selfish piece of shit was the most interesting thing about the character.

There’s also a moment that, my jaw dropped when I saw this. Rob’s just had sex with a musician, and she’s just really feeling herself. You get a little bit of nudity, but it's such an empowering bit of nudity It's not exploitative, it's not objectifying her.

Yeah. That felt really important to me. Just again, trying to make the story feel as honest as possible. And having Rob in the bath or having Rob after a one night stand, it's more interesting to see her naked in that moment instead of when she's in bed with a person. You know what I mean? I think it’s just so raw and honest and vulnerable. And the thing I love about that moment is that Rob is topless. She’s walking around feeling all cool, putting on sunglasses, and then the guy walks in and she's totally embarrassed and vulnerable and naked. It’s so funny. So moments like that are just, they hit home for me. I’m sure a lot of people can relate to a moment like that.

I wanted to ask you also briefly about Big Little Lies. It’s my understanding that the ending of season two is changed to sort of leave the door open for a season three. What are your thoughts on, on those changes and the idea of continuing Bonnie's story?

There’s a big thing that got changed. There was someone that was supposed to die, but it wasn’t me, but I don’t know what I’m allowed to say, so I don’t know. But someone did die. But I think the way we ended the season was obviously really intriguing, but also everyone got to come together and I think that felt important to everybody because I think that was one of the most powerful things about the end of season one, is these women and our stories are all quite separate, but kind of finally coming together at the end. So I think that was the reason we went in the direction we did. But I would love to do another season. I love that show. I love those people. And I love the response. I love how passionate people are about that show. It makes going to work so much better when you know that people are rooting for you and excited for the thing that you're working on.