Tom Pelphrey Talks ‘Ozark’ Season 3 and Wendy’s Shocking Decision [Interview]

Ozark Season 3 introduced a major new character with Wendy’s brother, Ben Davis. Ben’s arrival wound up causing quite a bit of chaos for the Byrde family, and the ending was ultimately tragic. 

I recently spoke with Tom Pelphrey, who plays Ben on the series, about what it was like joining Ozark, Ben’s struggles with bipolar disorder, and his thoughts on Ben’s ending for the series. (Spoilers ahead!)

Joining the cast of Ozark for Season 3 was especially exciting for Pelphrey because he was already a fan of the show, but he also shared how welcoming everyone in the cast and crew was.

“I knew how good the show was, so I was excited to be part of something good. But I think a lot of the potential awkwardness or feelings of not being quite grounded, they never arose because of the way that that cast handles themselves. It’s actually an energy that permeates the whole set, because the crew is also very kind and welcoming,” he recalled. “They’ve really cultivated an atmosphere down there of making everyone feel welcome and supported and respected.”

“Walking into it, Julia [Garner] and Laura [Linney] really went out of their way to welcome me and made me feel like I’d been there with them from the beginning. And that just goes such a long way towards, I think, being able to do your best work. Because then the environment feels really safe, and you’re free to be open, and you’re free to take some risks and maybe do some things that don’t work, and maybe try some things you wouldn’t have that do work. And so, that’s really a credit to them. I think that kind of atmosphere is curated on purpose by Jason Bateman, and Chris Mundy, and Laura Linney. I think that is a reflection of them, and they’ve done a good job of it.”

Pelphrey’s character, Ben, suffers from bipolar disorder, and we see how that affects him throughout the season. Pelphrey spoke a bit about what it was like to play the character and the research he did to prepare for the role.

“It was exciting, and it was very challenging. I felt like I wanted to show that I was obviously doing the best job that I possibly could. I did some research on bipolar disorder. In particular, I found a book called An Unquiet Mind, written by a woman called Kay Jamison. It’s her memoir about dealing with bipolar disorder when she first noticed it, how it was affecting her schooling, her education, eventually, her career, her friendships, her intimate relationships,” Pelphrey explained.

“The book is extra fascinating because Kay is also a doctor, who is a mental health doctor. And so, while you’re reading almost like a journal of somebody’s experience with bipolar [disorder], she’s also commenting on it as the doctor writing the book and explaining what’s happening, and explaining lithium, and the effects of taking lithium, and the effects of going off the medication, and sort of filling in all of the medical information,” he continued. “That was very helpful for me to have all that information and be able to use it when I was working on the scripts.

One of the most interesting things about Ben’s arrival to the Ozarks to see his sister is his perspective. 

“I kept saying to Chris Mundy, who’s the showrunner, the sort of meta tragedy of some of these scenes to me was that Ben was just telling the truth. Like, he’s just being honest and a good person about what’s happening around him. And of course, a lot of these situations are made more difficult for him because of the bipolar disorder. But at the same time, he’s just a good person saying the truth of what’s happening. And in that world, those values are not only not celebrated, that they’re a serious liability. Honesty, transparency — those are things that will get you into trouble in that world,” he said.

“I think it’s really smart, and I think it serves the show well. It’s almost like a way of saying to the audience, ‘Remember what we’re doing here.’ You can get so caught up in shit, as I did as a fan of the show. You get so caught up in sort of cheering for them to make it work and get away with it! And then yes, that there are certain things in Season 3 that really give the show an opportunity to say to the audience, ‘Remember what the real cost of this would be.’ And who knows where it’ll go from there, because it might only get worse.”

Ben’s arrival offered us the chance to see a bit of a new side of Wendy as well. 

“I think it also provided a lot of interesting and great scenes for Wendy, because she is so sort of ensconced in that world now, in a way that she’s embracing it, yet there’s her brother who she loves and now that gets her extra conflict, you know?”  

That conflict winds up providing one of the most shocking moments of the series, when Wendy makes the decision to leave her brother behind and give up his location to Helen — knowing this would be a death sentence — on Ozark Season 3 Episode 9.

As unforgivable as that sounds, Wendy realizes she doesn’t have much of a choice. “Given the world and understanding the characters,” Pelphrey said, “unfortunately, that’s probably what would have to happen.”

It was the same episode that we see one of Pelphrey’s favorite scenes to film. 

“There was a scene that I got to film with Laura sitting in the van in the parking lot of one of the big box stores. And that one kind of stands out to me. It was just a really special night. Laura is an actress that I love and have admired and respected for many years now. And then to get to meet her — and she’s just as wonderful a human being and a person and a scene partner,” Pelphrey shared.

“I also thought in particular, that scene was especially beautifully written. I thought it was very poetic. I thought all the writing was great, but in particular, that scene I thought was very special. It was just so much fun to be sitting in a minivan in the middle of a parking lot with Laura Linney at 2:00 in the morning, just playing the scene over and over again and finding the variation, and working off each other, and hopefully surprising each other a bit, and just playing and feeling connected and supported. And that was a special moment.”

Ben’s death has immediate consequences, and it means heartbreak for more than just his immediate family members. He had also developed a romantic relationship with Ruth (Julia Garner). Pelphry shared his thoughts on why those two characters hit it off together so well.

“They’re both honest,” he said. “They both really value the truth. I also think that they both know what it’s like to feel outcast, or other, or separate. And I think that because of all of those things that they are naturally quite taken with each other. I think they really see each other and understand each other.”

“Also, there’s an element of what has happened to Ruth in all of this. I think Ben is the first person to kind of see it and kind of speak to it, which is like, ‘This was all kind of thrust upon you in a way and has changed your life drastically, and that’s not fair to you.’ I think that there’s something really powerful there about him being a person who can actually see her for real and probably understand a lot of the things that she’s been feeling but hasn’t been able to share.”

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Ozark Season 3 is currently streaming on Netflix.

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