American Auto: Ana Gasteyer on the Evolution of Katherine Hastings [Interview]

American Auto Season 2 has seen tremendous evolution for Ana Gasteyer’s Katherine Hastings. She’s had to deal with the fallout from some significant mistakes and brought Payne out on top.

Katherine has become a completely different person as she’s worked to create a more united front with the executives. This is a significant change from the last time we spoke with Gasteyer at the start of this season.

I spoke with Ana Gasteyer again to discuss everything we learned from Katherine this season and what we can expect in the future — should the show get more seasons.

Wesley is undoubtedly on every viewer’s mind going into the future. During his grandfather’s funeral — in a move of sentimentality — he convinced his family to give him all their shares so they don’t get sold.

This move makes him Payne’s major shareholder, which essentially makes him Katherine’s boss.

“It’s a little just kind of bullet in the chamber if you will. We barely touched upon it [this season], and I am sure it will manifest next season in a kind of fun and interesting way,” Gasteyer said.

“We’ve got this undercut of Wesley waiting to drop whatever he’s gonna drop. He’s not particularly Machiavellian. I mean, I think that’s why he did not get CEO to begin with. But, he has a lot of power now.” 

“Where we end this finale, this unlikely successful turn for Katherine and the company, [it has] this kind of sense of coming out on top,” Gasteyer continued. “And as she says, ‘Once you have power and money, you can do whatever you want.’ So I think it’ll be fun to sort of play out what the flip side of success means to them.”

As many viewers know, giving Wesley any power or influence over business decisions rarely ends well for the company.

Many of the moments where he had a big idea this season ended in disaster for the team or the company as a whole. 

Two examples are the company’s acquisition of Wesley’s friend’s sand battery and his creating a male panel to discuss and make decisions on women’s rights.

“[The sand battery] is just sitting there waiting in the wings. I can’t speak to what Justin [Spitzer] will want to write about. But I certainly think that power and arrogance can lead to a lot of story opportunities for both Katherine and Wesley,” Gasteyer said.

Then there is American Auto Season 2 Episode 6, “The Letter,” which sees Wesley in a place of wanting to help but not getting the desired result.

Gasteyer said stories like that are what creator Justin Spitzer does best.

“It just kind of reveals the weaknesses and well-intended, but not very clearly thought benevolence. Like having the men decide the out-of-state abortion policy.”

At the close, Katherine questions why these four men thought it was a good idea to make the decisions for women. All the while, Katherine, Sadie, and Dori’s actions — while done together — did little to help their fellow women out.

Gasteyer also spoke about that shared bond with Dori and Sadie. “I think that she had a closer relationship with Sadie this season, which is nice. I think it was less sort of women biting and women baiting and more buddy scenes and buddy comedy for [Harriet and me] and also for Dori and Catherine, which was nice.”

She said that overall, the season has been an “invisible line” for her character.

“I actually think Justin does an incredible job of writing character transformation into his story.”

“Season 2 of a show always does this, where we go from the premise-driven aspect of the comedy to the human or character driven. So, it started by her refusing to step down when she realizes that the rest of her team is gonna go and ask for the salvation of her colleagues’ jobs,” Gasteyer explained.

“An us against the board and public opinion kind of moment. So I think that was the first big step: Katherine martyring herself on behalf of her team when she had the opportunity to take the money and run. It was a piece of character development that I thought showed the slightest bit of integrity for her.”

This moment led Katherine Hastings toward the growth needed to have the strength to be vulnerable with her coworkers. She invites them to her home because she is lonely and is willing to show them that.

“As she evolves, she has a closer relationship with everyone, which is nice,” Gasteyer said.

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American Auto airs on NBC. American Auto Season 2 is now streaming on Peacock.

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