Mary McCormack Talks ‘Heels’ Season 2 [Interview]

Starz’ Heels Season 2 is coming in hot with the emotions as Jack Spade and everyone at the DWL deal with the fallouts from Season 1’s finale.

I recently had the chance to chat with Mary McCormack (In Plain Sight and The Kids Are Alright), who plays Willie Day. We spoke about what Willie’s journey looks like for this season, portraying a realistic woman in the realm of make-believe, and the challenges of filming with her real daughter. (You can watch the full interview below.)

Season 2 ended with a whole new world for the DWL (Duffy Wrestling League) with Crystal’s unplanned dawning of the champion title, ultimately forcing Jack to look at where he’s been going wrong and giving Willie a prime opportunity for new playing fields.

“She’s the same sort of business head of the operation while the brothers continue to rival, and there’s chaos. When Crystal wins the championship, we are sort of faced with, ‘How do we sustain this?’ I don’t want to do spoilers, but at some point, Jack is absent and leaves Willie in charge,” McCormack said.

“She starts booking matches and writing and loves it. I think she always wanted to wrestle. She didn’t get to do that. She was a valet, which I think is in her blood, and she loves it, but I think booking matches is like a whole new landscape for her, which she loves and starts the women’s division.” 

McCormack says her relationship with Kelli Berglund, who plays Crystal Tyler, is also exciting and that exploring their character’s relationship brings her joy.

“I think Willie loves her, roots for her, and is like turned on by almost watching her dreams come true through someone else. It’s sort of sad and wonderful because that ship has sailed for her, but to see it happen for this next generation is really fun to play,” McCormack said.

Watch the full interview with Mary McCormack:

McCormack’s character advocates for women’s inclusion by pushing Jack Spade, played by Stephen Amell, to create a women’s division for the DWL, but she’s a mess at the end of the day. Being able to portray a well-rounded character that’s realistic of women in real life is something McCormack is thankful for.

“I think it’s wonderful how Michael [Waldron] and all the writers wrote Willie because they listen. She drinks too much. She smokes too much. She curses too much. She’s also a bit of a hot mess. I think it’s realistic.”

“I think often on TV shows we make the woman character this sort of like moral compass, you know, they always know right from wrong, and I don’t know that that’s true for women. You know, sometimes it’s true for women, just like sometimes it’s true for men. So, I appreciate that they wrote her just complete, with flaws and all,” McCormack continued.

While Heels is a series that revolves heavily around wrestling and non-stop fighting, Willie doesn’t engage in much of that.

She does, however, like to be a bit heavy-handed with the liquor. Being that McCormack’s on-screen daughter is also her actual daughter in real life, it’s sometimes hard to get through those particular scenes.

“Those drunk scenes are pretty tough. I was watching one last night, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ I mean, I’m a mother of three daughters. And in fact, Robin Day, who plays my daughter on the show, is my actual daughter, Margaret. So, when my husband walks over to me and says, ‘I’ll tell Robin you’re sleeping in,’ it’s like, it makes me nauseous. That’s hard to play. But I also appreciate it. It’s great. I like opening a script and seeing meaty stuff.”

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Heels Season 2 premieres July 28th at 10/9c on Starz. 

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Things Look Grim for Jack Spade in ‘Heels’ Season 2 Trailer