Trying has been one of the most heartwarming comedies since it premiered on Apple TV+ in 2020.
The third season debuts July 22, with the first two episodes, followed by new episodes weekly, every Friday through September 2, 2022.
TV Fanatic got the chance to speak with Esther Smith (Nikki) and Rafe Spall (Jason) ahead of the premiere.
At the end of Trying Season 2, Jason and Nikki had been approved to have one child, but they were left with two, putting them in quite the predicament.
“They were put into a very tricky scenario at the end of series two, which was really unexpected,” Esther shares.
“Then, obviously double unexpected, because then they’ve got another child hidden in the boot of their car, which is going to be very surprising as we move forward.”
“They’re still not guaranteed the one child, really. That’s taken a lot of their energy and worry.”
“For Nikki, I think she really is desperate to keep these two kids together.”
“And I think their [Nikki and Jason] remit is these two kids need to be kept together, and we want to be the people that look after them,” Esther shares.
“And so that’s kind of where their heads are at, at the beginning of Series 3.”
Rafe adds that the pair have gotten much more than they psychologically prepared themselves for due to having two kids.
“They’ve suddenly found themselves in charge of two kids,” he said.
“They don’t want the kids to be split up because they adore them so much. So they’ve got 12 weeks to prove to the local authority that they can be a family,” Spall teases.
“I think that’s really interesting. You get lots of parenting shows, but not many shows that show a couple trying to bond with kids who’ve got their own personalities, their own wants, and needs,” the star adds.
“Not only did Nikki and Jason want to provide them with a safe home, but they also want them to like them. And I think that makes for a really touching funny emotional TV, which is pretty much in line with the show thus far,” he concluded.
Understandably, seeing Nikki and Jason as parents to these children will bring out different sides of their characters.
“I think one of the wonderful things you get about making this show for three years is that we’ve grown as people with the characters,” Spall said.
“We have an influence over the characters, a certain level of authorship that you get in a relatively long-running show.”
“It’s really lovely to see how they change and react to certain situations over a finite number of seasons.”
The star went on to say that it’s a collaboration between the actors and writer of the show.
Esther says that adding the two extra variables, that is two small children, amps up the tension because it begs questions about how they will function as parents.
“I think particularly for Nikki, It’s not necessarily what she thought it was going to be,” Esther shares.
“And that’s been really nice to kind of play that tension. and we’ll just see how these two people grow, as parents, and with each other.”
Check out the trailer for Trying Season 3 below, and return to TV Fanatic tomorrow for a post-mortem.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.