He’s a morning person.
Mark Duplass said that working with Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon on the “The Morning Show” has been surprising, because of “how normal and approachable they both are,” he told The Post, while promoting his new Netflix series “Penelope” (out Sept. 24).
Aniston and Witherspoon are “lovely to be around, and kind good humans,” he went on. “They’re both international megastars – they don’t have any reason to be as open and sweet as they are.”
The Emmy winning Apple drama, which has been renewed for a Season 4, is set in the world of a fictional morning news program. Witherspoon and Aniston play on-air anchors Bradley Jackson (Witherspoon) and Alex Levy (Aniston), while Duplass plays their executive producer, Charlie “Chip” Black.
All three actors were nominated for drama acting Emmys this year, although none of them took home trophies in 2024 (but co-star Billy Crudup did).
“Awards are a funny thing. I tend to be of two minds,” said Duplass.
“The first is, I think it’s silly to have any competition in the creative realm. So, I don’t put too much stock in them. But then, as soon as I get nominated, I get really excited and throw all that stuff away,” he said, laughing.
The former “Togetherness” star added that all of the accolades and award recognition is “really cool for the show.”
“I’m particularly happy for the supporting female actors we have,” he continued. “They’re doing incredible work on the show, and Reese and Jen….it’s cool to have a show this big in Hollywood run by women, and it’s great to see them get acknowledged.”
Aniston and Witherspoon are both executive producers of “The Morning Show,” as well as its stars.
“I’m really impressed by their leadership as producers. I get the sense that coming of age in Hollywood in the 90s, they might not have had the best bosses all the time,” said Duplass.
“I think they’ve made a concerted effort to be great bosses. I feel that from them.”
Duplass is a writer, diretor, and producer in much of his other work, such as “Penelope,” his HBO horror anthology “Room 104,” and the hit Netflix documentary “Wild Wild Country.”
But, in “The Morning Show,” he only acts — and that’s how he likes it.
“The main difference between being an actor and a director is – I relate it to parenting,” said Duplass, who shares two daughters with his wife, actress Katie Aselton.
“Directing is like having kids, it’s your baby,” he explained.
“It’s exhausting and all consuming and rewarding. Acting is more like being a drunk uncle who shows up with Oreos to parties, and then leaves when the director has to take care of business.”
He enjoys “The Morning Show’s” tendency to feature current events, such as the MeToo movement or the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
But, Duplass said he’d be hard pressed to single out what news headlines he wants the next season to feature.
“It’s hard to pick the right things for them, because when you’re trying to do a show that keeps up with current events, the timing is so critical and difficult,” he explained.
“The first season, they wanted to incorporate the MeToo movement, which was happening right when they were about to film, so they rewrote the whole thing. In Season 2, they included the pandemic. In Season 3, it was a lot of the issues with women’s rights.”
He added that he likes that the writers room always tries to weave in current events and “make it work.”
But, he said, the fun part of only acting on the show is, “I don’t have to worry about that. I just get to do what they tell me to do, and go where they tell me to go.”
