Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Angourie Rice may have had some “inklings” that The Last Thing He Told Me would return for a second season, but getting the call that the show was greenlit for season 2, admittedly came as a surprise.

The AppleTV+ series, based on the novel by the same name by author Laura Dave, ended its first season with Hannah [Jennifer Garner] discovering that Owen [Coster-Waldau] has been living under a false identity after testifying against dangerous criminals years ago, and he disappeared to protect her and Bailey [Rice] from retaliation. She tracks him down, and they reunite briefly, but they realize they can’t be together without putting everyone at risk.

Owen stays in hiding, while Hannah and Bailey choose to move forward together as a family, ending the season — and what most viewers thought was its limited-series run — on a bittersweet but hopeful note.

ScreenRant‘s Ash Crossan spoke to Coster-Waldau and Rice ahead of the show’s season 2 premiere, where they shared how they found out they’d be returning to continue the story.

Rice: There wasn’t one phone call for me. It was like, “Oh, maybe, maybe.” And then, “You’re going to have a meeting with Josh Singer,” who is one of our executive producers. He’s also married to Laura Dave, who wrote the book. And in the meeting Josh was like, “So we’ve got this idea.”

Coster-Waldau: But also, the idea ended up being quite different from what happened. At least the idea I got.

While the details remain a bit hazy for the pair, one thing they both remembered was the feeling they got when reading the script for season 2, telling ScreenRant it just “felt right.”

Rice: What I remember is the script, what we actually shot. And reading those, I was like, this is — it felt right, I think. And I felt that Laura [Dave] felt that there was more to say, which was nice too. And I remember her saying, “I’m only going to write more if I feel there is more to be said.” And I think there was, which is nice.

Everything Coster-Waldau & Rice Want Fans To Know Before Watching Season 2

ScreenRant: What do you think is the number one thing that we need to remember going into season two?

Rice: Well, I think the deal is the number one thing. The deal that was made. Hannah made a deal and said, “We will stay away from Owen if you can give me, Hannah, and Bailey safety.” So that’s the deal, that they have to stay away from Owen, and he can’t contact them. And that’s pretty important information going in.

Coster-Waldau: And also that Nicholas has access to Bailey because Nicholas is key in this whole thing. Nicholas is a key.

ScreenRant: I would love the idea, maybe not being haunted or anything, but sneaking around and having code names. Do you have code names for each other or what would you want your code name to be?

Rice: Do you have nicknames?

Coster-Waldau: No.

Rice: Do people ask to shorten your name if they find it tricky? That happens with me a lot. People are like, “Angourie? Oh, it’s too hard. Can I call you something else?” So I do have a couple of nicknames. I don’t feel brave enough to share any of them today.

ScreenRant: It’s funny ’cause I was in the hallway and people were asking for pronunciations and I was like, I didn’t want to insult you guys by being like, “What are the craziest ways that people say your names?”

Coster-Waldau: Oh, there’s a lot.

Rice: I’m sure there’s a lot. Anything other than Angourie sounds crazy to me.

Coster-Waldau: The J always throws people over here, Nikolaj. I like Niko.

Rice: I like Niko. Niko!

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