The 'Julia' Season 2 Trailer Explores France, Food, and Fame
Sarah Lancashire in "Julia" Season 2
(Photo: Sebastein Gonon/Max)
The second season of Max drama Julia is set to premiere in November, and will take viewers on a journey that encompasses everything from the decadent French Riveria to the White House Kitchen itself as the popularity of the famous chef --- and her groundbreaking public television series --- keeps rising.
The series stars Sarah Lancashire (Last Tango in Halifax) as the titular Julia and is inspired by the creation of her long-running cooking show The French Chef. Set immediately following the publication of her bestselling cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julia sees Child working to launch her first series with the help of public television station WGBH.
The second season will pick up almost immediately after the events of the first, which ended with Julia declaring that she was willing to continue making The French Chef, but needed some time to decompress and clear her head before diving back into a second season. That rest period appears to be what drives the plot of Season 2's initial episodes, as Julia heads to Paris to reunite with fellow French cookbook writer Simca Beck (Isabella Rossellini) and, naturally, to eat what appears to be a truly ridiculous amount of decadent cuisine.
Season 2 will also wrestle with the impact of Julia's steadily increasing fame. As the series' success grows, with The French Chef expanding into twelve more markets, we watch as Julia tries new recipes and attempts to work product placement into her show, with decidedly mixed results. And she and her devoted husband Paul (David Hyde Pierce) will have to learn to navigate the ways her growing celebrity impacts their home and family life.
Elsewhere, the other women in Julia's orbit --- from her book editor to her WGBH colleagues --- are experiencing frustration navigating the male-dominated worlds of television and publishing in the 1960s and looking to her for guidance on how to find their own professional paths.
Here's the series' logline.
With her trailblazing cooking show up and running on the air, Julia grapples with her rising celebrity and what that means for her, her colleagues and her show. In Season 2, Julia and her devoted husband Paul return from Simca’s home in France to find that her success has changed everything.”
Other returning cast members include Bebe Neuwirth (The Good Fight) as Avis DeVoto; Brittany Bradford (Dead Ringers) as Alice Naman; Fran Kranz (Party Down) as Russ Morash; Fiona Glascott (Indian Summers) as Judith Jones; and Robert Joy (Prodigal Son) as Hunter Fox. Returning guest stars include Judith Light (The Menu), Tosin Morohunfola (Everything's Trash), and Christian Clemenson (The Good Doctor).
Cray Ex-Girlfriend creator Rachel Bloom is also joining the cast in Season 2 as Elaine Levitch, a powerhouse director who comes to WGBH from CBS to work with Child on The French Chef.
Julia Season 2 will premiere on Thursday, November 16, with the first three episodes, followed by weekly releases on Thursdays until the finale on December 21. Season 1 is currently streaming on Max.
