‘Stick’ Season 2 Stars Rhea Seehorn & Owen Wilson On Episode 3, Amanda

Pryce Cahill (Owen Wilson) faces the challenge of working on himself in Stick Season 2, and Pluribus star Rhea Seehorn has been teed up to help him in his next career chapter as of the second season’s third episode.

When Pryce’s protégé Santiago Wheeler (Peter Dager) decides to go pro in golf without Pryce as his coach, the washed up older golfer takes up his former rival Clark (Timothy Olyphant) on the offer to make a play for the U.S. Open. Clark’s idea is for Pryce to visit his old coach, “The Swing Doctor,” Butch Lydecker (Rex Linn) to get back into pro shape, but upon tracking Butch down, Clark, Pryce and Mitts (Marc Maron) learn that Pryce’s former mentor has Alzheimer’s disease and paradoxical lucidity.

Things shift with the arrival of his daughter (Amanda), who rolls up to the farm in Potosi, Missouri where her father coached many an athlete. She is now taking care of her father, but she spent time with Pryce when they were younger, and it’s clear that the jolt of seeing each other again sends them down their own memory lanes.

“That was a tricky acting thing because it’s something that you’re supposed to show just on your face,” Wilson told Deadline of the moment Pryce clocks Amanda. “There’s not going to be dialog, so it’s me looking out the window to see her arrive, and then I see [her], and then [Rhea’s] challenge was coming in. This is something naked that just hits you when you see it.”

The shock at seeing each other for the first time in 20 to 25 years is apparent on both Pryce’s and Amanda’s faces, though Pryce more openly wears the surprise.

“Working with Jaffar [Mahmood] who was directing [episode three]. We thought about, ‘Well, there’s history, but she would cover quickly.’ But for the audience to have a way into this story, I need them to see the moment before I cover. But how quick is it? How fast is she covering?” Seehorn told Deadline. “And then also, we knew instinctively that the most interesting way to begin this tale is to raise a question. So don’t telegraph to the audience. It used to be sweet, and then it was rocky, and then it was this, and then it was that. And then cry.”

The first inkling of the history between Pryce and Amanda shows up when they reminisce about a childhood arcade challenge, and it’s Mitts and Clark who look at each other, knowingly, as if they are catching onto a past dynamic, while witnessing the banter between Pryce and Amanda. Pryce does admit that he found Amanda “cute” back then.

“So, we wanted to raise questions, and then on top of that, to technically delineate, which one is my reaction to how Pryce is back in my life, and then what are my reactions to Mitts and Clark being back in my life?” the Better Call Saul alum continued. “And she feels very differently about them. We had fun doing that. I love those little moments where you’re just Alice going down the rabbit hole, and you’re taking the audience down.”

By the end of the episode, it’s clear to Pryce that he needs Amanda as his swing coach following all the open critiques she gave his form and observations she made about his career, ability and the U.S. Open golf course.

“I was a huge fan of the show from Season 1. Jason Keller and Chris Moynihan — whom I know from long ago — we acted together, had reached out to my reps to find out if it would be possible for me to do this, and I was so excited,” Seehorn said. “I’m not just a fan of the show, but a huge Owen Wilson fan. Actually, their whole cast too. I’m obsessed with Miss Judy Greer, but all of them.”

“[Keller and Moynihan] showed me the role, and It’s not [just] lighthearted. There are so many beautiful, dramatic and earned moments in this, but it is quite a bit more comedy than I’ve done in a long time,” Seehorn continued. “So that was really fun, especially if you’re working with very gifted comedic actors. Not that they don’t all do drama as well, but it was just so much fun. And then at the last second, I’ll just admit that then it was a little daunting. I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is like well-oiled machine. These guys all know each other. What am I coming into?’ But it was great.”

In addition to Seehorn and Linn, SNL alum John Higgins, Billy Zane, Sasha Alexander and Missi Pyle have joined the Stick Season 2 ensemble.

“They were very, very open arms, collaborative, and they’re all really funny people, but they’re not the kind of funny where they’re just doing a bit and you’re not allowed in anywhere,” she added. “You’re allowed to be part of the funny, and as soon as I was able to give it back, what I was taking, then we were all good.”

As for the layers of Pryce Cahill that this new character entry exposes, Wilson felt the addition of Seehorn as Amanda “mirrored” the story’s arc, making it “easier to act.”

“It was very easy for me to see what Santi’s deal is, and that I’m going to come in and help him. It was harder for me to see ‘No, wait, Pryce is now struggling, and what is he dealing with?’” Wilson said. “And then, these people are coming in to help him. That felt a little bit more out of control for me, which is how I think it is for the character. Like I”m comfortable helping you. You don’t help me because I don’t need help.’”

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