For Jane Levy, the second season of “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” was about Zoey working through the pain of losing her father. Zoey also struggles to figure out her love life and takes on more responsibility at work, resulting in a turbulent season for our protagonist. “We saw her process through grief in Season 1 and now we see a continuation of that process,” says Levy in an exclusive new interview for Gold Derby. “In Season 1, it was leading up to how do we say goodbye and Season 2, it’s after we say goodbye, what’s the aftermath like?” Watch the video interview above.
Despite the many wrong choices or indecisive moments Zoey has in Season 2, from her love life to her job at SPRQ Point, Levy is quick to defend her character. “I personally feel so protective over Zoey when people are critical of her because I’m like, ‘Don’t you see how much pain she’s in?'” states Levy. “Yes, she’s an adult and yes, she’s making mistakes in terms of her love life but people are messy.”
While Levy often works to justify Zoey’s behavior through her performance, even when her character gets particularly messy, there was one moment in Season 2 where the actress lobbied against what was written. In the penultimate episode, we discover through flashback that Max (Skylar Astin) sacrificed his new position at SPRQ Point so that Zoey could have the job, and as Levy describes, Zoey finding out this information was originally supposed to make her realize she wants to be with Max. Levy fought to instead have Zoey have a more embarrassed reaction, considering the pride her character takes in her work. “I felt very strongly that it would be rocky but embarrassing,” recalls Levy. The result is what we see in the finale, with Zoey having a more realistic mix of emotions upon learning the truth.
A third season of “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” has not been announced, but the climactic Season 2 finale opens up the possibility of a whole new dynamic in the show. The finale ends with Max having inherited Zoey’s musical powers, which puts the pair on equal footing. While the finale did not explain exactly how Max has these powers, Levy has a theory. “I feel like it was a gift from her father to make her be able to be in relationship with this person,” she speculates. “When one person can hear someone’s thoughts and the other person can’t, it creates an imbalance. So for Max to have the power, maybe they will be able to work.”
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