Paul Reiser and Sarah Baker interview: ‘The Kominsky Method’

“If it was all rosy, you’d have no comedy. Comedy necessitates things to go awry,” Paul Reiser observes about the challenges that face his character Martin and Sarah Baker’s Mindy in the third and final season of Netflix’s “The Kominsky Method.” Baker and Reiser play an unlikely but lovely couple on the cusp of an engagement when their relationship hits an unexpected money snag. Baker credits the fact that “they’re both quirky people in different ways” for helping Mindy and Martin weather the storm. Watch our exclusive video interview above.

Baker reflects on Mindy’s three-season journey on the show, saying that she feels her series arc “was a natural evolution.” Since the first episode, Mindy branches out from her relationship with father Sandy Kominsky (Michael Douglas), takes on more responsibility at his acting studio, and starts a fulfilling relationship with Martin. The latter development, which spans from the show’s second season to its final episodes, allowed her to play a more “vulnerable, sweeter side” of her character.

WATCH our exclusive video interview with Chuck Lorre (‘The Kominsky Method’ showrunner)

For his part, Reiser says the relationship between Martin and Mindy allowed him to explore a different aspect of relationship comedy. Reiser famously created and starred in newlywed sitcom “Mad About You,” which netted him six Emmy nominations as Lead Actor and four more as producer. “It’s a different journey than ‘Mad About You,’ where he wore all of his insecurities on his sleeve,” Reiser adds when comparing Paul Buchman to Martin. “Martin is a different character for me in that he’s so comfortable in his quirkiness.”

Both actors credit “Kominsky” creator and writer Chuck Lorre and directors Beth McCarthy-Miller and Andy Tennant for helping the cast navigate the show’s unique balance of comedy and drama, humor and heart. Baker says she just needed to “be in the moment and hopefully do justice to Chuck’s writing,” while Paul adds, “It really is a very realistic show, so the balance is in the writing. We never really played for the laughs.”

SEE over 200 video interviews with 2021 Emmy contenders

On filming scenes together opposite Douglas and Kathleen Turner, who play Mindy’s divorced parents Sandy and Roz, respectively, Baker shares, “We can’t believe we’re here getting to witness this.” “They have so much care and tenderness and respect for each other” as actors, she notes of Douglas and Turner. “You know what’s nice about that scene, too, is that we didn’t have to talk,” Reiser adds with a laugh.