Allison Tolman & Nick Frost On Why Women Kill Season 2: 'It's A Great Summer Watch'

(CBS Local)- Thursday marks the premiere of Season 2 of the Paramount+ series Why Women Kill and an all-new cast brings a new story from the mind of creator Marc Cherry to life. This season of the series takes viewers back to 1949 where Allison Tolman's Alma, a housewife hoping for a spot in her local garden club and to see her daughter get married has her life upended when she learns of her husband Bertram's (Nick Frost) secret hobby.

The first two episodes of the new season, "Secret Beyond The Door" and "The Woman in the Window" are now available on Paramount+. CBS Local's Ryan Mayer caught up with Tolman and Frost to discuss their roles, why they joined the project and what audiences can expect from Season 2.

RM: Season 2 of Why Women Kill is now available on Paramount+, after the last year and all the protocols it took to make this season how does it feel to be here with audiences finally getting to see the work you've put in?

NF: I'm so excited it's now on TV and we're doing press for it, I'm thrilled. Often, you do a show and you just kind of sit on it for a year and you forget you did it. So this is great.

AT: It was a pretty quick turnover. We just finished shooting about a month or five weeks ago. But it's so exciting for people to finally see the thing that we've been working on since October. But, it's a little bittersweet because Nick is back home in the U.K. so he's not here to celebrate with us. And Los Angeles is opening up a little bit more and people can actually go places. And Nick is on the other side of the ocean which is kind of sad.

RM: You're both part of this new cast for the second season, how did each of you hear about the project and what made you want to get involved?

AT: I've never played a role like this before on camera. I have a background in sketch comedy and musical theater and it really felt like it was sort of a draw on those skills that I know I have but people haven't seen me do before. So the idea of getting to play a character in this kind of comedy, this kind of style, was really attractive to me. And then, I don't think anybody does this style better than Marc Cherry so if I was going to jump in, I can't imagine a better writer to work with and do this exact thing.

NF: I've been doing this job for 20 years and I'm always amazed that someone would offer me a part in a thing. So I'm always very touched when that happens. I know there's another Nick Frost so I always wonder if maybe they gave it to me by accident (laughing) but I went with it. And when I was here it was too late to rescind the offer.

I love the role of Bertram, he's a really lovely person with an awfully dark secret and I think I kind of knew what that felt like (winking/laughing). So I thought, yeah I'm absolutely going to do it."

RM: Nick you spoke there about the darkness jokingly that you can relate to in the character but I wonder what were the other connection points that drew you to playing Bertram?

NF: I think Bertram and I do share a weird kind of darkness and a need to help people. I know what that feels like. I know he's constantly trying to help his patients and the animals and their mothers and Allison so I get that get that urge to try and help things hopefully by doing that, he'll make himself happy but often that's not the case.

RM: Allison, for you a similar question, what was it about Alma that drew you in and made you want to play this part?

AT: I really enjoyed, there's something about doing a limited series and knowing where your character is going to be, where they're going to start and where they're going to finish up. I didn't know exactly how we were going to get there, what the storylines would be or the scripts or the jokes. But I knew when I took the project that Alma was going to start in one place and end up in a different place. And I was really interested in building that arc for her and how she went from a woman who felt like she has no agency and no control over her own life to a woman who has a little bit of power and how we connected those dots.

I never could have predicted how much fun it was going to be to connect those dots. I really cannot wait to see and cannot wait for other people to see the work that happens in the second half of the season that starts to get really, fun. There's blood in the water and she really finds her final form which is exciting. Taking on a role that I knew was going to have a transition like that was really fun.

RM: For everyone excited for the show to be back and excited to see each of you, what can fans expect to see when the season kicks off on Friday?

AT: I think people who watched the first season are really going to fall right in line and really be delighted by this one. The tone is so similar, it has all of that signature sort of Marc Cherry one liners and quippiness. The style of comedy that is really precise and all there.

And for people who are coming in and just watching the second season which is fine because it's an anthology and you don't have to have watched the first season to start the second season. I just think it's a great summer watch. It's a lot of fun, it's kind of delicious and dark. The costumes are beautiful, the cast is very attractive, right Nick?

NF: What?

AT: (laughing) It's just a great summer show and I think people are really going to enjoy it.

RM: Guys, thank you so much for taking some time.

AT & NF: Thank you.

Why Women Kill Season 2 premieres today, June 3 on Paramount+ with a pair of episodes. The rest of the season will see one new episode drop each Thursday on Paramount+