(Youll see.)
Garner even twirls in her heels on her way out a perfect farewell gesture, considering how…
This projects a heel-turn for both of you.
Credit: Autumn de Wilde/HBO
Neither of you are exactly known for ensemble comedies.
DidCampingscratch an itch to do something different?DAVID TENNANT:It certainly did.
It was unlike any job Id ever been involved with before.
HBO
I didnt know if I could do it, surrounded by people who are proper comedians.
This was a nice way to go back to that.
What did you find appealing about Kathryn and Walt?
Anne Marie Fox/HBO
Hes just doing his best in a tough situation.
TENNANT:So is Kathryn, isnt she?
GARNER:Poor Kathryn.
She has chronic pain…
TENNANT:In all sorts of places!
[Garner laughs.]
Sideways?TENNANT:Yes.
It just needs a bit of moisturizer.
Were you once nice?
This is a case where youre watching that happen in process.
These characters could easily come across as caricatures.
[Turning to Garner] Jen?
GARNER:Yup, that did it!
I feel like I would have to give the other side of the story.
That was really hard for me.
But they would say, Go further.
People told me crazy things like, Its all about your mouth, and youre just like, Bleh!
[Camping as an activity] is a great petri dish for characters.
We were all drawing from our own experiences of dysfunction.
Kathryn is an Instagram mom, cresting 11,000 followers and proud of it.
Why not?TENNANT:I set myself a position which Im clinging to probably out of stubbornness.
GARNER:Oh, the mighty willfall.
I did the same, I believed in that position.
Thats really why Im not on social media.
And social media has developed now as a thing over the last 10 years, but my positionhasntdeveloped.
So I dont know, there probably will come a time when I will give in.
GARNER:You know what will happen?
A job will
TENNANT:Willdemandit, and Ill have to look to my principles.
And flush them quickly down the toilet.
[To Garner] But youownit, right?
Like, you actually own Instagram.
Theres something lovely about being in an ensemble cast of people that are all sort of the same age.
[Laughs]
GARNER:That wasso nice.
TENNANT:Quite liberating.
GARNER:Another thing is how good it is for your soul to work outside.
Did you feel that way?
I felt like we were the only two.
TENNANT:Oh, Ilovedgoing to that set.
A lot of people didnt.
People kept complaining about the dust.
GARNER:Every time we drove out there, it was prayerful for me.
If you had to choose, which character would you say youre most like?GARNER:Oooh.
Maybe Ione [Skye, who plays Kathryns timid sister, Carleen]?
TENNANT:There are bits of Kathryn that you very much identify with.
GARNER:[Nods] The organization.
My life requires it, and I overcompensate.
TENNANT:Id like to think that Im like Chris Sullivans character, that Im as cool as him.
GARNER:Yeah, but youre thinking ofChris, not his character.
[Sullivan, who also stars onThis Is Us, plays cocky, booze-soaked Joe.]
TENNANT:I want to be Chris Sullivan.
GARNER:I do too, desperately.
What if we just go right now and get a pedicure together in some big harem pants?
We all went to dinner in New York
TENNANT:I wasnt invited.
GARNER:You were sorely missed.
But seeing him out in the world?
Ahh, I will never be that cool in my whole life.
TENNANT:So cool.
[They both sigh.]
Campingpremieres Sunday, Oct. 14, at 10 p.m.
