Get a first look at Julianna Margulies on 'The Morning Show'
There's something different about UBA's newest anchor: She actually "has her s— together." That's according to The Morning Show showrunner Kerry Ehrin, who reveals that when Laura Peterson (Julianna Margulies) walks onto the news set for the first time in the upcoming second season of Apple TV+'s Emmy-winning drama, it will be as a stabilizing force. That will prove much needed in a workplace that Ehrin describes as "in flux" after coanchors Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon) and Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) outed UBA's toxic environment on air in the season 1 finale.
"The idea really stemmed from having a character who had done the work and what that looked like in this industry and in the UBA environment," Ehrin says. "She's at the top of her game." However, that's not to say that Laura hasn't had her fair share of tough experiences. "She's a woman who has been through the fire and back and made it out alive," adds Margulies.
Erin Simkin/Apple
After season 1 saw Alex's longtime coanchor Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell) fired over claims of sexual misconduct, Witherspoon's Bradley, a fearless yet green correspondent from West Virginia, was essentially thrown into the big leagues overnight. Now, when Bradley needs it most, she's getting a true guide. "Laura started kind of like a Dateline show. She's a UBA star and an icon at a Diane Sawyer level," says Ehrin. "We wanted to create a mentor figure for Bradley that was somebody who does things differently."
And she certainly does things differently from Bradley's only other professional role model, Alex, who just so happens to be Laura's longtime rival. (You can see where this is going.) As Margulies says, "You've got to believe me when I tell you this character was worth getting on a plane for in the middle of a pandemic."
EW has an exclusive first look at Margulies above.
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