KSiteTV Interview: iZombie EP Diane Ruggiero-Wright Talks Season 2

Season 2 of the CW “zomedy” iZombie begins this Tuesday night, October 6, following the season premiere of The Flash. The series stars Rose McIver and was brought to afterlife by Executive Producers Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright.

This summer, we spoke with Ms. Ruggiero-Wright about Season 2 as well as aspects of the first season. We also tried to get some hints as to what to look forward to. Enjoy, and don’t miss the season premiere on Tuesday night!

KSITETV’s CRAIG BYRNE: When we last saw Liv, she had a big decision to make involving her brother. Can you talk about that?

DIANE RUGGIERO-WRIGHT: I can tell you some things: I can tell you that there’s going to be some very dramatic fallout from that… in the first season, the big thing was “I have to keep this secret, and I have to keep this secret because I’ve afraid of people getting hurt, and I’m afraid of how people will react to me,” and that was kind of her thing for the first season.

Now, for the second season, it’s like “Oh sh-t! Everything that I feared that was going to happen, is going to happen. The people I love got really hurt, and the people that I love left me.” And so, it all kind of falls down around her in the beginning of this season. It’s three months later, and she’s still dealing with this heartbreaking aftermath.

Will there be a continuation of the Max Rager storyline in Season Two?

Yes. There’s more Max Rager in Season Two, which I’m super excited about, because I love Steven Weber. I was actually pitching that we build part of his office out of chocolate so he could just reach over and literally eat pieces of scenery… he’s so fraiking good. He destroys me. So we’re going to have more of him, which I’m delighted about, and Max Rager will definitely be playing a role as another “Big Bad” in this season.

Were there any other guest stars that really jumped out to you in Season One?

It’s so funny that you should ask….

We always knew we were going to kill Lowell. We knew it. We hoped that we would find an actor that was compelling, because who could compete with Robert Buckley? So, it was like “oh, she could be with Major, but then there’s this other guy…” You look at any other guy and you’re like “Yeah, right.” Everything seems like a step down [from Major], but Bradley [James] was just so compelling, and he had such great chemistry, and those characters just blended so well together… I was hoping that the story would play well… I was hoping that people would be invested, but I had no idea how invested people would be, and I had no idea how invested I would be, and that I would actually backpedal to Rob and be like “Do we have to kill him?” But I knew that we had to kill him and that was the right thing to do, but I became super invested in him, and I am so sad that we can’t have him back.

There are certain people that are coming back from the first season, actors that we discovered that we really liked and have found a way to bring back, so that’s kind of fun for us to see that.

Are we going to see Peyton again?

Yes! She’s going to come back… I wish we could have more of her. I love her, and I’d love to see more of that relationship between the best friends, but we could only have her for a limited time… but this year, she does have a crossover of stories that is going to be pretty interesting. We’re going to get to see Peyton in a different capacity, and I think it’s going to be really fun.

Do you think we will see more females for Liv to work with in the future?

There’s another female cast member that has come on.

Last season you had some Veronica Mars guest stars like Ryan Hansen and Percy Daggs. Will we be seeing any more of that in Season 2?

Well, we had Adam Rose, he played Mac’s boyfriend, he’s in an episode…. and we will definitely have more Party Down people. Rob always has his friends who love being on the shows.

I loved having Percy on the show because I loved him so much — Wallace has such a special place in my heart. My favorite part about the Ryan Hansen thing, were those promotional posters that were on the wall… seeing the ones that we got to use, and the ones that we couldn’t use… that was the best fun, just seeing him in all of those different poses. He’s just so hilarious… him and Rose are very good friends, so she was happy to have him there.

Can you talk about Robert Knepper coming on to the show?

I am so excited. I love him, and he’s amazing, and he’s perfect for Blaine’s father. To go toe-to-toe with David Anders is no joke, so I’m really excited for that casting.

How is Blaine going to deal with his change in status?

I feel like he’s adaptable… His evil kind of crime aspirations, I feel like he might’ve been struggling when he was just a low-grade drug dealer, but turning into a zombie kind of his niche, and it gave him confidence to show that he was good at what he does, in a way, and so it’s with a new-found confidence that he embarks on his next endeavor which is just as bad. He’s not going to miss a beat.

How is Major going to adapt after all of the revelations from the season finale?

There’s definitely a journey that they’re going to have to go on. It’s three months later when we pick up. You’re not going to be over it in three months, let’s face it. I get his perspective, and I get why he’s going to struggle with what to do that. It’s also so bizarre… like, how do you even process that? It’s a lot to process, so I get it.

At Comic-Con, you had mentioned in an interview somewhere that you would love to write Wonder Woman at some point…

Which was so funny, because I had done this guest writing thing for the Hollywood Reporter, saying how I was never getting genre jobs, and then I finally got one… so they had just asked me about it, like “now that you can work in genre, what would be your dream?” and I said it, and then all of the sudden I was getting all of these Tweets!

I’m actually writing a comic for them [DC Comics], for the digital Wonder Woman series, Sensation Comics. I’m excited. That’s probably in the next few months. That was like the biggest dream come true. The fun part of it, for me, is that I’m kind of into the Golden Age… I’m kind of a retro girl… I always wanted to do Wonder Woman Noir, so I pitched like a Wonder Woman Noir story.

As far as writing a super heroine, you get to do that with iZombie… was that also a life-long goal?

It’s the greatest thing, because it’s all I want to be. Growing up and being a big comics fan and being a superhero fan, or even when I was a Charlie’s Angels fan… that was always the dream, to write this hero. I always wanted that. As a kid going to see the Superman movies, and just thinking “I wish I could do that, I wish I could save people”…. so, getting to write someone that helps people and kicks ass is the greatest thing in the world. It was fun writing Veronica Mars, because she helped people, and she was bad-ass… and this is just like another level from that, to have more kind of action and that kind of stuff. It’s the greatest.

What about Season 2 excites you the most for people to see?

Max Rager.

You can see Max Rager and more in Season 2 of iZombie! Our thanks to Diane Ruggiero-Wright for speaking with us, and you can read our advance review of Tuesday’s season premiere here!