Summary
- During an interview with Collider, Téa Leoni, Tim Daly, and Jamie Lee Curtis discuss what it was like to play pickleball in front of a live audience.
- The trio talks about working with legendary director Pamela Fryman and costume designer Michelle Cole.
- The three also share the skills they’d like to learn.
Over a decade after they first met (and fell in love!) on political drama Madam Secretary, Téa Leoni and Tim Daly are reuniting once again — this time, for a more comedic project in the form of Newlyweds, where they play eccentric widow Jeanie and pragmatic divorcee James who marry after a whirlwind romance. Leoni is best known for projects in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, including Bad Boys, Jurassic Park III, and Family Man, the latter of which won her a Saturn Award, while Daly’s resume includes everything from the sitcom Wings to guest-starring in The Sopranos — a performance which earned him an Emmy nomination.
Jamie Lee Curtis is one of the most prolific and acclaimed actors working today, with everything from classics like Halloween and True Lies to modern masterpieces like Everything Everywhere All at Once and The Bear under her belt. Curtis not only co-created Newlyweds but also stars as James’ overbearing yet fabulous ex-wife Claudia, who meddles in his new relationship whenever possible.
Collider got the chance to speak to the trio about their work on the show. During the conversation, they discussed whether they’re more of a butterfly like Jeanie or a gopher like James, playing pickleball in front of a live studio audience, how working with legendary directors and costume designers elevates the show, and more.
The ‘Newlyweds’ Cast Talks Playing Pickleball in Front of a Live Studio Audience
“Somebody went to John Gardiner’s tennis ranch.”
COLLIDER: I feel like, after this show, I’m gonna start categorizing everyone into gophers versus butterflies, so I’m curious, which would each of you categorize yourself as and why?
TÉA LEONI: I think I’m a gopher with butterfly wings.
TIM DALY: I’m trying to combine them like a butterfer, gopherfly. Same thing. Yeah, both.
LEONI: Little bit of both.
JAMIE LEE CURTIS: And I’m butterfly — total butterfly. If I see a page with too many words on it, I say TLDR. I have big ideas. This show was born from a big idea. I’m the ideas person, but the fine print? I’m just like, “Yeah, too much information. Too many words. Too many words.”
I want to talk about the pickleball scenes. I feel like pickleball is difficult enough as it is, let alone in front of a live studio audience. What was it like to shoot that?
DALY: So much fun! It was really fun.
CURTIS: Somebody got competitive. [Looks at Leoni] You! We’re pointing at you.
DALY: Can you tell our pickleball story without offending anyone? The first time we tried?
CURTIS: Please, tell it.
LEONI: Yeah, you can tell it — just don’t name any names.
DALY: Tell it.
LEONI: No, you tell it.
DALY: So, Téa and I were asked by some friends if we wanted to play pickleball, and they had, like, outfits, paddles where you unzip the thing. And we reached into this bucket of damp, wet, moldy paddles. The hardest part about pickleball is the rules, which I still can’t even describe.
LEONI: Yeah, the score.
CURTIS: The kitchen.
DALY: But after a game and a half, we were kind of kicking their ass, and we felt a little guilty because they were so turbo about it. I can’t remember if we let them win. I don’t think so. So apparently, we have a little bit of an aptitude for pickleball — as does Jamie, by the way.
CURTIS: Yeah, but somebody went to John Gardiner’s tennis ranch.
LEONI: You went to John Gardiner’s?! Oh my god!
CURTIS: Of course! It’s where I learned how to play bridge. They taught you how to play contract bridge at summer camp. Don’t even start with me. Anyway, I’m digressing.
The ‘Newlyweds’ Cast on Working With Director Pamela Fryman and Costume Designer Michelle Cole
“She’s really open to play.”
The pilot of the show is obviously directed by the legendary Pamela Fryman. What is the biggest thing you took away from working with her?
LEONI: Confidence.
CURTIS: That’s a great answer.
LEONI: You know, to have somebody that was so pure at the helm for a pilot, it’s really important. I don’t care how many years we’ve all been doing this — for me, stepping on that stage for the first time, and in five or six days, you’re going to be in front of a live audience…
CURTIS: Creating characters — not just interpreting.
LEONI: Creating characters. And you have 22 minutes to introduce an entire notion of the whole thing. And to have Pam, that was honestly, for me, my first big exhale in the process of coming on board.
DALY: And she exudes a kind of gravitas. Not to get too heavy about it, but there are some directors, when they come and tell you to do something, you’re like, “Get out of here.” But if you said to Pam, “What if I do this?” And she would say, “No, that doesn’t work.” You’d be like, “Oh, okay.” I knew that she wasn’t saying it from any place other than, “I’ve got this. I know what this is.”
LEONI: And we had both worked with Pam.
DALY: No, I hadn’t.
LEONI: [To Curtis] Had you?
CURTIS: No.
LEONI: Oh! Well, for me, I was working with Pam after a 36-year hiatus. She always had really great instincts. Always. So I heard her name, and I felt better. And now? My god.
CURTIS: We got lucky. She’s very special.
LEONI: She set the confidence for us to feel like we got this.
DALY: We can play safely.
It’s firing on all cylinders in front of the camera and behind it, which leads into my next question. I love the wardrobe on the show, and I feel like the outfits really tell you a lot about the characters. I’m curious if you collaborated at all with the costume designers and if you have a favorite outfit that you got to wear in this show.
DALY: Lederhosen. I was like, “I’ve got to wear lederhosen. Let’s face it.” I’m kidding.
CURTIS: We hired Michelle Cole, who I had heard about. And when I heard she was available, we talked about bringing her on. Obviously, Claudia was pretty simple — the only thing I said was, “She just wears black.” It just makes it easier because guess what? I just wear black, and I know I look good in it, so I don’t have to worry about it. But I have loved watching how she’s done the rest of the cast. It’s been thrilling to watch.
LEONI: She’s amazing. She’s a legend in our industry, and a lot of the costume designers that I came up with, if you were in with Michelle — if Michelle gave you a nod about your wardrobe — that felt great. The other fun thing about it is that she’s really open to play. For me, with this character, I was kind of channeling a teacher that I had in the ‘70s and her style. So in my head, I almost unconsciously came in imagining that, first of all, she’s on a teacher’s budget, and Michelle completely embraced that. There was no “let’s stick her in Prada,” which was going to drive you nuts.
CURTIS: That would be me.
Definitely Claudia.
LEONI: Jeannie has yet to wear anything new.
CURTIS: There’s a lot of vintage.
LEONI: There’s nothing new.
CURTIS: It’s all vintage.
LEONI: And that’s become sort of our thing — everything in her wardrobe is secondhand. And as a thrifter myself, I was really into that.
That’s so cool. I hope we get some Halloween costumes or something.
LEONI: Oh, there are some costumes in this show.
DALY: They’re coming!
The ‘Newlyweds’ Cast Reveals the Skills They’d Love to Learn
“Honestly, I would really love to be a pool shark.”
I feel like Jeannie’s list of Things That Would Be Awesome to Know is so sweet. What is one thing on your own list of Things That Would Be Awesome to Know?
CURTIS: Shorthand.
LEONI: What? What do you mean, shorthand?
CURTIS: Shorthand! I would love to be able to write in shorthand. It’s a job. People do that. Reporters.
DALY: I thought about this, but when you said that, I just thought, be able to speak another language. Or American Sign Language, ASL.
CURTIS: I would also like to know.
LEONI: ASL would be great. I did three days of that. The first three days of COVID. Remember when we thought it was gonna be, like, two weeks? I cut bangs, and I started with ASL, and both were a flop for me. I gotta get back. Shorthand and another language… I mean, honestly, I would really love to be a pool shark.
CURTIS: Okay!
LEONI: I would so love to walk in and just rope a dope. I’d be like [giggles] and then just clean the table. I would like to do that.
DALY: HI, nice to meet you — I’m Tim. [Shakes Leoni’s hand]
LEONI: Hey.
DALY: We’re still discovering things about each other.
LEONI: Are you really good, though?
DALY: No, I’m terrible.
CURTIS: Should I leave? Let them start making out on national television?
Newlyweds airs Fridays at 8:30 p.m. ET.
- Release Date
-
October 23, 2026
- Showrunner
-
Bruce Helford
- Directors
-
Pamela Fryman
- Writers
-
Jamie Lee Curtis, Gail Lerner
Cast
-
-
-
-
Ignacio Diaz-Silverio
Lolo
