Minx Stars Jake Johnson and Ophelia Lovibond Talk Season 2

One of the most delightful relationships to debut on the small screen in 2022 was between Jake Johnson’s Doug and Ophelia Lovibond’s Joyce in HBO Max’s Minx, as their antagonistic energy was rooted in respect and admiration for one another. The pair return for a Season 2 of the series, which has pivoted to debut on STARZ, and even though the series has a new platform, Doug and Joyce are back to their old antics, with the ’70s setting allowing the show’s stars to embrace a more heightened tone. Minx Season 2 premieres on STARZ on July 21st.

“I actually feel like Doug, Season 2, gets fed his medicine a lot,” Johnson shared with ComicBook.com about his character embracing the spirit of the ’70s while also remaining grounded. “I feel like Joyce gets a little bit crazy Season 2, and I think Doug gets punished a little. And my question was, because I don’t think Doug did anything wrong in Season 1. I know we battled a little bit on set, who was doing things right, who wasn’t. But at the end of Season 1, Doug gives a very earnest apology and gives things away. So I thought he had received his medicine.”

He continued, “In Season 2, part of the reason why Doug will get big and he’s struggling, and seems like a fish out of water, was because he was pulled out of water a lot. So I felt like my question was more like Doug got punished, and if there’s a Season 3, I think it’s time where maybe Joyce gets punished a little bit. So does the rest of the Bottom Dollar group gets punished for not having loyalty to the brand.”

Set in 1970s Los Angeles, Minx centers around Joyce (Ophelia Lovibond), an earnest young feminist who joins forces with a low-rent publisher (Jake Johnson) to create the first erotic magazine for women. In Season 2, Doug, Joyce, and the entire Bottom Dollar crew grapple with Minx‘s explosive success, which takes them all to thrilling new places and brings more money, fame, and temptation than anyone knows how to handle.

Speaking to that shift in dynamic, Joyce gets to deliver some of the series’ more hilarious lines, including a choice quip about “schlongs without context.” Lovibond went on to highlight how her character’s dynamic with Johnson’s Doug inspired some of her favorite moments to film.

“Honestly, I did actually really like that line, because it’s at the beginning of the scene where she says, ‘Minxy, when did that become an adjective?’ And then when she’s trying to convince him that having the journalist there is a terrible idea, she ends up using it as an adjective. She says, ‘God damn it,’ and realizes,” Lovibond expressed. “Those scenes between Joyce and Doug, for me, are always my anchor, because it’s that dynamic between the two of them, it’s the dichotomy of their approach that gives the comic tension. So whenever we get, and I’m not just saying this because he’s sitting here, but that I do love doing those things because you get to play around with that. That scene was really fun because you are setting up, that’s before she leapfrogs off into letting her hair down a bit more. So it’s the final bit of sensible Joyce that you see.”

Minx Season 2 premieres on STARZ on July 21st.

Are you looking forward to Season 2 of the series? Let us know in the comments!