Russian Doll Season 2 Adds District 9’s Sharlto Copley

Filming is now underway on the sophomore season of Russian Doll, and a lot of fans definitely have high expectations going into Season 2. The Netflix series, which premiered to critical and fan acclaim in early 2019, ended Season 1 on a pretty perfect footing, which has made some wonder exactly where things will go next, and which actors will be taken on that journey. According to a new tweet from Netflix’s official social media, District 9 and Elysium star Sharlto Copley has joined Russian Doll in its second season, alongside previously-announced new cast member Annie Murphy. It is unknown at this point exactly what role Copley will be playing.

Season 1 of Russian Doll followed Nadia (Natasha Lyonne) and Alan (Charlie Barnett), two New Yorkers who discovered that they were in a seemingly infinite time loop that caused them to relive the same day. The first season came to a close in a seemingly finite way, with Nadia and Alan appearing to exit their time loops, which makes the storytelling potential for Season 2 relatively ambiguous.

“God, I wish I could tease about that one, but I know absolutely nothing. Full honesty,” Barnett previously told ComicBook.com of Season 2. “You know, Natasha knows that I’m a gullible sap, which for the world to know… Be cool with that, okay? But I’m pretty damn gullible, and she’ll tell me a whole bunch of different ideas that I’ve been running in my mind, but I don’t think any of them are true. So I’m not going to run you down that line. I do know that they’ve gotten back into the writing room, so they must be planning up something. And I ain’t going to bother her. She’s got enough work on her plate, that you don’t need some actor being like, ‘What’s happening? What’s going on?’ And I want her to develop it in peace and serenity and build an amazing second go around.”

“It’s so hard to actually have something that means that much to you, that you’ve related in your own life, and that also has this kind of extreme, never-been-seen, never attempted,” Barnett said of Lyonne’s commitment to the series. “Everybody keeps talking about it being this Groundhog Day effect. And it is to a certain extent, but it’s so much more than that. The layers that she played within, and then on top of that our crew, our production company. Just the sets, the costumes, everything playing into the film work. Everybody came to the table, and I think that’s what made it so freaking special. To now walk away and see that that actually had a result that people caught onto is like the icing on the cake. It’s tenfold. And truthfully, it brought me into a different world, which I’m so thankful for as well.”

What do you think of Copley joining the cast of Russian Doll‘s second season? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!