With EW’s latest cover, we’re celebrating the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
“Maybe a little bit Lucy and Ethel.
[Midge and Susie] always skirted around the word friends.
Alex Borstein and Rachel Brosnahan channel Ethel and Lucy.CAMRAFACE for EW
They were in a business relationship.
We deal with that in season 5 in a number of ways.
But the unique thing about this is that they were in a very serious, focused business relationship.
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Begrudgingly, even if they didn’t call it a friendship, they became a friendship.
Because there was great respect between the two women too.
Every episode they passed the Bechdel test.
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It’s really about you are uniquely suited to help me reach my goalsand vice versa.”
Alex Borstein as Ethel
You know those YouTube videos of unlikely animal best friends?
That’s how Borstein sees her relationship with Brosnahan.
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“We’re such different creatures,” she says.
It’s like a cat and a dog.
She’s very much a dog.
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My personality is very much like a cat.
“The mischief, the goings on, and the storylines require the other character.
And Mary had to have Rhoda as that sounding board, and Laverne had her Shirley.
Alex Borstein and Rachel Brosnahan as Rhoda and Mary.CAMRAFACE for EW
That’s what defines a forever duo.”
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maiselis a matriarchy top to bottom,” says Brosnahan.
We are seeing a move toward embracing women at the center of shows dynamic, flawed, three-dimensional women.
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I hope our show has been a small part of that."
“One woman who came from great comfort and support in her former life.
And one woman who came from nothing and could barely be civil to other people.
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Through the weird combination of their personalities, they managed to forge a bond and break through.”
Season 5 will see their dynamic become more symbiotic.
“Susie has been Midge’s advocate for such a long time,” says Brosnahan.
Rachel Brosnahan and Alex Borstein as Laverne and Shirley.CAMRAFACE for EW
A lot of that has been on Midge being impulsive.
It’s not all about Midge and she needs to be a better other half of this partnership."
Brosnahan as Laverne
Season 5 will present the cost of getting what you want.
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Midge and Susie have been chasing success and, by extension, fame for several years now.
But it’s lonely at the top.
“And you have to be strong enough to endure it.”
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At least, Midge and Susie have each other.
“Only the showrunner does.
But maybe the performance would’ve been s— if I knew too much.
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Because it’s like life you don’t know where you’re going to end up.”
Adds Brosnahan: “I have no regrets about anything apart from my swamp ass in Miami.”
“They seem different, but they’re aligned in spirit.
Alex Borstein and Rachel Brosnahan as Velma and Daphne.CAMRAFACE for EW
They have this mutual respect that runs really deep.
Midge and Susie are the next generation of the female buddy coworkers that we’ve seen.
And they’re both role models for young women.”
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Midge and Susie certainly fall in that category.
“In that regard, they can’t really do it without each other.
Midge says, ‘Let’s change the business.’
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That’s all Midge.
I don’t think Susie set out to change the business.
She wanted to see how she could work her way within it.
Alex Borstein and Rachel Brosnahan as Susie and Midge.CAMRAFACE for EW
And Midge was the one who saw bigger and didn’t want to just fill her dinner plate.
She wanted to plan the meal.”
“Susie truly is much more comfortable being alone,” says Borstein.
Will Brill, Marin Hinkle, Tony Shalhoub, Rachel Brosnahan, and Justine Lupe in season 5 of ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’.Philippe Antonello/Prime Video
“Susie thrives with other people, but she doesn’t really need anyone.
Susie doesn’t need any constant validation.
That’s why we become actors.
Rachel Brosnahan and Alex Borstein as Midge and Susie in season 5 of ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’.Philippe Antonello/Prime
We’re needy little creatures and I don’t think Susie’s that needy.
It’s fine for Midge to take all of that and have the constant validation.
Susie just needs to know herself, what she’s done and what she’s capable of.”
New series regular Reid Scott and Rachel Brosnahan in season 5 of ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’.Philippe Antonello/Prime
Two years is too quick.
It was finding that happy medium to tell the story."
Brosnahan as Midge
“Midge and I grew up together,” says Brosnahan.
Rachel Brosnahan in season 5 of ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’.Philippe Antonello/Prime Video
“We had parallel journeys in some ways and also wildly different journeys in others.
But I’m proud of the attempt.
And that’s one of the greatest gifts you’re free to ask for as an actor.”
Rachel Brosnahan as Midge in season 5 of ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’.Philippe Antonello/Prime Video
“It makes people feel good.
“Both Abe and Rose, as we discover, are fighters too.
They know how to adapt.”
Business buddies
“Season 5 tests this relationship tremendously,” teases Borstein.
Marriage ain’t easy, and this one is certainly not immune to a lot of the trouble.
Whether that means they’re going to be working together forever, I don’t know.
But they have to be a part of each other’s lives forever in some regard.”
We can certainly expect the roller coaster to continue.
But ultimately, it’s the two of them at the end of the day."
One can only hope that people keep finding it and feel a little bit of that same thing."
Final bow
“This show changed my life,” adds Brosnahan.
“Midge and I grew up together.
Finding the unflappable confidence that Midge has was a daunting task that never got easier.
But the process of trying to discover that taught me a lot about what’s possible.”
