‘Rooster’ Stars Steve Carell & Danielle Deadwyler on Their Tense Dynamic After That Dean Riggs Twist

Rooster brought Greg Russo (Steve Carell) further into the fold as a member of the Ludlow College family as he took on the resident writer position at the behest of the school’s president, Walter Mann (John C. McGinley), despite it further ruffling the feathers of staff member, Dylan Shepherd (Danielle Deadwyler).

As viewers have seen in past episodes, Dylan was left awkwardly rejected by Greg after making a pass at him when he was invited as a guest speaker for her class. Now, Greg is forced to work in close proximity, in part because he’s attempting to save his daughter Katie’s (Charly Clive) job after she burned her cheating husband Archie’s (Phil Dunster) house down. Fair warning that there are spoilers for Rooster Season 1 Episode 3 ahead!

Along the way, though, Greg and Dylan’s further entanglement becomes less avoidable as Dean Riggs (Alan Ruck) has a medical event in Dylan’s presence, leaving him in the hospital and her to pick up the reins as interim Dean. When Greg finds himself in more than one awkward run-in with students, ranging from a choice metaphor to an accidental groping, he’s forced to face the reality of new power dynamics after Riggs took a particular interest in befriending Greg for the wrong reasons.

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When Riggs is left with a tube down his throat following a heart attack, Greg awkwardly joins his wife (played by Carell’s real-life wife, Nancy), holding the man’s hand in the hospital. “I think it was just some lies I told my wife,” Ruck jokes about Riggs’ positioning Greg as a good pal, despite barely knowing one another.

Meanwhile, working with Nancy was “charming, lovely, [and] wonderful,” according to the actor who previously collaborated with HBO as Succession‘s Connor Roy. As for his dynamic with Dylan, “there’s some friction,” Ruck admits, leading up to Riggs’ medical event.

Adding insult to injury, Dylan’s initial bond with Greg isn’t the same, and moving forward, their cooperation is integral to Ludlow’s success, but Deadwyler notes, “Rejection feels crazy… it makes her feel a little crazy, and she thought it was gonna go away, but it didn’t, and so now you have to consistently confront this thing that has challenged you in this way,” Deadwyler continues, adding, “it’s exhilarating and it’s horrifying at the same time.”

As viewers see towards the end of Episode 3, “White Whale,” Greg finds himself at the school’s hockey game alone, until Dylan shows up, forced to address the drunken coach (played by Scott MacArthur) with her new position, making room for a tense conversation. Greg complains that he feels alone at Ludlow, despite signing on to work there to be closer to his daughter.

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Greg’s sentiments stir up a strong response in Dylan, who noted Greg sounded like a homesick freshman, but the difference was that he’s around sixty, and no one is forcing him to stay. The response forced Greg to point out how harsh Dylan’s sentiments were, making us wonder, where do they go next as they move forward?

“The relationship starts off oddly, and it takes him off guard,” Carell notes of Greg’s outlook with Dylan. “He regrets how it started, and then has to play catch-up to figure out who they are to one another, but I think they’re friends more than anything.” In other words, there’s room for growth and reconstruction as friends despite the duo’s seeming impasse at the end of Episode 3.

As Carell explains, Dylan is “Such a different kind of character. She’s very dry, and she has a lot of gravitas and is a formidable person at this school, so I think Greg is intrigued by her, wants to be her friend, but I think he’s also a little intimidated by her.” Tune in to see how Dylan’s interim Dean role continues to unfold, and don’t miss what’s next for the duo as Rooster‘s season carries on.

Rooster, Sundays, 10/9c, HBO and HBO Max 

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