NEW YORK — Glenn Close wasn't too pleased to find out at the end of the first season of "Damages" that Patty Hewes, the scheming attorney she plays on the FX thriller, was the one responsible for the attempted killing of her protege Ellen Parsons.
"I was upset!" exclaimed Close, curled up on her dressing room couch at a Brooklyn sound stage. It was a drizzly winter afternoon, and the actress had just finished shooting a scene for the show's second season, which premieres Wednesday. "I didn't want her to be a psychopath. I think at the end she sincerely regrets what she did and is really relieved that it didn't happen."
At least that's her interpretation. The writers of "Damages," a layered, twisting drama about personal and professional power games, don't give a lot of clues about where they're headed, even to the cast. The actors are often in the dark about their characters' motivations or misdeeds, a dynamic that Close, who was accustomed to more defined film roles before taking this part, admits took some adjustment.
"It's certainly not for sissies," she said. But well worth it, she hastened to add, comparing the experience of acting in the show to "living a novel."
"The more the characters go through life, the baggage gets heavier and more interesting," Close said. "And to take a whole audience along with you on that ride is kind of thrilling."
The ride is set to get even more exhilarating in Season 2. Ellen (Rose Byrne), still shattered by the death of her fiance, returns to work with a new mission: to take Patty down. Having discovered that her boss was responsible for the attempted hit on her life, Ellen is now working as an FBI informant, assisting a criminal investigation of the firm.
"Last year was a little bit of a king and a pawn," said Glenn Kessler, who created the show with his brother Todd A. Kessler and their friend Daniel Zelman, and together serve as its executive producers. "Now it's very much two kings in play. That's been very fun, because you let both characters bring their full arsenal of abilities and manipulation."
If there's any theme this season, Todd Kessler added, "it's Ellen transformed."
Byrne relished the change, saying she struggled trying to portray Ellen's naivete in Season 1, when she was a first-year associate helping Patty with a massive class action suit that took a deadly turn.
