‘Running Point’: Mindy Kaling & Team Reveal Story Behind Ray Romano’s Season 2 Casting (VIDEO)
What To Know
- Running Point bosses Mindy Kaling, Ike Barinholtz, and David Stassen open up about adding Ray Romano to the mix for Season 2.
- Learn more about the origin of his casting as coach Norm Stinson, and much more about Season 2’s stories.
Running Point is back, and while there are plenty of familiar faces returning for the latest chapter of Netflix’s winning comedy about the family who are behind the Los Angeles Waves, there’s a new star joining the mix as well, with Ray Romano stepping into the head coach position.
As viewers will recall, Season 1’s head coach, Jay Brown (Jay Ellis), departed the Waves to take a job in Boston so that he’d be closer to his kids amid divorce, leaving a vacant position for Isla Gordon (Kate Hudson) to fill. Ultimately, she looks to Jay’s mentor, Norm Stinson, who has seen better days but is a genius when it comes to the game.
“I feel like we, we were happy with Season 1, and so we wanted to stay in that tone in that world while giving Isla bigger challenges, and bringing the family together more for a lot because they just have such great conflict, but also love for each other,” showrunner David Stassen explains about making room for the new character.
“And we had a big coach-sized hole, and you know, at the end of Season 1,” executive producer Ike Barinholtz adds. “[We] said goodbye to Jay Ellis, who is one of the best looking men in the world, body is a ten out of ten, incredible peak athlete, and the only natural replacement for that is Ray Romano.”
Netflix
“OK, OK, OK,” fellow executive producer Mindy Kaling chimes in, attempting to dial down the joke.
“And so we asked Ray, we were fans of his. We asked him to send some shirtless pics,” Barinholtz continues.
“He had them locked and loaded. He sent it ahead of time,” Stassen adds, building on Barinholtz’s joke.
In all seriousness, though, Barinholtz says, “we were all huge fans of Ray’s, and when we found out….”
“… that he was funny because we were hiring him for his body…” Kaling interrupts, picking up the joke thread.
“We were hiring him just for his body and overt sexuality, but it turns out he’s a very funny actor,” Barinholtz concludes, with Kaling adding, “very funny guy.”
Whether he was hired for his talent or his looks, we’d argue Kaling, Barinholtz, and Stassen made the right choice because Romano’s role is a slam dunk. See what else they’re sharing about Running Point Season 2 in the full interview above, and let us know what you thought of Romano’s role as Norm in the latest season of Running Point in the comments section below.
Running Point, Season 2, Streaming now, Netflix
—Additional reporting by Damian Holbrook
Watchlist Easy access to only the shows you care about — all in one simple place
Alerts Only important notifications — when a show is returning, when it becomes available to stream, and more.
Special Offers Exclusive products we release related to your favorite shows and streaming services