"VEEP" heads to the West Wing as it enters its fourth season on HBO.
Former Vice President Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) has ascended to the most powerful position in the land, for better or worse, and every member of her team is onboard, whether they want to be or not.
Some of the team will serve alongside Selina in the West Wing, while others will head up her presidential campaign.
Before 'An Evening with the "VEEP" Cast' panel at New York's Paley Center for Media on April 7, Headlines & Global News spoke with some members of the Meyer administration and asked how each person is handling the move to the White House.
Anna Chlumsky - Amy Brookheimer, Selina Meyer's presidential campaign manager
Headlines & Global News: Is Amy bummed that she's out on the campaign trail rather than serving inside the White House?
Anna Chlumsky: That's Amy's entire struggle in a nutshell. She wanted to be campaign manager. She has dreamed of being campaign manager so she could secure victory for the most important race in the country, but at the same time that means she has to wear a visitor's pass and she can't be a part of governing. That was the hidden, double-edged sword that she didn't realize she was going to be walking.
HNGN: Is an Amy and Dan Egan (Reid Scott) relationship still on the table and could we see them hook up this season?
AC: I think it's always a thing. I think that they see one another in each other. They're very similar people so they find solace in one another, and other times they drive each other crazy. It's a pretty modern relationship.
HNGN: What are you looking forward to in the fourth season?
AC: I'm looking forward to seeing what people think of this new shakeup, this new dynamic. What it's like for people to see the West Wing and have everybody in different roles. It's new.
Kevin Dunn - Ben Caffrey, acting White House Chief of Staff for President Selina Meyer
HNGN: What is Ben thinking when he comes back to work in the White House, now under Selina?
Kevin Dunn: I think there's a good amount of dread involved, but he is essentially a political animal and there's no place he'd really rather be. There's probably no other place he could be, so it's kind of his resigned acceptance that he's going to go through the cycle again and get humiliated and beat up again.
HNGN: It seems like he'd rather be hiding under his desk...
KD: Or in a bar somewhere. He's a sucker for punishment.
HNGN: You and Gary Cole both joined the show in season two. How was it entering the cast with him?
Anytime you can come into a new cast with Gary Cole, who I know very well from years back in Chicago, it's comforting because you're both in the same boat. We were both foils when we started, so it was really well conceived. You weren't thrown into the mix and out there by yourself. There was somebody to share the terror of coming into this cast, which really wasn't a terror at all. It was great.
Gary Cole - Kent Davison, senior strategist to President Selina Meyer
HNGN: How has it been working with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and joining this talented cast?
Gary Cole: I was huge fan of hers before I even read for the show. I've been around long enough to know that when certain environments and combination of material and people come together, it's really special and I think this is one of those times. I'm very grateful for it.
HNGN: Your character Kent seemed very aggressive when you first joined the show. Now, he's Selina's "yes man." Why the sudden change?
GC: The dynamic is very different. When he was working in the West Wing, he was actually dismissive of Selina. But there are a lot of people in Washington, who shift with the times because when somebody gathers power and steam, all of a sudden they're a little more appreciative of the person they may have been dismissive of in the first place. I think Kent is not above being two-face, three-faced or four-faced whenever he needs to be.
Matt Walsh - Mike McLintock, press secretary for President Selina Meyer
HNGN: Will Mike's press conferences get any better this season?
Matt Walsh: Inevitably, Mike will put his foot in his mouth, but he's on a total high because he's a celebrity now. He's the face of the administration. He's on CNN and C-SPAN, and he's getting a lot of coverage. He's also getting these people that ignored him for years in DC that want a little face time with him, so he's really on a little bit of a power trip and a celebrity trip. He's loving it.
HNGN: He's the gatekeeper now.
MW: He is!
HNGN: And he can tell anyone to go away.
MW: And he does. He also thinks everyone loves him, which is delusional. Inevitably, they'll all turn on him.
HNGN: Is Mike really qualified for this job?
MW: I think in truth he would have been fired the first day, but somehow he survived. The writers call him a cockroach. He would survive the nuclear holocaust. He just knows how to survive. He's very guarded. He's not vulnerable anymore because he knows all these fires they put out, there's going to be another one in two seconds. He doesn't invest too much in these crises. His fallback position is, 'Don't say anything because they'll be another problem.' So it's a little skeptical.
Sam Richardson - Richard, campaign worker for Selina Meyer
HNGN: Will your character Richard rival Timothy Simons' character, Jonah, this season?
Sam Richardson: No, they'll be in tandem.
HNGN: How will that work?
SR: Just as you'd imagine - a trainwreck of a nightmare.
HNGN: What kind of trouble will we see Richard and Jonah get into this season?
SR: They're two annoying people who prop each other up, these two Laurel and Hardy types.
HNGN: Will we see Richard in the West Wing or out on the campaign trail more?
SR: He'll start out on the campaign and work his way into the West Wing through bumbling and upwards failing.
HNGN: How has it been for you, joining this incredible cast?
SR: It's been the greatest. Everybody's so good. It's amazing to be around these people and then learn from them. It's a master class.
