EXCLUSIVE: Christine Baranski and Aras Aydin on Chemistry That Doesn’t Need Drugs

If you asked Christine Baranski, retreats probably wouldn’t top her vacation list—especially the kind with mushroom tea, emotional detoxing, and a young boyfriend in tow on a healing getaway meant to reclaim her relationship with her daughter. But in Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2—the snowbound follow-up to Prime Video Philippines’ original wellness thriller—she finds herself in exactly that: deep in the Alps, surrounded by strangers, searching for something she’s not ready to name. Alongside her is Turkish actor Aras Aydin, wide-eyed and wading through cross-cultural chaos, psychedelic episodes, and a cast chemistry that could warm even the iciest mountain.

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Baranski and Aydin play lovers at a retreat that was technically meant to help Victoria (Baranski) reconnect with her estranged daughter Imogen, played by Annie Murphy. But what was supposed to be a mother-daughter breakthrough quickly detours into steamy scandals. Healing, apparently, has a plus-one.

At 6AM Philippine time, MEGA meets with the two actors over Zoom, both dialing in from Los Angeles as they gear up for the show’s premiere. Despite the early call and time zone math, their energy is sharp, warm, and already in sync.

Victoria is described as a woman of formidable presence, similar to other characters you’ve played. How did you approach embodying such a character this time around?

Baranski: I love playing women like that. I love playing women who are strong and who are survivors and who put themselves together and, you know, start the day fully looking as good as she possibly can and having a sense of humor about life. And she’s dealing with a real crisis in her life.

Over the course of eight episodes, you see how this is unfolding for her and what her vulnerabilities are. But it’s wonderful to, like with The Gilded Age, show a person who has enormous strength or stubbornness and then see the melting of that character or the weakness or the vulnerability of that character. It’s always interesting for an audience to see that a person they think is so strong is perhaps not so strong.

The series delves into unconventional healing methods. How did you relate to the themes of transformation and self-discovery presented in the show?

Baranski: I have never done psychedelics. Well, maybe two times, but the teeniest amount that just made me feel like singing Beatles songs and made me feel very happy. But that was about it.

You see, Victoria actually doesn’t do it. She’s very wary of it, and there are reasons she doesn’t want to do it.

But certainly my companion here gets into it. So, I can let him talk about it.

Aras: Yeah, that was crazy, by the way. I have no experience with using drugs, but I spent a lot of time drinking German beer in Munich, so that was so delicious.

As an actor acting with using drugs, that was really fun. I burn a lot of calories with my dancing. I know.

Baranski: He wins the dancing award.

How did these experiences with working with other people of different cultures and different ethnicities work together for the both of you, especially with Dolly DeLeon?

Baranski: Oh, my God, we all adore Dolly. We, as I said, we all really so appreciated and adored each other.

And it really was like United Nations. I mean, there were so many different countries involved and so much travel that we did and so many cultural experiences that we had. But mainly, by the end, we were like a family.

It was really beautiful where you think, well, this is going to be one of the great jobs that I’ve ever had because of where you were and the people with whom you spent the time.

Aydin: My first day in Munich, the driver called me, “I’m waiting for you. You can you can jump into the door.” I was so nervous because that was my first day and he opened the door and I thought I was I was alone. But I saw Dolly and she was like, “Hi!” She was so cute.

And my last day with Dolly, she cried and I cried, too, because that was so emotional remembering our first day. Dolly is so special for me.

Memories and Medications

In this unlikely conclave of global talent (Nicole Kidman, Lena Olin, Annie Murphy, and Henry Golding), Baranski and Aydin were part of an ensemble that clicked instantly. Aydin beams when recalling those moments. “Everyone helped me. Nobody judged my region, my language, my behavior,” he says. He credits the group’s openness for helping him shed nerves and sink into the role.

This cast didn’t just bond over scripts and scenes. “Friday nights, we’d put the boombox on and dance to the Bee Gees,” Baranski recalls. “We’d invite the crew, give them a round of applause. It was beautiful.” One particularly tender moment was her birthday. “Everyone sang to me. I was crying so much, then I had to do a close-up of eating a muffin. I looked like a mess! But my heart was full.”

But it wasn’t all laughter. Both actors describe carrying the emotional weight of their characters, especially Aydin. “Matteo has a past. A real trauma,” he says, serious now. “The audience will see it, but they’ll have to wait.”

Baranski, too, hints at something seismic in Victoria’s arc. “There’s one big thing I can’t reveal. I’ve played strong women before, sure. But I’ve never had anything quite so dramatic as this. She’s not just a glamour puss with funny lines and a hot boyfriend. It’s much more than that.”

It’s this cocktail of glamour and gravity, wit and warped reality, that keeps Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2 tick. But it’s the off-camera connections that will never cool off: dance floors gone slippery, off-key karaoke, and one unforgettable car ride with Dolly de Leon. In a show built on the friction of strangers, Christine Baranski and Aras Aydin found a rare thing—genuine rapport, no psychedelics required.

Stream weekly releases of Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2 now on Amazon Prime. Special thanks to VERO PHILIPPINES.

Photos: NINE PERFECT STRANGERS (via Instagram)