Inside Hulu’s Furious: Steve Way & Quincy Tyler Bernstine Interview
Some shows earn their buzz slowly. Furious earned it from the first frame — and kept building. According to Disney, viewership grew week over week, with episode 7 views up 40% from the premiere, and the series was Certified Fresh at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes on launch day before settling at 98%. Hulu didn’t wait for the ending to decide: the streamer renewed the freshman crime drama for Season 2 four days before the Season 1 finale dropped on August 31.
For Cup of Soul, I sat down with two of the performers who give Furious its pulse Quincy Tyler Bernstine and Steve Way to talk about the women at the center of this story, the humor hidden inside the darkness, and what it means to be handed a role written with you in mind.
🎬 Watch the full interview on the Cup of Soul YouTube channel —
The Story
Created by Elizabeth Meriwether — the mind behind New Girl, The Dropout and Dying for Sex — Furious follows FBI agent Alice Black (Emmy Rossum) as she chases a mysterious and calculating female serial killer played by Lola Petticrew. The series is loosely inspired by Bob Rafelson’s 1987 psychological thriller Black Widow. But as NPR’s David Bianculli put it, the show totally transforms its source material and has no weak links whatsoever.
Quincy Tyler Bernstine: The Woman in Charge
Bernstine plays Nora Washington, Alice’s colleague at the FBI — and in practice, one of Alice’s superiors, a third very shrewd woman in a story full of them. A widely respected, Tony-nominated actress on and off Broadway, Bernstine’s co-starring turn here has been a long time coming, and critics noticed: one reviewer called the pairing of Bernstine and Rossum on screen pure magic.
“The Biggest Challenge to me as an actor was to portray Nora’s alcoholism,” Bernstine shared.
Steve Way: A Role Written for Him
Way, known from Ramy, plays Alden, an at-home patient cared for by the killer — a character who is hilarious one moment and tragic the next. The part didn’t come through the usual channels. Way has said he was without an agent or manager when an email came from Meriwether’s team: she had written a role specifically for him. He has praised Meriwether for creating a disabled character whose identity isn’t reduced to illness or death.
That matters, because Way has spent years pushing the industry to do better. Born with Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy, he is an actor, comedian, writer and advocate for disability awareness.
“There was an opportunity to play such a strong nuanced disabled character,” he stated.
What’s Next
The eight-episode first season is streaming now, and it’s available on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ in the U.S. and on Disney+ worldwide. Season 2 is on the way.
Kathia R. Woods is a Tomatometer-Approved critic and the founder of Cup of Soul.
