American actress Kaley Cuoco kicked off her last birthday in a rooftop pool with Dutch actor Michiel Huisman in Bangkok, Thailand. She was on location for the pilot episode of The Flight Attendant , her first live-action role since The Big Bang Theory ended and the project that launched her production company, Yes, Norman Productions. This year, she’ll celebrate her 35th birthday as the limited series – which only finished filming some weeks ago, after a months-long Covid-19 hiatus – premieres on November 26 on US television network HBO Max . “That’s honestly the best gift ever. I told the crew when we wrapped, ‘I love you guys, and I really hope it does not take you a year to shoot just eight episodes ever again!’” she told The Los Angeles Times with a laugh. “Some people are gonna love it, some people are gonna hate it – like, I know that’s gonna happen. My whole career has prepared me for that. But I love TV, I grew up on TV. And I can go to bed knowing I made the best show possible, and that thrills me.” The Flight Attendant pairs the premise of Chris Bohjalian’s bestselling book – in which Cassie (Cuoco), a 30-something stewardess who wakes up next to a bloody corpse with no idea how she got there – with slick, retro aesthetics and fast-paced dark comedy. By juxtaposing glamorous international backdrops with naturalistic dialogue, The Flight Attendant manages to be both entertainingly escapist and refreshingly relatable. That’s true even in its most novel conceit, which finds Cassie piecing together what happened by asking the dead guy himself (a deliciously deadpan Huisman). “Huge swathes of the book are set in Cassie’s head as she’s asking herself: what happened? What did I do? How am I the kind of person this can happen to?” said co-showrunner and head writer Steve Yockey. “But it’s not fun to watch someone think on-screen. “So we came up with this idea that, whenever she mentally goes back to that moment of sheer panic and terror to try to make sense of it, [Huisman] is pretty much acting as her conscience. It’s not very fun for her, but with the humour, it’s enjoyable to watch.” This narrative device requires some suspension of disbelief, but “it lets the audience understand her point of view because, unfortunately, female characters get a lot more judgment than male characters when it comes to the thriller genre”, said Susanna Fogel, who directed the first two episodes. “A big part of Kaley’s magic has always been that she really does seem like the girl next door,” she continued. “So it’s important for Cassie to feel like a normal person who happens to be in this extreme situation. And instead of just writing her off, you still like her and root for her, even when her character isn’t taking responsibility for some things, or doing the right thing or being completely honest with herself and other people.” The Flight Attendant is new territory for the serial sitcom star. As Cassie continues to question her memory of that fateful night, she comes to unearth trauma she’s left repressed for years. It’s a long-awaited opportunity for Cuoco to show off her dramatic chops after Big Bang . “It’s been an unbelievable experience to go from 12 years of such silly, fun comedy to something like this,” she explained. “In the later episodes, I’m very raw, crying with no make-up on and, like, completely breaking down. I didn’t think anyone would give me this opportunity, so I felt like I had to get the project made myself and prove that this is actually the kind of work I want to be doing.” The episodes were filmed out of order, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the cast and crew wrapped in Bangkok and Rome before the emergence of Covid-19 led to government-mandated shutdowns. Cuoco spent those initial months settling into her new home in California with her husband, equestrian Karl Cook. Cuoco also became acquainted with the new-found art of remote post-production. Her favourite part: the conversations about the show’s particular tone, zippy pace, even the placement of the opening credits. “I bow down to anyone that makes anything because it is the hardest thing,” she said. “Actors, we just do our thing and watch it however many months later. But as a producer, I’m learning so much, and I really love it. I love having a voice and an opinion on things I love so much about television but never got to share before.” As one of the first productions to resume with pandemic safety precautions, the series slimmed the number of extras and crew and finished its remaining four weeks of filming in New York. Being at the top of the call sheet as well as a producer, Cuoco came to set with her signature sunny disposition and a palpable air of confidence about their pandemic protocols. “We really did feel that, because we were one of the first shows back on its feet, there were a lot of eyes on us, so we wanted to make sure we were taking every step correctly,” she said. “I knew I needed to show leadership, because everyone who was coming back was – I mean, this sounds dramatic, but really, though – risking their lives to work.” How Jim Parsons went from ‘Big Bang’ nerd to Hollywood creep As The Flight Attendant’s Thanksgiving Day premiere draws closer, Cuoco is curious if audiences will welcome her new roles, both as a dramatic actress and as a hands-on producer for her new show. Will enough of that record Big Bang viewership migrate to this premium streaming service and tune in? “I’m a little bit nervous, because, obviously, how can I not be a little bit nervous? People have seen me in a certain way for a very long time,” she said. “But I’m thrilled for people to see this because, I mean, we finished this thing in the middle of a pandemic. That alone deserves a cheers right there.”