Netflix's Space Force is a workplace comedy, created by sitcom mastermind Greg Daniels, that explores the chaotic lives of a group of professionals working to establish a new branch of armed forces, the United States Space Force. The series unites Daniels and Steve Carell — who worked together in The Office — as the actor steps into the role of General Mark R. Naird, the first Chief of Space Operations.
While this show packs in loads of humor, what really allows it to stand out is its incredible core cast which includes Ben Schwartz, Jimmy O. Yang, John Malkovich, Diana Silvers, and Tawny Newsome. These actors strike amazing chemistry with one another as their characters' lives intertwine throughout their journey navigating space. Space Force Season 2 picks up right where the last season left off with Maggie having made her escape from prison and General Naird being summoned back to headquarters after disobeying orders from the president and being informed that the astronauts on the moon are in danger.
Ending the debuting season with a major cliffhanger, Space Force has an endless amount of questions to answer. Will Maggie suffer the consequences of her prison escape? Will we ever find out why she's in prison in the first place? How much trouble is General Naird in? And will the Space Force team be able to offer relief to the stranded spacemen on the moon? While we didn't want to get our hands on too many spoilers, Game Rant had the opportunity to chat with Ben Schwartz, known for playing the egotistical-but-lovable Space Force social media director Tony Scarapiducci, ahead of the release of Season 2. Schwartz teased the upcoming season as we spoke about Steve Carell's funniest moment, his mad-talented improv skills, and his favorite Season 2 interaction.
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Game Rant: Can you each tease something that you're looking forward to fans seeing this season — it can be a relationship, a storyline, really anything that comes to mind?
Ben Schwartz: I want to tease the idea of Steve Carell trying to pick up tofu with chopsticks. That is quite possibly one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Just watching him try to pick up very loose and soggy tofu with chopsticks is just a dream and I can't wait for everybody to understand what that means.
GR: You are known as the Improv King. Did you get to put those skills to use more in Season 2, now that you've grown to know Tony and the other characters?
Schwartz: We all got to learn our characters a bit more, we have Ken Kwapis who's directing all the episodes, and Greg Daniels and Norm Hiscock allowing us a little bit more room to breathe, so you get to see Tawny [Newsome] who's been improvising her whole life, you can see Jimmy [Yang] who's been a comedian his entire life. You see Diana [Silvers] flex in ways that were very exciting for me to watch because you've seen her dominating dramatic roles, and now, you get to see her be so good in comedic roles.
It's been so fun. Also, we were in Vancouver all together and got to know each other a little better. We had more room this time to play. And so, our hope is that people — when they watch it — will feel the fun of it and will feel the joy and the looseness in us knowing our characters more and getting to play.
GR: Tony has some really great interactions throughout the season. Which one was the most fun to film?
Schwartz: Oh, my goodness, you know, it was really fun. There's a whole thing of us waiting around in the first episode that was really fun. I found it really fun to film. There was a scene that Malkovich did that didn't quite make it, I don't believe, but it's literally like Jimmy or Tawny offers up this seltzer. And John is so funny. He's like, "I'll have a sip, if you'll allow me to imbibe" or something like that. It's like, we're all getting to play. We're all getting to do our thing. So that first scene was very fun, because it was me being an idiot, and everybody getting to pounce on me which is always a little joy.
Space Force Season 2 premieres on Netflix February 18