NEED TO KNOW
- Billy Crudup and Reese Witherspoon’s characters in The Morning Show have been in a deliciously drawn-out will-they-won’t-they since the show premiered in 2019
- Crudup tells PEOPLE what fans can expect from his character, Cory Ellison, and Witherspoon’s Bradley Jackson in season 4, which premieres Sept. 17
- “To keep returning, there’s a kind of trust that we’ve all built, and it’s something I’ve never experienced that I’m so grateful for,” the actor says of the dynamic on set of the Apple TV+ show
The timing has yet to be right for Billy Crudup and Reese Witherspoon on The Morning Show, but could season 4 change that?
There’s been lingering romantic tension between Crudup’s UBA exec Cory Ellison and Witherspoon’s anchor Bradley Jackson since early on in the Apple TV+ series, and despite Cory confessing his love for Bradley in season 2, things haven’t quite worked out for them — yet.
“It’s incredible to have a character arc that is such a slow burn,” Crudup, 57, tells PEOPLE of his onscreen story with Witherspoon, 49.
It’s been a “four-year burn,” he says. “Or seven years, since we’ve been doing it.”
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Cory and Bradley have “always been good about keeping their boundaries” thus far, Crudup says, as he teases, “This season, maybe the boundaries evaporate a little bit.”
Being part of The Morning Show has been a special experience for the Emmy winner, as it’s a career first for him in many ways.
“I’ve never been a part of something where the company has been around each other for so long — I’m talking about the cast and the crew,” Crudup reflects. “It’s an unusual and exceptional experience.”
Apple Tv+
“You are typically a part of the carny life. You go from one town to the next, you spend three months with people, you get really close to them, then you don’t see them again for 10 years,” he says, referring to how he’s previously jumped from project to project rather than staying in place as one character for a longer period of time.
“To keep returning, there’s a kind of trust that we’ve all built, and it’s something I’ve never experienced,” he adds. “I’m so grateful.”
Both Crudup and Witherspoon know how much fans love their onscreen chemistry.
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In a July birthday post to mark the Almost Famous star turning 57, Witherspoon shared a photo of them from the set of season 4 as she called Crudup her “partner in crime” on the show.
“PS: who’s ready for more Cory/Bradley in s4?!” she also teased.
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The Morning Show season 4 premiered Wednesday, Sept. 17, on Apple TV+.