Haley Lu Richardson explains why the pilot’s Twila-Tom fight wasn’t just a standout moment on “Ponies,” but a deeply personal one—down to sobbing between takes and feeling “freedom” as the season went on. She also discusses Episode 4’s river retrieval sequence
Haley Lu Richardson doesn’t believe in choosing a single “favorite scene.” With “Ponies. ” she says. every moment where Twila Hasbeck is on the screen teaches her something new. But then she talks about a fight in the pilot that landed so hard it changed how she understood the character—and how she felt in the work.
In Peacock’s series. created by David Iserson and Susanna Fogel. Bea (Emilia Clarke) and Twila (Richardson) begin as the wives of CIA agents stationed in Moscow in the mid-’70s. Their lives upend after a mysterious plane crash kills their husbands. and the two women become CIA agents themselves in order to discover the truth about what happened. Their friendship—platonic. supportive. and repeatedly tested in increasingly dangerous. KGB-infested territory—is a core engine of the show. even as spy shenanigans keep pulling them deeper into trouble.
Twila is the outwardly brash. confident. fast-talking improviser to Bea’s more nerdy. poised. rule-follower persona (who can actually speak Russian). Richardson and Clarke have both discussed the meaning of centering a platonic. supportive female friendship in a story filled with action. For Richardson, though, the emotional key starts even earlier—when she first read the pilot.
She found herself reflecting on Twila in a moment that didn’t make it into the scene early in the pilot episode. “Second Hand News.” Twila argues with her husband. Tom (John Macmillan). about going to the US Embassy Christmas party without him. because he’s had a job come up. Richardson says that fight is their final one before Tom gets on the plane that (allegedly) crashes and kills him. In the show. it’s the brief glimpse of their relationship—simmering disrespect. desire. and neglect—that fuels Twila’s bravado and self-reliance. Richardson also notes that a longer version they shot had a line that hit her physically.
“He said something like, ‘You are too much. You are too loud’ and when I read that, it hit me so hard,” Richardson told IndieWire. “I [understood] who Twila is. what’s buried that she’s suppressing within her because of the shame she feels. and why she overcompensates. I relate to this personally. I know so many people. especially women. but also just anyone. will relate to that feeling of being too much and yet not enough for this person who’s supposed to love you. I read those words, and I was like, ‘Damn, I gotta play this woman.’”.
That kind of connection didn’t just inform the performance—it shaped the experience of shooting it. Richardson says the fight ended up being cathartic to film. Normally, when actors are heating up in a scene, they may try to stay in that energy between takes. In her case, she says she was crying between takes.
“But when I was doing that scene, I was sobbing between takes,” Richardson said. “I was releasing so much, for Twila and for me, it was therapeutic. Like. I was sobbing. and then I’d have to get myself together and contain it all to be able to be strong. feisty. biting Twila. It was a totally different experience than I’ve had before.”.
And once the season found its footing, Richardson says the overall experience kept changing in a way that surprised her. The whole of “Ponies” felt unlike anything she’d done before. She says Twila’s person doesn’t end up being Tom (RIP). but Bea—and that the scenes where Twila and Bea are drinking wine and scheming through the latest clues they’ve uncovered became just as interesting and releasing as the danger around them.
“I just felt so much freedom as Twila in every single scene. I learned something, and I let something go,” Richardson said.
That sense of trust shows up again in Episode 4. In the episode. Twila and Bea need to retrieve a gun and a passport from the corpse of a contact who fell off a bridge into the river. Richardson describes the sequence as long and twisty. with a night shoot full of variables that all had to go right—hinging largely on her performance. Twila and Bea bicker about the absurdity of the situation. and Richardson says Twila has a reflective moment where she sees a cautionary tale in the fate of a woman who was similarly self-reliant. brash. and tough.
“I think normally I would’ve been really in my head about that for days leading up to it and trying to stay in it or whatever during it. But I just felt so much trust in my connection to Twila that I just felt things in my bones that I just knew — I would get to the edge of the water. and it’d come time for me to say this weird. out of nowhere. vulnerable monologue. and it would just click. ” Richardson said. “I just had a trust with her as a character, which allowed me to trust myself more. [It’s] much more fluid and less tortured to act that way.”.
She doesn’t yet know whether that freedom and trust will carry over into other roles. or if it’s tied specifically to Twila. But she has noticed Twila’s influence reaching beyond the camera. Richardson says her mom came over the previous day and told her that in the last year—starting recently—Richardson draws out syllables and uses different facial expressions. Richardson connected that change to Twila. saying it likely comes from having the most personal relationship with Twila of any character she’s played.
“Ponies” is still waiting on a Season 2 renewal. but Richardson describes playing Twila—across both her loudest and quietest moments—as life-changing. She points to how her own timing aligned with the character’s. Richardson says she was playing Twila during a period of growth phases that felt parallel to Twila’s experience throughout the season. She turned 30 while playing her, and she says it was impactful on a personal level.
“I do feel like she’s lingered. And I’m not mad at it ‘cause I love her.”
“Ponies” Season 1 is streaming on Peacock.
Haley Lu Richardson Ponies Peacock Emilia Clarke Twila Hasbeck Bea John Macmillan David Iserson Susanna Fogel Second Hand News Season 1 Episode 4