‘Winning Time’ Stars John C. Reilly and Hadley Robinson Dig Into the Buss Family Drama, Jeanie’s Jealousy and Jerry’s Combover

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains details about the second episode of Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty Season 2, now streaming on Max.

Papas got a brand new bag on Winning Time Season 2. With his maiden voyage as owner of the Los Angeles Lakers yielding an NBA championship, Jerry Buss (John C. Reilly) finds himself alone atop the mountain, keen to share his luxurious Inglewood basketball Mecca with family and friends.

Enter Honey Kaplan (Ari Graynor), an old flame of Jerrys that finds herself back in the business moguls desires 15 years after their first relationship fell apart. Though Honey greets her ex with her guard up, trepidatious about his womanizing charm, she finds herself won over again as Jerry lures her into the throne room of his gold-and-purple empire.

Meanwhile, Jerrys daughter Jeanie (Hadley Robinson) is grabbing the bull by the horns leading her fathers business. Already in charge of her own tennis franchise, the Type A twentysomething gets into a squabble with her brother Johnny (Thomas Mann) when she catches him more-than-just-canoodling with one of her teams athletes and a ripe trade asset at that.

There is some jealousy there, but I dont know if she would necessarily admit it to herself, Robinson says speaking with Variety about the scene. Theres rivalry. Theres competition between her and her brothers. Thats undeniable. But I think she also is just jealous that they have lives outside of this thing that shes devoted herself to completely.

Jerry and Jeanies relationship emerged as one of the primary emotional arcs of Winning Time Season 1, with the father and daughter both navigating the death of Buss family matriarch Jessie (Sally Field). The pairs trust in one another has been a compass for the series dizzying dashes through history, as modern viewers understand that Jeanie will go on to be the controlling owner of the Lakers organization after her fathers death in 2013.

Hadley Robinson and John C. Reilly in Winning Time Season 2 HBO In an interview conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike, Reilly and Robinson spoke together with Variety about why Jerry and Jeanie see eye-to-eye and how Season 2 tightens the screws on the Buss family.

Hadley, a key scene in this episode involves Jeanie flinching at the accusation that shes jealous of the men in her family and their carefree romances. Do you agree with that judgment?

HADLEY ROBINSON: It was alien to Jeanie that she was allowed to have fun. My interpretation is that she isnt sheltered its more that shes been watching her father do this business her entire life, so she made it her life. Its been her everything. Having fun and dating was kind of out of the question for Jeanie because it was just a distraction from the thing that mattered the most. Thats how she thought her father viewed it all. But, in this season, shes finding out that hes made women just as much a priority as all the stuff he does in this business. For the first time she does consider, If I dont have my dads attention, Ill try and get somebody elses attention.

Why do you two believe Jeanie and Jerry are such reliable confidantes, able to return to each other when their other relationships fall into disarray?

ROBINSON: The thing they usually connect over is the professional. They both get excited about it. But when this new romance is blossoming for her father, for the first time you see Jeanie go, Oh, wow. Thats not always what its about. I thought that was the thing that was going to yield my full validation in his eyes. When thats not the thing, she then starts to go, I dont really know what to connect with him over. There is no separation between the two the personal is professional, the professional is personal. Thats how their family functions.

JOHN C. REILLY: The reason Jerry constantly tried to mix personal and business like having his family work in the organization, bringing his relationships to the games all the time was because he just didnt have a choice. He knew this about himself: This is all I care about: the big dreams. So I either go it alone, which I dont want to do, or I force my family to be part of it. Some people were better at it than others. I think he wished it all worked a little better with the family, that there was less competition among the siblings. But it was what it was. And he wasnt willing to keep the family at home. He was determined to make it a family business which it still is to this day, unlike a lot of other sports teams.

John, in interviews for Season 1, you shared that you grew your hair out for Jerry Buss combover. Did you stick to that practice for Season 2?

REILLY: I was very determined to keep the look going. I dont like to wear wigs. It probably wouldve been easier to wear a wig to tell you the truth. But I like the feeling of false authenticity that a combover gives you.

Ive also seen you in-person youre a tall guy. Does that become an obstacle when youre shooting around a bunch of actors playing basketball players?

REILLY: No, no. You remind me when I went to see the Lakers back in the day, when Kobe Bryant was still playing and Derek Fisher was on the team. I remember thinking, Oh, I just love the little guy. Come on Fish. He made all those amazing baskets at the end of games. Then I look at the program and it has the stats: Derek Fisher, six-foot-two. I was like, Thats my height! Im a little guy! Im tiny! Anyways, they have these super lifts shoes for a lot of the players to get that size differential. But Im the exact same height as Jerry. So it worked for me.

The hair is real, the height is real.

REILLY: The teeth, however

This interview has been edited and condensed.