Julia Roberts Not Returning For Season 2 Of ‘Homecoming,’ Per ‘Hollywood Reporter’
Actress Julia Roberts has received enormous praise for her first recurring TV role as Heidi Bergman in the Amazon series Homecoming, which debuted in November of 2018, but it seems that her on-screen time fulfilling the role is up. According to a January 16 report from the Hollywood Reporter, Julia will not be returning for the show’s second season — at least, not in front of the cameras.
Although the series was picked up for two installments when it landed on Amazon, sources familiar with the production told the news source that Julia had only committed to one season, a deal based “purely on the Amazon drama’s creative story line.” However, the actress, whose performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a TV drama series, still plans to remain close to the show as she will take on the role of executive producer alongside director Sam Esmail for Season 2.
Roberts had remained tight-lipped about reprising her role leading up to and throughout the show’s debut last year, and previously told the Hollywood Reporter in November that she was not ready to give any answers as to her involvement, or lack thereof, in the future of the show.
Exclusive: Julia Roberts Won't Return for #Homecoming Season 2 https://t.co/nSkbh82Zpb pic.twitter.com/T0lqS3eNBo
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 16, 2019
The hit Amazon series is based off a Gimlet Media podcast of the same name, but Esmail has said in the past that the TV adaptation largely strays from the plot of the original.
“We’ve deviated from very much of the podcast, so [season two of] the podcast doesn’t really have anything to do with the way the show is going,” Esmail told the news outlet before the show’s release. “We’re working on a second season, but we have a very different trajectory for our show.”
Sam explained that when he first signed on to work on Homecoming, he had only gotten six episodes into the podcast, which is why the first half of its on-screen counterpart is fairly similar, but the second half of Season 1 provides “major shifts and differences from the podcast.”
The second season of the podcast version largely follows Heidi’s search for Walter, though this story line was wrapped up with the conclusion of the Amazon adaptation’s first season, seemingly providing an end for both Heidi’s character as well as Julia’s role in front of the cameras.
Amazon and Universal Cable Productions have declined to comment on whether or not any other major cast members will be departing for the show’s second installment.
