The Minds Behind the Shows

In the third season of the drama series, which stars Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell as an adversarial political power couple, Cahn brought in Bradley Whitford to play the husband of Allison Janney’s POTUS. The shift from one dysfunctional couple to two opened the door to a delicious dynamic between the duos, vividly captured in the scene where Whitford’s Todd cuts his hand while preparing oysters and bleeds all over them. (Marriage is a blood sport.)

From day one, Cahn has been writing sharply drawn characters that give the gifted actors plenty to play with. (In March, Russell won an Actor Award for her high-wire work as shrewd ambassador to the U.K. Kate Wyler.) And she knows just when to throw in a plot twist, as in the Season 3 finale.

“I work in a candy store,” Cahn said. “It’s wildly fun. We’re always somehow in over our heads, but we have to remind ourselves that we chose to dive into the deep end. We’re choosing to do a lot. So it’s a constant, like, stay focused but keep your peripheral vision way open, and allow yourself to take in the new ideas as they present themselves. I’m not telling the story alone. We’ve put together a company that’s telling the story. Keri and Rufus are so good, and it was great to be able to bring in actors (Janney and Whitford) who can come in at the sprint that Keri and Rufus are at. It was an absolute career peak, a dream come true.” —LS

– Photoshoots from 2026 The Wrap Show runners And Creators Issue – 2026