Laura Linney Reflects on the ‘Ozark’ Finale and Wendy’s Evolution: ‘From Day 1, It Was All About Survival’

thewrap.com:

A version of this story about Laura Linney and “Ozark” first appeared in the Comedy & Drama issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.Looking back, it’s hard to believe there was ever a time in “Ozark” when Wendy Byrde (Laura Linney) wasn’t in the driver’s seat.

The Netflix drama kicks off when Wendy’s husband Marty (Jason Bateman) relocates his family to Missouri to launder money for a Mexican drug cartel.

By the series finale, which aired this April, it was clear who the real kingpin was: Marty may have dragged them into this mess, but only Wendy was willing to do whatever it took to survive.Throughout four seasons of violence, betrayal and near-death experiences, that quality made Wendy one of Ozark’s most ruthless, unpredictable characters — and Linney one of its most compelling performers. “From day one of the show, it was all about survival,” said the Emmy-winning actress of “Frasier” and “The Big C.” “And it was also a group of people, meaning the Byrde family, who really didn’t know each other, and really didn’t know themselves.”Over time, Linney got to know her character to the extent that Wendy’s next move “just (became) clear,” even when she had no idea where the story was going. “Because she was someone who was so impulsive, that gave me a lot of leeway in which to behave,” she said. “Nothing I did was really wrong, because the template was set to hold the logic of whatever happened.”That side of Wendy became especially important in the later seasons, when her past begins to intersect with the narrative.

The arrivals of her mentally ill brother, Ben (Tom Pelphrey), followed by her abusive father, Nathan (Richard Thomas), serve as emotional landmines, setting off a chain of explosive interactions.