"Saying the abrupt goodbye"- When Lizzy Caplan made her feelings clear about bidding adieu to her co-stars

Lizzy Caplan has been acting professionally since 1999. Her first role was as Sara in the critically acclaimed series Freaks and Geeks. Since then, the actress has appeared in a variety of films as well as TV shows such as Masters of S*x, Fatal Attraction, and most recently, Zero Day.

During a past appearance for an interview on Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, on December 8, 2022, Lizzy Caplan reflected on how saying goodbye to her co-stars after working with them on a project is a tough ordeal for her. She said:

"It's something that you can't really fully explain to anybody else who isn't there, who isn't like boots on the ground, and so it does, it bonds you, and then like the saying the abrupt goodbye... For me, it was like you have these experiences, and then you really do, like, depart this family."

She further added:

"I don't know a single actor, certainly not any that I'm friends with, that don't have like severe abandonment issues, and like we just go and do this to ourselves all the time."

Host Conan O'Brien agreed with Lizzy Caplan regarding this aspect of working in the entertainment industry. Caplan, who was promoting her show Fleishman Is in Trouble at the time, also reflected on the positive experience she had while working on it.

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Lizzy Caplan on her experience of working with Robert De Niro in Zero Day

Robert De Niro as George Mullen in Zero Day (Image via Netflix)

Lizzy Caplan played the role of young Congresswoman Alexandra Mullen in Netflix's new political thriller Zero Day. Alexandra is the daughter of former U.S. President George Mullen, portrayed by Robert De Niro.

During an interview with The Wrap dated February 22, 2025, Caplan reflected on her experience working alongside a Hollywood veteran like De Niro, who made his TV debut with this show. She said:

"I keep thinking that I would have been perfectly content and felt very lucky to have just been in the background of some of his scenes with some of the other actors in this."

She continued:

"So the fact that we got real things to do with each other, real conflict scenes, I still kind of don’t believe it. He was such a generous, kind scene partner. I’m a big fan, not only now of just his movies, but of the man himself."

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Caplan opened up about her character, Alexandra Mullen, in Zero Day

Lizzy Caplan as Alexandra Mullen in Zero Day (Image via Netflix)

Zero Day is a six-part series in which the current U.S. President Evelyn Mitchell (played by Angela Bassett) calls former U.S. President George Mullen out of retirement to investigate an unprecedented cyberterrorist attack that resulted in the death of thousands of people.

George's daughter, Alexandra Mullen, is working to establish her own political career, independent of her father's legacy. In the interview with The Wrap, Lizzy Caplan described her character as "very left-leaning" and "popular online."

She further revealed that Alexandra is slightly inspired by the New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is also left-leaning and popular online. However, Caplan then added:

"But not completely, because obviously she [Cortez] comes from a very working class background, whereas Alex is the daughter of a former president. She grew up in the White House. So there’s also some shades of some of the more well known daughters of former presidents."

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Zero Day is available to stream on Netflix.