At Least One Major Star Isn’t Returning for Presumed Innocent Season 2

The following article contains SPOILERS for Presumed Innocent season 1.

Peter Sarsgaard, one of the several great actors to appear in Apple TV’s thriller Presumed Innocent, doesn’t have any plans to return to the show for its already confirmed second season. This isn’t related to a bad experience doing the show, apparently; he’s just not interested in doing sequels of any sort. Of course, we dug around his catalog, and no, he hasn’t appeared in any sort of sequels to his films or TV shows. So that tracks.

In Presumed Innocent, Peter Sarsgaard plays Tommy Molto, a prosecutor who’s forced to work for the state in a trial against Rusty Sabich (Jake Gyllenhaal), one of his peers. Sabich is accused of brutally killing Carolyn Polhemus, another prosecutor who he had an affair with, and all signs point to the attorney whose odds are not exactly in his favor. Molto works alongside Nico Della Guardia in trying to send Sabich to prison, but without a single piece of evidence, their case quickly gets more complex.

The eight-episode first season was well-received by critics and audiences. It has a 76% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and viewing numbers were good enough to tempt Apple into making a second season, which will also be produced by David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies, The Undoing, Goliath, Mr. Mercedes) and J.J. Abrams (through his company Bad Robot). Per Apple’s announcement, the second season “will unfold around a suspenseful, brand new case.”

However, in an interview with IndieWire, Sarsgaard revealed that he has no plans to reprise his role as Tommy Molto:

“I’m not really that interested in sequels. I think I’ve only ever done one season of anything. I think I’m a one-season person. I tell my kids this sometimes, maybe I’ve done 90, 100 different things over the years between movies, TV shows, and plays. I say, ‘I’m very good at saying hello and saying goodbye.’ There’s a very valuable thing in saying goodbye because then you have to look for another source of inspiration and then you change. I get asked all the time, did I gain weight, lose weight, grow a beard, all of that. I’m sort of just doing all of that all the time. If I were playing something over and over again, I would have to keep coming back to the same territory.

I’ve actually found that acting has been really valuable in terms of just being a person, and I think part of it is that I’ve had all of these really interesting experiences not just playing different characters but collaborating with different people.”

Sarsgaard also discussed the reception to his character, and rejects the way many view the characters he’s played in the past:

“It’s funny because for me, obviously with
Presumed Innocent
now, to me I’m not a villain in that. I’m just a guy who lives by himself. I’m playing a decent person in that. And actually during the run of
Presumed Innocent
, I did a Q&A at one point and someone was like, ‘How are you so creepy?’ and stuff, and I really object to it. “Most of the characters that I play, I have my arm around them. They’re right there with me.”

Presumed Innocent is All About the Performances

Presumed Innocent (2024)

4.5/5

It tells the story of a horrific murder that upends the Chicago Prosecuting Attorneys’ office when one of its own is suspected of the crime. The show stars Jake Gyllenhaal and is from legendary TV writer David E. Kelley.

Release Date

June 12, 2024

Cast

Jake Gyllenhaal , Ruth Negga , Bill Camp , Elizabeth Marvel , Renate Reinsve , Peter Sarsgaard , O-T Fagbenle , Chase Infiniti , Lily Rabe , Nana Mensah , Matthew Alan , Kingston Rumi Southwick

Based on the novel of the same name by Scott Turow, Presumed Innocent was first adapted into a film in 1990, directed by Alan J. Pakula and starring Harrison Ford. The film was a blockbuster and one of the best thrillers of the year, and remaking it wasn’t going to be an easy feat. However, Apple had a card up their sleeve: Oscar nominee Jake Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard lead a great ensemble cast consisting of Ruth Negga, Bill Camp, O-T Fagbenle, and the always reliable Noma Dumezweni.

The performances in the serial adaptation have been met with much applause. Gyllenhaal plays the perfect victim, looking guilty but not quite guilty enough, while Camp continues to shine and Sarsgaard and Fagbenle make a great pair. Ruth Negga is, as usual, a reliable dramatic force, while Dumezweni steals every scene she’s in. It’s no wonder that Apple wants more.