‘Platonic’ Creators And Seth Rogen Share Why Beck Bennett Was The “Perfect” Wild Card: “A Real Dreamy Blend Of Grounded And Hilarious”

Wild Card is in the house! And by that, we mean actor, comedian, and Saturday Night Live alum Beck Bennett is on Platonic, of course!

Platonic Season 2, Episode 3, “The Bachelor Party,” reunites Will (Seth Rogen) and Sylvia (Rose Byrne) with their “wild and crazy” old pal, Wild Card, for an unforgettable night out before Will’s wedding.

Back in the day, Wild Card was a bold, fearless, adventure-seeking legend who brought out reckless sides in Sylvia and Will. So naturally, the duo assumed that a Wild Card-coordinated Bachelor Party would be out of control. In a twist, the pals learned that Wild Card settled down in recent years — so much so that he was perfectly fine calling it a night at 10 p.m. after dinner and a weed gummy. BORING! After Sylvia switched into last-minute party-planning mode, the trio found themselves at an after hours aquarium event, which took a few turns for the worse.

While the night wasn’t the epic outing that Sylvia hoped for, the episode was a hit, thanks in large part to Bennett’s casting and his palpable chemistry with Rogen and Byrne.

When chatting with Decider about Platonic Season 2, Rogen said “it was great” welcoming his pal into Will and Sylvia’s dynamic for a full episode. “I’ve known Beck for quite a while. One of the times I hosted SNL he was on the show, and I’ve always thought he was so funny. He’s a lovely guy. I’ve been around him socially over the years as well, and he’s just very cool and fun to hang out with,” Rogen told Decider. “It was great. I remember very early on being like, ‘I want to be involved with casting this role and choosing this person,’ because we have a lot of scenes with them, and I wanted them to really feel like someone that would fit into the group well. When the idea of [Beck] came up, I was thrilled. I was like, ‘Oh, that’s perfect!’”

For the role of Wild Card-turned-Mild Card, the team needed someone would could convincingly rock a Will-level patterned shirt, go head-to-head with Byrne and Rogen, and instantaneously feel like an old friend who seamlessly fit into an established dynamic. Platonic needed an actor who convincingly pull off glimmers of goofiness, have an extended debate on Sydney Sweeney’s sex appeal, nail high and low energy, and flex quality comedy chops. Early on, Platonic co-creator and writer Francesca Delbanco, who directed Episode 3, knew Bennett was the man for the job.

“He was so fun to work with and so game. I had never met him before he was on this season, but we knew we wanted him. He was just a real dreamy blend of grounded and hilarious at the same time,” Delbanco told Decider via Zoom. “That was an episode that we reworked a million times, because it’s a bachelor party episode, and the character’s name was Wild Card. So our initial impulse was to make it a crazy night and have them get into all kinds of trouble and scrapes. And how could they ever recover from all the damage they did? But the more we looked at the script, and the more we stepped back from it, we were like, ‘This is a show about middle age. We are middle aged people. What would a bachelor party really be for us right now?’ It would be a boring night going out to dinner.”

For Delbanco and her real-life husband, Platonic co-creator Nick Stoller, the real comedy in the sophomore season’s third episode came from the characters.

“Specifically Sylvia’s desperate need to have a wild and crazy time like she did 20 years ago, versus what reality is now,” Delbanco explained. “We thought the funniest version of it would be for Wild Card to just be a guy who used to be wild, but now is just a married dad who has a pretty boring life. And Beck was so funny playing that character.”

Though Wild Card headed home at the end of Episode 3, here’s hoping he could reappear on the series down the line, should Platonic return for more seasons. (We need that Zac Efron appearance, too!) As for Season 2, there are still plenty more surprises in store, including other SNL guest stars Aidy Bryant and Kyle Mooney, who enter the picture later on. So buckle up and brace for more big laughs, Platonic fans!

New episodes of Platonic Season 2 premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV+.