Grosse Pointe Garden Society is a dark dramedy set in the wealthy Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe, Michigan. The series follows four members of the upscale local garden club whose seemingly perfect lives unravel amid a murder investigation.

Jennifer Irwin plays the character of Marilyn, the president of the garden club who appears composed on the outside, but is dealing with her own struggles in secret, including her unhappy marriage to the town mayor, Buzz (Michael Houston King), who she suspects is having an affair.

Recently, Irwin spoke with SciFi Vision about playing Marilyn, including her character’s lack of self awareness, her unhappy situation with Buzz, if she thinks Marilyn and the other members of the club could be friends, and more.

Grosse Pointe Garden Society airs Fridays on NBC and can also be streamed on Peacock.

Read the transcript below.

***edited for clarity and length***

SCIFI VISION:   So, tell me why, in your own opinion, do you think the garden club is so important to her?

JENNIFER IRWIN:   I think it's her persona that she's tried very hard to cultivate. She sees herself as a winner and has pinned all her hopes and dreams on getting this cup back, and she's going to do it by any means necessary.

You know, she's a mayor's wife. So, there's that side of her life where she feels like she's she needs respect, and she's got to present a certain side of herself as the mayor's wife, but I think her real love is this garden club.

SCIFI VISION:   I can see this scene being played either way, so I want to know, from your point of view as an actor, [in Episode 9], when you play that scene with Catherine (Aja Naomi King), and your character is like, you know, “I'm resigning,” did she know that she came there to basically fire her, or do you think she's so in her own head, she didn't realize it?

JENNIFER IRWIN:   I don't think she knew. I think she was in a in a deep depression after learning the cup did not go their way. And I think Catherine came in there and was going to fire her, and I think she was ready to resign. And then once Catherine saw that she was so devastated, and that she's in this very unhappy domestic situation with Buzz, and she's seeing how he's treating her, I think she decides in that moment, you know, to not fire her. And I think it's just really sweet. I love that scene. It's really a moment where she just pivots instantly, and you see like the sweet side and that maybe these two have more in common, that they're both ambitious, and they both want the same thing, they just have different ways of getting it. And that maybe there's like a future alliance with these two. I don't know.

SCIFI VISION:   That's what I thought, because she doesn't, I guess, realize sometimes that they're so mad [at her], because she's off in her own world. Do you think that she probably may not change at all, I guess, before the next competition?

JENNIFER IRWIN:   I don't think she has a lot of self awareness - you know, those people that don't have a lot of self awareness about how how they talk to people? I think she thinks she has wonderful social social graces, but she does not handle and does not speak to people in a way that endears herself. But I think her motivations are pure. I like to think they are. I don't know. I mean, she will stoop to any level to get dirt on on Teddy (Gregory Nassif St. John).

SCIFI VISION:   Yeah. Do you think she could be friends with Catherine and the others though? Because when she called Alice (AnnaSophia Robb), they obviously set it up so you thought maybe Marilyn killed somebody and she's out there helping her and that kind of thing. I would love to kind of see her become part of that group if she would just, you know, lower the temperature a little bit.

JENNIFER IRWIN:   Yeah, I love that scene, too. I think she recognizes Alice like they're both pet parents, and they're completely devoted to their animals. So, she sort of sees a similar quality in Alice, that she knows that Alice has a soft heart and she can trust her.

Yeah, I would love to see her get some friends. That would be nice. [laughs]

SCIFI VISION:   Yeah, I would like that. Talk about working with the cat, because obviously that's her friend, and I know sometimes it can be hard working with animals.

JENNIFER IRWIN:   Well, I had to pop two Benadryl, because I'm got an allergy to cats. [laughs] And the cat too. I don't think the cat wants to be on TV. I think that cat did everything possible to dart out of the scene. So, that was pretty funny. Actually, it took a little longer, but anytime you're working with animals, there's always, you know, they're unpredictable.

SCIFI VISION:   You must have been really sick, too, because you were holding and hugging that cat. I don't know. I have bad allergies, so to me, that does not sound like fun.

JENNIFER IRWIN:   It was straining to get out of my arms; it did not want to be there.

SCIFI VISION:   Talk about her relationship with her husband and sort of, I guess, maybe tease where that's headed a little bit towards the end of the season, if you can.

JENNIFER IRWIN:   Yeah, I mean, it's not in a good place, that marriage. And he's very sort of demeaning to her and dismissive of her interests, and you really don't see at this point any love or respect that has remained in this marriage.

So, I mean, they're both clinging to their positions in town and their personas in town. So, I think they have this sense of responsibility towards each other, but I think at this point in their marriage, I don't think there's much keeping them together other than that.

SCIFI VISION:   I was going to say, do you think he could push her too far? Because I think she also probably to some extent enjoys the status, and if they got a divorce, that may change. She'd lose all that. I don't know. Do you think he could push her to that point?

JENNIFER IRWIN:   I think so. I think anyone could be pushed that point where they're like, “screw it. I'm out of here.”

But yeah, that's a good point, actually, that maybe she gets to the point where she's doesn't care anymore. That would be nice. I hope that. I wish that for her.

SCIFI VISION:   Yeah, I'd like to see that. She's got a lot of fire, but she never lets it out around him.

JENNIFER IRWIN:   You get to a point where you have to stop caring what people think about you, and she's not quite there yet.

SCIFI VISION:   How do you connect to, I guess, that side of her? Because she isn't always the nicest person.

JENNIFER IRWIN:   No. You know, I try to just focus on what somebody wants, and it doesn't matter if it's something that would be important to me or something that I might see as petty. I try and just focus on what drives her. And I think her intentions are always what's in the best interest of the Garden Club, and if it happens to help her achieve social status, then fine. That's a nice side thing. But I think, ultimately, she wants the cup back. So, I don't fault her for, you know, doing whatever she has to do to get that.

SCIFI VISION:   What part of her do you connect with easily, I guess, more than her trying to do that?

JENNIFER IRWIN:   Oh, I connect to her sense of purpose, you know, that she gets up in the morning, and she's got a goal, and she's going to achieve it. I think I'm a little bit like that, too. I'm a little singular focused, too.

I'm not so good with multitasking. I can only do one thing. I think she kind of gets in her own way a little bit socially. I like to think that I have more social awareness [laughs] than she does. That's maybe where we are different. I don't have - I can't obviously have a cat because of my allergies, and I'm not good with plants. So, in that way, [laughs] we’re very different.

SCIFI VISION:   What's been your favorite scene? Because you usually have the fun scenes. So, what's been your favorite out of all of them?

JENNIFER IRWIN:   Oh, I love the gala scenes when she's in her element. I love that, and then I love flipping back and forth, especially if it's being shot the same day between this very perfectly quaffed Marilyn, who has her hair perfectly done, her nails, her gala gown, and then to get to do a scene with her husband where it's the polar opposite. You see her just struggling, struggling in this marriage and struggling at home, then she has her public face and her private face, and those are the best days when you get to do both.

SCIFI VISION:   Is there anything that you can kind of tease that's to come? I know she wasn’t in the tenth episode. So, I guess, beyond that episode, is there anything you can, in general tease?

JENNIFER IRWIN:   Well, that it kind of picks up the pace, and there's a little more twists and turns in terms of who you think is, you know, who the murder victim is. We don't know.

SCIFI VISION:   That changes constantly.

JENNIFER IRWIN:   It’s changing constantly, and up until the very last moment, I didn't know who the victim was, and I guessed incorrectly over and over again. So, I think I was probably the last person to learn who it is, and I think you're going to be very surprised.