Busy Phillips found herself connecting closely to her Cupertino character, Natalia Boutella, who is figuring out her next chapter after a divorce.
“My absolute favorite thing to watch — and now my favorite thing to play — is a woman who becomes empowered after the age of 40 and finds her own voice,” Phillips, 47, exclusively told Us. “That’s what I’m getting to do on this show.”
Phillips learned some important lessons from portraying the former wife of a wealthy and powerful AI tech mogul in the legal drama, adding, “It shows that you can have a second act as a woman. Life doesn’t end just because your marriage does.”
Cupertino, which airs on Thursdays, stars Mike Colter as a Silicon Valley attorney who, after being fired by his employer, forms a firm with another laid off lawyer (Rachel Keller) to represent people harmed by the technology industry.
The legal drama also stars Renée Elise Goldsberry, Ella Stiller and Nik Dodani. Phillips, for her part, plays a client who slowly becomes a regular fixture on the show as the story line continues to play out. For Philipps, questioning the use of AI hit close to home.
“I’m not an AI user. We don’t use that in my home. I actually am obsessed with my daughter’s eighth grade — and with the entire school. They are hand writing all of their assignments this year,” the actress, who shares two kids with estranged husband Marc Silverstein, told Us. “They’re not using computers at all in response to the proliferation of [AI] — and I’m sure that kids will cheat but she’s not.”
Phillips continued: “And this has really reconfirmed my belief that billionaires should not exist and that we need to have regulations in place. And also I just trust no one.”
While the characters are taking on AI issues in different cases on the show, Phillips reflected on her own relationship with technology.
“I struggle somewhat,” she noted. “I actually struggle a lot. I’m not tech savvy at all.”
Phillips added: “I feel like I already have accepted long ago that like all of my information has been taken from me and there is no privacy. Like I think it’s weird when people are shocked that their information has been stolen. Obviously your information’s been stolen.”
Cupertino airs on CBS Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Paramount+.
