'The Big C' Star Talks About the Big Finale, Laura Linney, Season 2 & ... Bristol Palin?

If you haven't watched 'The Big C' because you think it's just a show about someone dying of cancer, you couldn't be more wrong. It has been the biggest, most pleasant, must-watch TV surprise all year.

Of course a show starring Laura Linney was going to garner some buzz, but the entire cast provides laughs, tears and genuinely touching moments every week. Recovering from a major character death last week, we go into the season finale knowing that change is imminent.

But does that mean Cathy will seek treatment for her cancer? Will her husband be able to deal with her decision? Will her son finally snap out of his teenage bubble? And will her eccentric brother Sean, played by John Benjamin Hickey, ever grow up?

I caught up with the hilarious Hickey to talk about this season's success, what's in store for tonight's finale (Mon., Nov. 15, 10:30PM ET on Showtime), his interesting past with costars Linney and Cynthia Nixon, his plea for a certain Oscar-winner to guest star, ghosts and ... Bristol Palin?

I really just adore this show. Were you at all surprised by the critical and fan response?
I'm surprised at the kind of show that it is, and how unconventional it is. I think when everyone heard, read or signed on to be part of a show about a woman diagnosed with stage four melanoma -- and that woman is played by the glorious Laura Linney -- you thought it was going to be one thing. I sort of love that it became another thing altogether. That character is so full of surprises and so, like most interesting human beings, a mass of contradictions. The kinds of denial she's dealing with, the kinds of anger, the problems at home ... I really love that it's not about somebody who's dying. I think it's pushing a lot of people's buttons.

Especially after last week's episode ... how do you kill off one of the most wonderful characters on a show?
I know. I had to tell people in my family, "You know that Phyllis Somerville is an actress who was playing Marlene, and Phyllis did not kill herself, right?" People have gotten so involved in these characters' lives so quickly. I'm so fortunate to get to be part of that group. It's really something.

Marlene's death was an important move to make ... obviously it's a show about loss, but you can't kill off the main character.
Look, I think nobody knew -- except when Phyllis started playing the part -- that it was gonna have this kind of impact. I haven't talked to the writers, I have no idea what's in store for the show, but it wouldn't surprise me if somehow, some way Marlene is a part of Cathy's life as the show goes on. She's become such an important voice to the show. But you're right -- I think that if the show is about loss, and Cathy was starting to get her ducks in a row and then this crazy thing happened, it's just life saying when you think it's going to go one way, it could somehow go a completely different way.

So are you pitching a Ghost Marlene for season 2?
I don't know! I sure would love it because I love Phyllis so much. It's such an honor and pleasure to work with her. So bring on the ghosts, baby! She could be like Bobby Ewing! [Laughs] The whole thing was a dream ...

I think Sean said it best in the pilot about Cathy, this woman who'd become an uptight mom and wife, getting her weird back. Do you think Sean's the reason her weird continues to come out?
I think that Sean is such a great person in Cathy's life because I think Cathy realizes that she's a lot more like Sean than she thought she was. In turn, Sean is starting to realize that he might be more like Cathy than he'd like to admit. I think that's true of siblings. I've got an older brother and we couldn't be more different -- he's a rodeo cowboy. But the older we get, the more we like each other. We have so much in common because of our kinship -- simply because he's mine and I'm his. I think that's where Sean and Cathy are. Let's face it, we don't all have Freegan, homeless-by-choice siblings. [Laughs] I think that's such an interesting sibling dynamic when you start to think, "Maybe you and I, for better or worse, are all we have."

And now the finale -- how do you wrap up such a phenomenal first season?
It's a pretty great episode, if I do say so myself. It raises a lot of questions about where these characters are heading, and it starts to answer a couple of questions. It's full of surprises. I think there's some very, very exicting doors that open for Sean ... and I mean that quite literally. I'll just say that.

Is there a bit of Sean in you now?
Oh totally. I'm dirty and smelly right now ... having just come back from the gym. [Laughs] As the season progressed, I found myself showering less and less. I would say, "Wow, I don't have to wash my hair again today!" Laura finally was like, "Alright, you're taking it a little too far." [Laughs] It seems silly to say, but I was pretty "green" before this, and this has really opened my eyes. I've read a lot about the Freegan movement and the dumpster diving. Of course the notion of dumpster diving seems kind of insane. I thought it was a very young person's movement --a hippie, Dead-head thing -- when really they come in all shapes and sizes. It's really just a very hardcore extreme version of staying very local, which I think is an attractive way to live your life.

It's so local it's in your own backyard! In your alley!
Absolutely -- in your own trashcan, or somebody else's! But anything can be recycled. When we were filming, the whole BP disaster happened, so everyday I'd get to work and the sh** Sean would come up with was like, "Wow, this all sort of makes sense to me."

Laura is truly magic in this role. How is it working with her?
You know I've known Laura for 20 years -- we went to drama school together. I am still amazed at the depth of her gifts. She's just really, really surprised me with how f***ing good she is, man. She's so great on the show, isn't she? I love her so much personally -- she's such a great friend and colleague and she's so much fun to work with -- that sometimes I'll be watching the show with somebody and I'll say "Is she as good as I think she is?" [Laughs] We love to take the piss out of each other, we're each other's best shoulder to cry on. But we're both pretty snarky. We have a real shorthand with each other, and I really do think you can see that in [the characters]. Working with her is like if I was on 'Dancing With the Stars' and she was my dance partner, I would win, even though I can't dance.

You'd be Bristol Palin!
I would be Bristol Palin, yes! [Laughs]

You're all so funny in real life. When the cameras stop rolling, who cracks people up the most?
Gaby [Sidibe] is freaking hilarious! She is so funny, and she just sparkled. There was a character who was my girlfriend in one of the first episodes and she was an aura reader. She turns to Gaby at the dinner table and said, "Your aura is very pink and sparkly." I think the writers wrote that after they'd been working with Gaby for a while, because that's exactly what Gaby's aura is. And she's so full of piss and vinegar. On her last day on set, it was very emotional and Laura came to her with open arms and tears in her eyes, and Gaby looked at her and said "I am so gonna miss this ... paycheck." [Laughs] Everyone's very funny. Gabe [Basso]'s hilarious and Ollie Platt ...

And you got to spend a lot of quality time with Cynthia Nixon, too.
Yeah, now we've got Cynthia in the mix, who I have been having sex with onscreen for a very long time. I was the first guy she slept with on 'Sex and the City.' I've known Cynthia forever and a day as well, almost as long as I've known Laura. To watch her success, and then to have her come and we get to do this again together. The first time we got in bed, she was like, "Oh it's you again!" We're so comfortable with each other.

And can we all just agree that Idris Elba is the most gorgeous thing ever put on the planet?
I mean, forget it. Forget it! Somebody said to me, "How can Cathy do that to her husband?" And I was like, "I got two words for you: Idris Elba." Only a blind idiot fool ... he's irresistible. And he was so game and so much fun. Pretty dreamy.

What would be your dream story line for season 2?
For the family to bond together in as quirky and wonderful and complicated a way as they can to help Cathy get better. Specifically for Sean, it'd be interesting to see him take all that passion and all that anger and direct it towards the healthcare system. I think Sean's got such a great brain. I think as soon as he finds out what's going on with his sister, I'd love to see him rise to the occasion and be a great brother to her. That's not up to me ... but I'll damn sure kick those writers' asses if they don't. [Laughs]

Since you all can get just about anyone, do you have ant dream guest stars?
Well we could start with Meryl [Streep]. Why not start with Meryl? If you're gonna go for it, why not go for it? And she's a pal of Laura's so that could work. There's a great universe of New York actors, and that's one of the reasons why Laura wanted to shoot on the east coast -- it's just an embarrassment of riches here.