Entertainment
‘Vanished’s Kaley Cuoco Explains Why Alice and Tom “Can’t Come Back” From That Surprising Final Reveal
[Editor’s note: The following contains major spoilers for Vanished.]
Summary
In the MGM+ original series Vanished, Alice (Kaley Cuoco) is determined to uncover what happened to her boyfriend Tom (Sam Claflin), after he disappeared aboard a train to the south of France. The couple’s trip to spend some much-needed time together in Paris turns dark when the doctor involved in humanitarian work seemingly vanishes, leaving behind his very confused archaeologist girlfriend. Uncovering shocking secrets that put her in danger don’t stop Alice from wanting to know the truth, as she realizes the man she thought she loved, she never really knew at all.
Collider recently got the opportunity to chat one-on-one with Cuoco about how her love of true crime helped draw her to this series, what she found most interesting about Alice, the dynamic between Alice and Tom, the nightmare of having someone you love just disappear, the special bond that Alice forms with Hélène (Karin Viard), the frustration in realizing that you sometimes you really just don’t know a person no matter how well you think you do, the moment Alice has decided that she’s had enough, Cuoco’s own input into the “Dear Tom” note, and whether there could be another season. She also discussed her upcoming HBO comedy series Kansas City Star and revealed why she’s so excited about it.
As a Big True-Crime Fan, Kaley Cuoco Understands Her ‘Vanished’ Character’s Drive for Answers
“I would want to know what happened.”
Collider: The characters that I’ve talked to you about previously, in The Flight Attendant, Role Play, and Based on a True Story, have all had other things going on with them than what it seems on the surface. And with Vanished, things are happening to Alice more than they’re happening because of her. As an EP on this, were there things that you wanted this character to be and qualities you wanted her to have that you thought would make her interesting to explore?
KALEY CUOCO: Yeah. I keep thinking, actually, because some people are saying, “Well, if you love The Flight Attendant, I think you’ll love this,” with Cassie in The Flight Attendant, so much was happening to her because of her. She was an unreliable narrator. She was an absolute disaster. A disaster with a heart of gold. Things happened a lot because of her behavior. And I feel like with Alice, she’s actually a pretty grounded person. She has her life together. She’s very organized. She loves her career. Her boyfriend and her have a really specific lifestyle. They meet in these different places, they travel the world, they have no kids, they just have this really cool lifestyle. She has a great career. She’s organized as hell. And so, I think that made it even more terrifying that she was so duped by this man, even though, possibly, you can look at it like he was doing this for technically the greater good.
She’s a step ahead of everybody. Cassie was always a step behind, and Alice is a step ahead. I think that’s even more terrifying when you’ve got your shit together, and you still have this big moment of betrayal. How do you move forward? How do you trust again? Is your curiosity so intense that you have to figure out what happened? I asked myself this through the whole process. I kept thinking, “God, if this happened to me, would I crumble and just get a flight home? Would I just run home?” But I’m so obsessed with true crime and answers that I think I would probably stay. I wouldn’t almost get myself killed, but I would want to know what happened. God forbid, what if something really did happen to him? How would you forgive yourself? There was a lot of push and pull that I thought was an interesting self-reflection on what I would do if I was in this situation.
To jump right into spoilers, Tom feels like a tricky character because this is a guy who’s been with Alice for years and she’s never suspected anything. So, what made Sam Claflin the right actor for Tom?
CUOCO: Well, two parts [to that]. Because of their lifestyle, they were really never together for long periods of time. They’ve been together for years and years. We know that they both have very global jobs, or careers. They meet up in these amazing countries. They have these two-week whirlwinds, and they separate again. It was believable that maybe he could be doing something totally different than what he’s telling her. What’s so lovely about Sam is that he’s so charming and endearing and authentic and just lovely. And then, he can play the, “Wait a minute, is there something else going on here?”
I like, with the flashbacks, that they start out with such rose-colored glasses and, as time goes on, they start to shift for her where she’s like, “Wait a minute, maybe I’m not remembering this the way that [it happened].” We’ve all done that. We’ve all romanticized so many different things and realized, “Oh, God, maybe that’s not exactly what it was.” So, he was perfect for this because he’s so lovable, and you believe that he wants to be with this woman, and he’s in this relationship. But there’s an edge there, and maybe he is lying. And how is he getting away with this? You see why maybe she never suspected anything, because he’s really innocent on the surface, and he’s doing all this good, saving children and [being] this global ambassador. You want to believe that that’s this wonderful trait that this man has.
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Matthias Schweighöfer also stars in the series.
I thought it was really interesting to have him disappear on a train while he’s taking a phone call while they’re in between stations. It makes a situation that already seems unbelievable that much more difficult to understand and explain. Do you feel like that really helped add to the feeling of desperation and panic since she’s essentially trapped on this train? She can’t even go out and look for him.
CUOCO: It’s literally my worst nightmare. This is my favorite part of the show, to literally wake up from a nap on the train, you look over, and your boyfriend’s gone. Okay, maybe he’s in the bathroom. Okay, maybe he’s walking around. You’re on a train, [which is] a moving vehicle. Where did this man go? It’s terrifying. Unless he magically disappeared, how the hell did he get off this train? It’s a terrifying thought. She’s in a country she doesn’t know, and he’s literally gone. That’s horrifying. She innocently goes to the police, and then they start to look at her weirdly. Who can she trust? Now she’s thinking, “Oh, my God, what if they blame me for something?” They know, deep down, she’s not a part of this, but is she getting framed? She has no one there to protect her. It’s terrifying.
And I think with this much true crime as I watch, and with as many podcasts and documentaries as I’ve seen of people making absolutely insane decisions, that’s why this intrigued me. I was like, “Hell, yeah, this could happen. This could happen.” Would you stay? Would you try and figure it out? Would you go back? When I was reading the end, for a moment, I was like, “Oh, my God, are they really writing this, that she’s going to get back with him?” And then, obviously, she doesn’t. It was like, “I don’t think I could ever trust this man again.” There’s no way, even if he’s like, “I had to do this.” It’s like, “You couldn’t have told me anything? Maybe something small? Come on!”
Kaley Cuoco Sees the Friendship Between Alice and Hélène As the Real Love Story of ‘Vanished’
“That friendship was very special.”
In the first episode, Alice meets Hélène, who offers to help her. By episode two, we learn somehow she knows more than she’s let on. They’re also a lot more alike than either one of them realized. What was it like to figure that relationship out? What did you most enjoy about exploring that dynamic? I thought it was such an interesting pairing that we don’t really get to see.
CUOCO: Yeah, it was. I actually think that was the love story of this story, this friendship. When she’s on the train and Hélène actually starts interpreting for her, Alice grasps onto her because she’s the only person that’s helping. She’s the only person that’s getting in the middle. Then, she sees her again, and it’s like, “Okay, it’s familiar. This woman’s trying to help me.” But now, you’re thinking, “Is she overstepping? This is now feeling weird.” And then, she runs into her again, and it’s a little suspect, but she has no one else to turn to and this woman seems to have information. She’s also extremely chaotic, so she’s like, “How do I trust her?” But I actually love their friendship. And obviously, as time goes on, Alice doesn’t have anyone else but this woman, and she has to put her trust in her. She has to be like, “Okay, this is the only person I have here. I’m totally screwed.” And they end up forming this really interesting, really sweet relationship where they truly help each other out. I love how they become friends in the end. I truly think that was actually the love story that we really wanted to happen. That friendship was very special.
There’s that moment when Alice finally catches up with Tom, and he’s just so cold to her and says, “Sorry, but we’re over.” At that point, why do you think she didn’t just completely lay into him? Did you have conversations about what that reaction would be?
CUOCO: Yes, we did. There were parts of me that [were], just like you said, “How do you not completely lose your absolute mind in that moment? How are you not attacking him and screaming at him?” Remember, she knows that there are people watching her and there are police that are actually still following her. They’ve had their eyes on her, whether they’re framing her or not. If she starts to lose her mind in this public place, it’s going to be done for. She has to be very careful. I also think a betrayal of that deep, you go one of two ways. You go crazy and absolutely lose your mind, or you’re literally speechless and you’re caught off guard so poorly that you can’t even cry. It’s such a shock. You almost seem like you’re in a dream and it’s not real.
So, it was, “Okay, she’s not going to lose her mind in front of all these people.” There are police there. They’re eyeing her. She already was running through the whole city, which is not a big place, by the way. She’s starting to already get known in this place. She had to keep her cool for a second because, even later, she kept thinking, “That’s not him. Something is going on. Something isn’t right.” And her gut was correct. It wasn’t just someone cheating on her or someone who’s left. It’s like, “This isn’t the person that I knew. This is a totally different person. What happened?”
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We learn that he isn’t the villain that we’re thinking he could be and that he’s actually Interpol, even though he has done some things that he probably shouldn’t have done. Do you think that at least helps Alice feel like her internal judge of character wasn’t as broken as she thought it was?
CUOCO: Yes, I think that would comfort anyone to know, “Oh, my God, he didn’t just leave me,” and there was a reason. At the same time, it’s too big. You can’t come back from this. I just don’t think you can come back from this at all. It’s too large. It’s too intense. Also, he didn’t just leave her on vacation. She almost dies multiple times. She’s getting kidnaped. She’s getting beat up. She’s fighting people. She doesn’t even know what she’s doing, and she’s totally left to fend for herself. If he was as high up as he said, couldn’t he have sent someone? Couldn’t he do anything to make sure she was okay? He really left her. And to me, there’s no going back from there.
That’s why it’s so interesting to me that there is that moment of the two of them being together. They have sex again one last time before she leaves. Do you think she went into that knowing she was going to leave, or do you think she made that decision after that moment?
CUOCO: I went back and forth with what I thought about that. There are parts of me that like thinking she planned it all along, and she was like, “I’m going to totally mess with him, and I’m leaving him and that’s it.” Another part of me understands the emotional turmoil. Maybe there was a part of her that thought, “Oh, my God, he does love me. I can get past this.” And then, they have this moment together, and she’s like, “No, I can’t get past this,” and it was more of a decision later.
I understand both. The amount of true crime I’ve watched and watched the decisions people have made in these dire situations going, “I don’t know why they did that.” Stress and this horrible circumstance make you do some wild stuff, so I can believe either way. I think she loved him tremendously, and she was holding onto this hope that maybe she could get past this, but she realized very quickly that she couldn’t.
Kaley Cuoco Left Her Own Mark on the “Dear Tom” Letter Alice Writes in the Finale of ‘Vanished’
“He could have made any better decision that would have made this easier on her, and he didn’t.
I love the little dig of her leaving behind this note for him that says, “Dear Tom, at least I had the good manners to leave you a fucking note.” That was really a particularly perfect touch. Was that something that was always there? Was it always in the script? Was it always part of the character? Was that something that got added later?
CUOCO: The note was always there. I added the “fucking.” I added that part in because it’s so simple. It’s like, “You could have done that for me. You could have done anything to make me know, ‘Okay, there’s a reason for this,’ instead of leaving me, literally, ready to die.” He could have done anything. He could have made any better decision that would have made this easier on her, and he didn’t. To me, that’s not true love.
Clearly, he only needed one sentence. That one sentence conveyed everything.
CUOCO: That’s it! He could have written it. I know! There are so many things he could have done that he didn’t. I liked that little stamp on the end, and her going home and being like, “Okay, I can leave now knowing I did everything I could and this is it.”
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Would you like to play this character again? Do you think it would be challenging to figure out where to take her story next, or do you think there’s a way you could have her team up with Hélène and stop bad guys all over the world? Because I would watch that.
CUOCO: Anything can happen. I think this is definitely, probably tied up in a bow. It was always meant to just be this. But TV is weird, man. Different things get picked up later. Who knows? I loved the experience, I loved the character, and I loved the people I worked with. So, you just really never know what can happen.
Even though Alice leaves Tom behind, do you think that or do you at least hope that she stayed in touch with Hélène?
CUOCO: Yes. If I could see their future, they are lifers. They are lifelong friends. I think they laugh. I think they talk all the time. I think they’ve become really, really close. I like where their story ended up.
Kaley Cuoco Is Excited To Start Shooting Her Upcoming HBO Comedy Series, ‘Kansas City Star’
“We’re hoping to start shooting that by the end of this year, if not the beginning of ’27.”
It seems like you’re having so much fun with the characters that you’re playing and the stories that you’re telling. You’re getting to do so much. They’re all mixed genre. Do you know what you’re going to be shooting next? You already have something lined up? Are you thinking about what you could create for yourself next?
CUOCO: Definitely next, and I’m really looking forward to it, I have a show with the Hacks team, called Kansas City Star, with HBO, and we’re hoping to start shooting that hopefully by the end of this year, if not the beginning of ‘27. It definitely takes me back to my roots of just pure, ridiculous, make-fun-of-myself comedy with an amazing comedic team, with Paul [W. Downs], Lucia [Aniello], and Jen [Statsky], the trifecta of brilliance behind Hacks. The storyline for Kansas City Star happened from something that happened to me, which was a jumping off point. Eventually, I’ll get to talk about it. That’s going to bring me back to all the stuff that I love, just pure, simple, don’t-take-yourself-too-seriously comedy.
- Release Date
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February 1, 2026
- Network
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Prime Video
- Directors
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Barnaby Thompson
- Writers
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David Hilton, Preston Thompson
Vanished is available to stream on MGM+.