Fortunately forNetflix,Nobody Wants Thisis definitelynotliving up to its title: The comedy from writer/actressErin Fosteris currently No.
1 on the platform and is already considering what a season 2 would look like.
DEADLINE What has surprised you the most about the reception to the show?
Adam Brody and Kristen Bell in ‘Nobody Wants This’Netflix
ERIN FOSTERThe thing that has surprised me the most is how emotional themes are resonating with so many women.
And it doesnt work.
So the things that I fought for that were important to me are really being felt by other women.
Thats the most validating thing.
Its also surprising that it worked.
And that scared me.
I thought maybe he was going to be a beta who couldnt handle a tough woman.
Its okay if I get a little scared.
Thats the thing that happens for a lot of us in relationships.
Its the first sign of something we dont like.
We panic, oh my God, what if I dont like this person anymore?
Oh my God, what if were not meant to be together?
I think thats what women are really gravitating to.
The messages Im getting from women through our podcast about the show, Ive never gotten in my life.
He is what we need in this family.
Its very loose depiction.
DEADLINE Erin, where did the title come from?
ERIN FOSTERWe struggled with the title.
The show was originally called Shiksa, but its not a word thats familiar to a lot of people.
Its hard to spell, hard to say.
People dont know what it means.
Netflix is a global company.
You have to think of something thats really clean and commercial.
DEADLINE I was surprised that within that first season, you already had Joannes character talking about converting.
ERIN FOSTERIts important to me to make this feel like a realistic relationship.
These people are not in their twenties.
They are clearly in their mid-thirties.
And so it was a discussion with Netflix about how fast we would get to the conversation about conversion.
I cant stand as a viewer being like, this is really easy to solve.
You got to just have the conversation.
DEADLINE But you still ended on a cliffhanger that maybe she wont convert.
Is that because you needed that conflict to end?
Is that going to remain a question going into the second season?
ERIN FOSTERWe dont have second season yet!
We have to get a second season first.
I mean, two people in a romantic gesture at the end of a show can choose each other.
But what does that look like?
Does he have a job?
Are they going to run away together?
Is his family going to accept the decision he made?
The pressure of that on the relationship would be a lot.
So I think theres a lot more questions than answers at the end.
SARA FOSTERMaybe he gets his real estates license, right?
DEADLINE When you pitched this, did you go straight to Netflix or did you do the rounds?
ERIN FOSTERNo, we got rejected everywhere before Netflix.
Hulu passed, Apple passed, FX passed ….
SARA FOSTER…so did Amazon.
Thats why Netflix is Netflix.
And its where it belongs.
DEADLINE Morgan and Noahs brother Sasha, played by Timothy Simons, are such a hoot.
SARA FOSTERLooking at Tim Simons, he and Adam Brody do not look like theyre related.
Tim Simons is like eight feet tall.
DEADLINE Did it take a while to find your Noah?
Kristen was attached to the show right away.
She very quickly said, I know who this guy is.
Its Adam Brody, a hundred percent.
So I wanted to play the field.
I was like, I want to audition every Jewish actor from here to New Zealand.
But there was not one single audition where I thought, this is it.
And then finally she was like, Im right about Adam Brody, arent I?
Now, you have to understand that Adam is not going to audition.
Adam and Kristen are offer only.
So you dont know what the chemistry is going to be like.
DEADLINEWhat are your thoughts about the low chatter regarding stereotypes and if the show perpetuates them?
Did you have Jews in the writers room?
ERIN FOSTERThe writers rooms shifted like three different times.
So we had different groups of people.
There was a writer strike in the middle of our writers room, and so it varied.
We had Jewish women.
We had women who converted to Judaism.
I think someones always going to find what they dont like about a show, and thats absolutely okay.
Thats what the internet is there for, its for people to have opinions.
ERIN FOSTERTheyre not, in my opinion, Jewish stereotypes.
Theyre comedic points of view.
Showing a rabbi whos hot and smoking weed at a party.
Thats not a stereotype.
That is what the story is.
I think this story, hands down, is good for Jewish people.
Ive converted to Judaism.
Having a Jewish rom-com that is mainstream with so many people wanting to revisit their Judaism?
Or girls who are dating Jewish guys thinking, maybe I want to convert?
I cant find a way that thats a negative.
DEADLINERebecca ends up being very likable.
But you also have to understand why he shouldnt be with her anymore.
And you have to see how shes very different than Joanne and how shes really the perfect Jewish wife.
Thats the idea behind her she is goodon paper.Shes the girl your parents want you to be with.
She is the status quo.
But Rebecca is also a product of her environment.
Shes definitely a fully formed character because shes like, I did everything.
And then he went and chose somebody whos nothing like he said he wanted.
He meets Joanne and goes, oh, this is how its supposed to feel.
Someone can think that thats a Jewish stereotype, but I didnt grow up Jewish.
I was Rebecca and I was Joanne.
I was the person sitting there going, Im saying all the right things.
Im doing all the right things.
Why does he want that person over there whos nothing like he says he wants?
I dont think putting it in the framework of Jewish or non-Jewish really applies here.
