00:00Well, I learned that baby poo doesn't smell yet until they start eating solids or formula.
00:10So if they're breastfed, the poo doesn't smell yet.
00:14That was a question I actually had to ask on this show.
00:18I think it smells less.
00:20Less.
00:20Okay.
00:20Someone said it doesn't smell.
00:22Maybe that was wrong.
00:24Yeah.
00:25Less.
00:26It's not what you think of like, whoa.
00:28Yeah.
00:28Yeah.
00:34I got to read the audio book before I went into filming.
00:39I knew that I was going to be playing Margo at that time, but we hadn't started filming yet.
00:43And I found it so helpful, honestly, to just get in her mind and kind of the cadence.
00:50I could feel myself changing the way that I spoke and using her kind of comedic timing.
00:55And I found that really, really helpful.
00:58And, I mean, when I first read the script, I was just so struck by her resilience and how,
01:05you know, life deals her kind of a difficult hand.
01:08And at every turn, she almost makes the harder choice.
01:11And somehow from that, she's able to navigate it and pop back up in this positive way.
01:19She never victimizes herself.
01:23She's a go-getter, in a sense, and then surrounded by this very funny village.
01:31Her parents are quite unique, but filled with a lot of love, but also a lot of complication.
01:38And I think Eva and David, you know, and Rufy from her original characters, but they wrote
01:45such complex people where I think some could easily be, you're like, oh, you could write
01:52them off as a cliche, and then they completely turn you.
01:57And you're like, wow, I find myself feeling for this character that could be, you know,
02:03the bad guy or the enemy, and it's just, there's so much depth and layers to them, and it feels
02:08just like real life, you know, complicated family.
02:11And there's a lot of laughs, but there's a lot of heartbreak as well.
02:14So, I think we also, we talked a lot about the tone, because it's a specific tone to get right.
02:20And it's a testament to Rufy Thorpe, who wrote the book.
02:23That's, that was the original magnet that drew us all to the material.
02:28And we pretty much surrendered to her vision.
02:31And I don't think, Helen, I don't think you and I spoke five times over the course,
02:36because we were so connected on who Margo was.
02:42You keep this baby, you're taking care of it.
02:45It would be your child.
02:46I know.
02:49God, you were in college.
02:52You were going to be somebody.
02:54Who was I going to be?
02:55You know what I mean?
02:55You were going to have a career, and you were going to like, do things.
02:59What things?
03:00Whatever you wanted!
03:02One of the things about really, really good writing is that you can show up, and it can
03:09be played 20 different ways.
03:12And it all works.
03:13But it doesn't mean that all of those choices are right.
03:16And so, as an actor, you're, and I guess as a director too, the challenge is, okay, where are we
03:23at any given moment?
03:24Because, because we do.
03:25We go from things that are really funny to, um, to moments that are heartbreaking.
03:32You are making a scene.
03:35Get yourself back up off the floor, young lady.
03:39There are no victims in Bloomingdale's.
03:44I love her.
03:48Um, and it's weird.
03:49It's not like I love her in a motherly way.
03:51I love her, like, in a friend way.
03:53I feel like I'm, we're more peers.
03:56Mother-daughter relationships are more complicated than it seems son and father relationships are.
04:02You know, as deeply as you love, that's as deeply as you drive each other crazy.
04:08You know, Cheyenne has a lot of baggage.
04:11She has a lot of shame.
04:13She has a lot of guilt.
04:14She has given up her own hopes and dreams to raise this beautiful child.
04:20Um, and does not want that life for her daughter.
04:23But I think they are incredibly close.
04:26And in some ways, um, it's more of a, of a friendship than a mother-daughter relationship.
04:35Which is, I find a lot of single moms have that relationship with their children.
04:41I told you to stay out of it.
04:43I did stay out of it.
04:44I didn't even look at you.
04:46I just walked to the car!
04:47Yeah!
04:47You walked right by us!
04:49Okay, clearly you are looking for a fight.
04:51I suspected him.
04:51And he's not here.
04:52So, I'll do!
04:54I'm angry at him.
04:56And you.
04:57When the writing is so good, it makes me feel, uh, like I'm getting away with something.
05:02All the stuff I learned in theater school.
05:05For how I need to hammer out my role.
05:07And like, forge my backstory.
05:11And, you know, come up with my tendencies.
05:14And then I read these scenes and these relationships.
05:16And I'm like, oh, I have no questions.
05:19Let me just learn these lines, uh, and not say them too loud.
05:23I mean, I also think that each character is very messy.
05:27Very flawed.
05:29And also, um, very judged from the outside world.
05:33So they're kind of already facing this uphill battle.
05:36And I think there is a theme of, in our show, of, of these people that are judged in life.
05:44And how do they overcome that?
05:46And really, at the end of the day, you start to really feel for them.
05:51Because you understand why they got to that place.
05:54And so, um, yes.
05:57I mean, for, for really every single character in the series.
06:01I, I love how flawed these characters are.
06:03And how messy their lives are.
06:04And you don't know how people got to where they are.
06:08And what their story is.
06:10And just not to judge them on the surface.
06:14And they have no game plan as to where they're going.
06:17They're figuring it out day by day by day.
06:20Yeah.
06:21The one nucleus that allows them to cling to the idea that they'll make it.
06:26Is, is the love they have for each other as a family.
06:29I mean, the scenes between, um, Cheyenne and Margo.
06:32I mean, they would literally be batting heads and hearts at the same time.
06:36In the same breath.
06:38Um, the, the, and what was going to win.
06:41The, the fight or the love.
06:42And, and sometimes it was one.
06:44And most times it was the other.
06:47Um, they're, yeah, dysfunctional.
06:50Um, describes them as a unit.
06:53But, um, they were also, the connectivity between them as a group.
06:58And the equations that they have.
06:59We have the Margo Cheyenne equation.
07:01The Margo Jinks equation.
07:04The Cheyenne Jinks equation.
07:05And then the threesome equation.
07:07And they, those, they were all very, very different dynamics.
07:10Well, you're getting married?
07:12Yes.
07:13Um, I'm engaged to a very lovely man.
07:17Wow.
07:20Congratulations.
07:23I think that we're setting up, uh, you know, a bunch of narratives of people like,
07:27like Elle just said that, um, a lot of society would rather just, they just went away.
07:33You know, people, unwed mothers, um, people with no money, uh, people who work at Hooters,
07:38people with drug problems.
07:40And because Rufy's book is so brilliant, you can't ignore the raw humanity that just infuses every, every moment of
07:48her book.
07:49And what we were, that was what we were aspiring to do with the show, was to take all these
07:54people, these difficult, complicated people who make difficult, complicated choices, have to deal with the consequences.
08:00But also you can't help but just see their humanity because the show sees their humanity and they see each
08:05other's humanity.
08:06And they all become these really rich, fully formed, um, humans because of these incredible actors.
08:13Who is that?
08:16Oh, this is Bodhi.
08:19He's my baby.
08:20Your baby.
08:22Did I not mention that?
08:25Oh, let's put the bongs away.
08:29What I remember walking on, um, the set that was, you know, the, really the home, like her, her home
08:37and walking into her bedroom.
08:39And they were very collaborative with me too.
08:42I got to add little things that I wanted to be put in there and, um, you know, even, yeah,
08:48the clothes.
08:49I mean, I also think there was a real, you know, thrift store element to Margo's style.
08:53She's quite wacky.
08:54Um, and then when we get into the OnlyFans portion, um, this show is also about people performing.
09:02I mean, Jinx, he's a wrestler.
09:04He's putting on a character.
09:06Cheyenne is putting on a character as well.
09:08And, you know, her outfits.
09:10I mean, everyone was weighted, you know, weighted on bated breath of how, what Michelle was gonna wear that day
09:15and how she was gonna look when she walked on set.
09:17Um, and then Margo with the Hungry Ghost OnlyFans character.
09:21She's putting on a performance too and playing this other part.
09:24And I loved the DIY aspect to it.
09:27Because we have OnlyFans but then we also have Susie who's played by Thadia Graham brilliantly.
09:31And she's a cosplayer.
09:33So, um, her, the, she's designing a lot of Margo's outfits.
09:39And so it was interesting to talk with Mirren, our costumer, of, okay, what would Susie want to put Margo
09:45in?
09:45And what resources would they have to make this tin foil and make this, um, spaceship?
09:51And so, uh, also Casey and Rose's apartment.
09:56Oh, that was really good.
09:57There's a stripper pole involved.
09:59We all had a turn.
10:00Um, I, I loved that one.
10:03But it was just also, and we filmed in, we filmed on sets but we filmed in, um, in Fullerton
10:07as well.
10:08We filmed at Fullerton College for those exteriors and, you know, really got a sense of the place.
10:15Cause I think that's just as much a character in the show, um, just as much as anyone else.
10:19He's just, he's so handsome.
10:22Handsome.
10:22Handsome.
10:23And adorable.
10:24And adorable.
10:27He's probably hungry.
10:29Oh, I read that babies eat every two hours.
10:31I so wish I could.
10:33I mean, wouldn't it be amazing if we could just snack around the clock?
10:35Hey, you know the baby can hear you?
10:37And every time you speak, you're making him weirder.
10:40I, I will be the most proud if, if, if I get the feedback that our show moved the viewers
10:46as much as the book, um, moved it.
10:49I think that the piece itself, um, has such a nucleus of love and connectivity, um, that, um, I, I
10:59found it very affirming.
11:01And these, these days, um, there are so many dystopian stories swirling around us and we're living in one right
11:09now.
11:09And if we can offer, um, the hope, um, to viewers that, you know what, humanity, um, and love have
11:17still a fighting chance, then that's a big success for us.
11:20I mean, I hope that it touches people, but I feel like it touched me in just a multitude of
11:27ways and the, the experience and the camaraderie, camaraderie and community that we had on set, it was extremely joyous
11:36and fun.
11:38And, of course, we're all trying to do our best work and, you know, it's emotional at times, but it's
11:45like we all really could lean on each other.
11:48And I felt like, you know, the grip to the, you know, our camera guys and, and sound guys, like
11:56everybody was so invested in the characters and invested in you.
12:00And it just felt like this beautiful environment.
12:03And I think that I'm, I'm really proud to have been, um, a part of, of that and a part
12:10of kind of the, the story from the beginning.
12:14And, you know, stories like this don't come along often.
12:17Characters like this don't come along often.
12:19Just really proud of what we accomplished together.
12:23Do you believe things happen for a reason?
12:26Mmm, I don't know.
12:28I think you want to wreck your life.
12:31I ruined your life.
12:36You ruined my life so pretty.
Comments