What happens when you rent your spare room to a new person each week? Facebook’s latest warm-hearted series shows us that strangers are just new friends waiting to be made.
Strangers is set in Los Angeles, where Isobel, nearing thirty, is trying to find herself, emotionally and sexually. She’s still reeling from a breakup, which was caused by her cheating on her boyfriend with a woman. To make enough money to keep her house, Isobel, played by the charming Zoe Chao, rents out a spare room via Airbnb, meeting unique people who help her discover the facts of life. Along with her best friend Cam, played by Meredith Hagner, she meets quirky characters played by the likes of Jemima Kirke (Girls), Shiri Appleby (UnREAL), and Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords).
We spoke to the cast and creator during the series premiere at the Metrograph theater in downtown Manhattan. The event was presented by Refinery29 and Beachside.
Mia Lidofsky
Q: First of all, I know this is your baby as a show. How autobiographical is the show?
A: I would say it’s a loose amalgamation of myself, my closest friends, and a lot of women that I’ve known, loved, and cared about over the last decade. But it is funny, I was watching this season about a week ago, preparing for tonight’s event, and it was the first time I could really take it in in a long time. And I realized how much of it was a loose fabricated journal of the last many years, and how much of my own feelings and heart and friendships and relationships were poured into it. The biggest difference is I am an out, proud gay woman. I’m not bisexual. That’s been a really exciting story line to create and to also challenge my own vulnerabilities in creating what I hope is a true portrayal of one woman’s discovery of her sexual identity. I think there’s this really interesting moment as you turn thirty where you think you’re supposed to have figured out your life and you’re on this journey and it’s supposed to be super solid and confident, but I think especially in a lot of creative paths, there’s so much questioning and wondering and wandering, and it takes a while to get where you’re going. It’s about staying open and honest and vulnerable to the journey and cracking open who fills you rather than what makes you fall apart.
Q: Right. Finding yourself, whoever that is. And what made you work with Facebook for this platform [Watch]?
A: Well Facebook was very interested in the project, and I thought it would be a really amazing opportunity to be the first generation on this platform, and I believe in what they’re trying to achieve. So much of the show originates from the idea of reflecting on our sharing economy, between Airbnb, Uber, Citi Bike, and opening up your home to strangers. And Facebook has an unbelievable outreach, and the platform and the number of people you can reach, who will hopefully see and connect to this story, and ideally feel a little less alone in this world. It seemed like a no-brainer.
Shiri Appleby
Q: What drew you to this role?
A: Mia. I really wanted to work with Mia. She was working with Jesse Peretz on Girls. I shadowed Jesse, which basically means I shadowed Mia, and I’ve always just wanted to work with her.
Q: It seems like a lot of this is by the Girls family, so is the show going to be like that?
A: I think she has her own unique tone and voice, but it’s a similar arena.
Q: And can you tell us a little bit about your character?
A: I’m one of the house guests, and I’m leading an entire group discussion. I’m very dramatic.
Zoe Chao
Q: Can you tell us about your character?
A: Sure. Isobel Song finds herself at the end of her twenties and is sort of in a crisis of identity. It’s come to a place where old narratives about herself no longer hold up. She has to rent out one of the rooms in her house in order to stay in it. With each new stranger she learns a lot about who she is in real time, and gets to craft a new relevant narrative that will hopefully sustain her for the next chapter.
Q: And do you draw on your own experiences for the role?
A: Isobel is very close to me. I feel like she’s half me and half Mia. A lot of our experiences have been woven into Season 1. I think there’s a very real desire to tighten, solidify, and harden, and calcify as you get older because you want to feel like you have more control. You’re moving forward on a linear path, and I still find myself waking up and being like, “This path is not straightforward. It’s very circuitous, and I’m going to welcome change, and the information that comes with change. And I think Isobel is in the middle of a ton of changes. And it’s terrifying and also really exciting for her.
Q: And how do you feel about having this premiere on Facebook’s new platform?
A: It’s wild. It feels like a great home, because Facebook is in many ways what community looks like in 2017, or what one community looks like. The idea that this show could be seen by millions of people across the world is very humbling and moving.
Meredith Hagner
Q: Are you a lot like your character?
A: In certain ways. She sleeps with women, I sleep with men, but there’s definitely an essence to who we are and we both share that. But in a lot of ways there’s a deep confidence to who she is, and she owns every room and every space and every debate, and I really like playing that. As a person I vacillate between being that person and not.
Q: Right. Introvert, extrovert. And did you find those kinds of scenes intimidating, sexually?
A: I didn’t really have any scenes like that. I had stuff that dealt with your own identity, and what you believe in, and it was nice to play someone who knew she was a lesbian from a very young age, and it was nice to play someone who owns that and is confident.
Q: What drew you to the project initially?
A: I think the thing that draws me to any project, first of all, is the script, and also the filmmaker, and Mia is a good friend of mine. I just would go down most paths she’d take me. I trust her and I’m really proud of her.
Langston Kerman
Q: Could you tell us about your character on the show?
A: I sort of play this guy who pops in. He’s Jake, he works at a coffee shop, and he hits on a girl, and she’s not really into him, but he keeps trying, and he kind of tricks her into liking him, temporarily, but it doesn’t last. And he’s a good guy, but not a good fit for Isobel. I think it’s a good stamp in her stage of development, and his relationship with her reflects that. She is not ready to go back to just being with a regular guy, Joe-Shmoe dude.
Q: And do you draw on your own experiences for this character?
A: Maybe. I think there was a point in my life where you sort of have relationships fall apart and you can’t make sense of it, because you feel like you did all the right things, and you followed all the rules of what good guy is supposed to do. And sometimes it’s just timing. Relationships are complicated. If people aren’t feeling the right shit, or they’re coming off something bad, they’re gonna treat you in a way that you probably didn’t deserve, but that also reflects where they are in their space.
Q: And the show explores that—finding yourself.
A: Yeah. I think it’s much less about sorting people in terms of, “Oh, that’s the bad guy, that’s the good guy, that’s the person we like, that’s the person we don’t.” We’re both endearing and gross all at once.
Photo courtesy of Mialidofsky.com
‘Strangers’ is available now on Facebook Watch
