tv

The true story behind Nobody Wants This is just as sweet.

Our prayers have been answered by Netflix's rom-com Nobody Wants This, a ridiculously charming new series.

Since its release last week, the heartwarming series has been heaped with universal praise from all corners of the internet.

Based in sunny Los Angeles, Adam Brody plays Noah, an unconventional rabbi who falls for Kristen Bell's Joanne, a non-Jewish podcast host.

Watch the trailer for Nobody Wants This. Post continues after video.


Netflix.

It's just a delightful watch from start to finish. Perfect, no notes. (Okay, that's not entirely true, I have plenty of notes.)

So now that you've (likely) binged the whole season in one sitting, you may be asking yourself: what on earth do I do with my life now??

Excellent question. Luckily, we've rounded up all the behind-the-scenes facts you need to know.

Listen to The Spill's Brutally Honest Review Of Nobody Wants This.

The story is based on creator Erin Foster's life.

Creator Erin Foster's real-life romance with her husband Simon Tikhman was the inspiration for the Netflix series.

Like the show's main characters, Foster and Tikhman came from different backgrounds, with Foster converting to Judaism before their marriage.

Leave a comment
Listen Now
00:00

The Story That Will Change How You See Brittany Murphy’s Death

The Spill

Paul Mescal: Ditching His Dates & That Viral Interview

CANCELLED
ADVERTISEMENT

The series mirrors Foster's journey of meeting someone with a different religion. Although, some elements are fictionalised, such as Tikhman not being a rabbi.

"We didn't come from similar backgrounds," Erin said in an episode of The World's First Podcast, which she co-hosts with her sister, Sara Foster, as in the show. "He came from a much more traditional place. I came from a more unconventional place. When we got together we were like, 'How's this gonna work?'"

Erin Foster and her husband Simon Tikhman. Image: Instagram/@erinfoster

ADVERTISEMENT

Foster also joked about her own mother-in-law, Marina, making a cameo in Nobody Wants This. In one scene, Marina sits next to the on-screen version of herself (played by Tovah Feldshuh). Foster posted a picture from set, saying she "is generally very nice to me so I had to create a scary version of her [for the show]."

Funnily enough, Foster has a connection to Brody via the classic series they both starred in: The O.C.

While his role was a touch more iconic as one of the lead characters, Seth Cohen, Foster also had a role as Heather. If you've forgotten, Heather was a friend of Volchok (played by Cam Gigandet) and she was the one who mimed shooting Marissa Cooper when she moved to public school. Big stuff.

Foster also appeared in a minor role in Gilmore Girls, shortly after Brody had departed from his role as Dave Rygalski.

These two were meant to work together on a project some day!

Kristen Bell knew only Adam Brody could pull off this role.

She gets it!

Star and series executive producer, Kristen Bell, knew what she wanted in a leading man and that was Adam Brody, specifically.

"The reason I thought it could only be Adam is because, as an actor, I'm acutely aware of what other actors do well and do not do well. Adam can stare longingly into someone's eyes for an extended period of time — and so can I," Bell told Harper's Bazaar.

"And, not to burst everyone's bubble, but [the on-screen chemistry comes from] the math of that, the anticipation of that. If someone can hold it with you and you know that they can stay in that eye-contact space, you are going to crack a lens."

ADVERTISEMENT

In response Brody said he was "flattered" to be considered for a show in his favourite genre. "Not only do I like watching romantic comedies, I like performing them. It's a very fun space to play in as a performer – at least for myself," Brody said.

The show originally had a different name.

Nobody Wants This was originally titled Shiksa, which is deragatory term used to describe a non-Jewish woman, as parodied throughout the series.

"Apparently, in the focus groups, not enough people, if any people, knew the word shiksa, which actually shocked me," Kristen said on her husband Dax Shepard's podcast, Armchair Expert.

"I thought that it was a word everyone knew."

Image: Instagram/@kristenanniebell.

Initially, Brody wasn't happy that this meant the show title would change. "My thing was like, so does that have to be a deal killer? And apparently, yes," he said.

But he eventually got on board the new name, Nobody Wants This.

"I will say, it's only grown on me. I feel good about the title. I'm not even saying they were wrong ultimately. But for a while, I was mourning the death of that title," Brody admitted.

ADVERTISEMENT

The co-stars first met in a very Nobody Wants This way.

Considering that the two co-stars rose to fame in two of the '00s best teen shows, The OC and Veronica Mars, one would assume they crossed paths in this era.

But nope! They met at a screening for 2011's horror sequel Scream 4 and it sounds like a meet-cute right out of the Netflix series.

In a serendipitous twist, the actors both appear in the movie but they didn't share any scenes. Instead, they met on the way to a Scream after-party when Bell asked for a ride to the event.

She proceeded to "fold" herself into the back of Brody's manager's two-seater car, he told Harper's Bizarre.

Bell doesn't remember this but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. "Listen, I'm not going to argue that that's not on brand for something I would do, if I needed to get to a secondary location."

Adam Brody actually hated their first kiss (but for a very specific reason).

In the kiss scene that has sent the internet ablaze, the couple share their first smooch after getting ice cream. However, Brody had an issue with Noah asking Joanne to "put your bag down" in the scene.

"Speaking of the kiss, it doesn't really register in the show, so it doesn't really matter, but I still think it's weird," Brody said on Armchair Expert."I'm like, give me your ice cream. I'm on board with that. And then I'm like, put down your bag, right? No, take your little purse off. Okay, put it on the street while we're gonna close our eyes and make out for a minute?"

He does have a point. Who was guarding the bag??

"It doesn't make any sense," he added.

Bell actually agreed with her co-star once she watched it. "Okay, in the cut, I will give it to you, you're 100% right," she said, noting that in the script her handbag was much bigger which would explain why it needed to be put down.

"It was a little bag, it wasn't in the way! I just feel like it's on the ground and we're not watching it," Brody said.

Either way, it was a damn good first kiss.

Justine Lupe was pregnant during filming.

Justine Lupe masterfully portrayed Joanne's unhinged, eternally single sister, Morgan. The actress was actually pregnant during filming which explains some of her flowing outfits.

"This show carried me through my first 5+ months of pregnancy with so much warmth," the actress wrote on Instagram.

Image: Instagram/@kristenanniebell

Lupe praised the creative team for making her "look, well, not pregnant, and a cast and crew who supported me from the moment my Gucci skirt ripped open in both the front and backsides on set at 2am when they had no idea I was pregnant and thought I was just rapidly falling apart."

This is so Morgan-coded.

Adam Brody and Kristen Bell were worried about their ages.

Both of the show's stars were concerned by how they're ages — they're both 44 — would play out.

"I said, 'is anyone going to acknowledge or are we going to talk about the fact that we're probably about 10 years too old to be doing this?'," Bell told Armchair Expert.

"I'm very comfortable with my age," Brody added. "I just don't want to pretend that I'm 10 years younger. I want you to reconcile that you're casting me and you've got to account for the amount of time that this person has been on this earth and why they are in this position."

Bell had to take some convincing over why they're ages never came up.

"They tried to give evidence for that. Saying she's in a bustling city of podcasters and influencers and hot stuff, so you can push your desire to settle down much further down the line."

Adam Brody was raised Jewish in real life.

Brody was raised in a Jewish household but he currently identifies as an atheist. Bell said she was raised in a Jewish community by Christian parents but now identifies as non-religious.

"I grew up in an entirely Jewish neighborhood," Kristen told Armchair Expert.

"I wanted to be Jewish growing up, because that was the culture I was surrounded by every single one of my friends. I learned to speak a little bit of Hebrew and I went to a lot of bar mitzvahs. "

Adam added, "That's so funny, because ironically, I went to only my Bar Mitzvah, and I knew like two other Jewish kids."

The show featured heaps of cameos from Kristen Bell's friends and co-stars.

Nobody Wants This features several cameos, and you'll notice they're mostly from Kristen Bell's friends and colleagues.

The show includes a mini The Good Place reunion with D'Arcy Carden playing Joanne's supportive friend Ryann, along with other alums like Emily Arlook, Jackie Tohn and Leslie Grossman in various roles.

Bell even brought in her former Veronica Mars co-star, Ryan Hansen, for a cameo as Kyle, an old fling of Joanne's.

If you're a fan of Bell's filmography, this is the show for you.

You can stream all episodes of Nobody Wants This on Netflix.

Feature image: Netflix.

Tags: tv , netflix , entertainment
News
Entertainment
Lifestyle
Parents
Work & Money
Relationships
READ
LISTEN
WATCH
00:00 / ???