‘Nobody Wants This’ Star Adam Brody on Chemistry, Kristen Bell and a Career With No Regrets
It’s been only a few days since Erin Foster’s new Netflix series Nobody Wants This debuted on the streaming platform, and it’s pretty safe to say that the response has been quite the opposite of the show’s title. Both online and in real life, people everywhere seem to be talking, sharing and posting about the romantic comedy that stars Kristen Bell as an agnostic podcast host who falls for an unconventional rabbi, played by Adam Brody, who has just broken up with a longtime girlfriend. The Hollywood Reporter spoke to Brody ahead of the show’s release and, in the spoiler-free conversation below, he reveals the secret to great onscreen chemistry, how he researched playing a rabbi and whether he’s truly as hard-to-get as people say.
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I read that Kristen Bell was already attached when this came your way, and she told Erin Foster there was only one guy who could play this part, and that was you. Who reached out first?
My agent has been my agent for a long time, and his wife [Nicole Chavez] has been Kristen’s stylist and good friend for a long time. We have well-traveled back channels, so I heard about it through him. I think Kristen reached out, unofficially, early on to warm up the stove.
Erin told The New York Times that they wanted you, but to cover bases, they auditioned “every hot Jewish guy in town.” Were you aware of the competition?
I didn’t know they were auditioning people. I wanted it. I only got the first episode of the script but I thought it was charming, and a fun role that felt both comfortable and a familiar, fun place to play. At the same time, the character being a rabbi meant that it had this whole other side to it. I had a lot to learn and study so that I could do an actorly thing with it. I should also be so lucky to work with Kristen. She’s a phenomenal actor who has an amazing track record. I wanted to do it, but I was content to let it all play out.
Tell me about those actorly things. I read that you watched documentaries, listened to podcasts and attended a Shabbat service. Is that a normal deep dive for you?
Mostly I watched and listened to things like books, podcasts, movies and documentaries. I dabbled in the temple. I normally do that sort of thing, but I typically don’t have as long of a prep time and I don’t normally feel as obligated to do as much. More than anything else, I always do a bit of reading for inspiration. For whatever role that I’m doing, I will read related materials that appeal to me and help me think of some psychological ideas as well as performative ideas. With this, there’s such a real history representing a real culture and religion, and I felt more of an obligation to get it right.
I know that some people watching could be sensitive to it, and I wanted to make as many people happy as I could. I had the job before the strikes, and when the strikes happened, I had an abnormal amount of time that allowed me to really dive in. I really did learn so much about the history of Judaism, and both this mythology that has affected and shaped a lot of our culture for millennia, and also so much about the people and their travels throughout history. I knew as much as your average American about the Holocaust, but now I know a lot more. It helped me look at the world with a clearer perspective and a better context.
As an actor going through the strikes, how did it feel to have a job on the other side of it?
It was a very nice comfort. Everything felt so up in the air. I was pretty certain we were doing [the show], but I don’t think anyone was a 100 percent certain of anything. To have something, even theoretically, to look forward to was a great comfort.
Words that are often used to describe you and Kristen are “charming” and “lovable.” Is there extra pressure to perform when you are paired with someone like her? How did you find rhythm together?
It’s very natural. But, listen, those things could cancel each other out just as easily. If two people are too similar, sometimes you need a little bit of different chords, different notes to harmonize. I didn’t totally know how it would work. I know that she’s a lovely person and she’s really talented, and I knew that the writing was really strong. All you can do is go in and do your best. You hope that it turns out, and again, I give a lot of credit to the writing. We’ve been together in different shows and nobody said, “Your chemistry is amazing.” I mean, we had a great time working together and it certainly worked, but there’s a reason this time that the show is getting more of a response in this way. That has to do with the shape of the writing.
Those previous projects include House of Lies and you were both in Scream 4, though you didn’t cross paths onscreen at all. Do you remember when you first met?
We also did another movie called Some Girl(s). I remember when we met, but she doesn’t. It was at a Scream 4 screening. My agent he had a two-seater car and we were going to go from the screening to the afterparty or something. We gave her a ride in kind of the trunk part, where she was stuffed into the backseat of the non-backseat part.
Also in that New York Times profile, I read that you are pretty discerning about what roles you take. Erin Foster said that you don’t like to do something “unless it really speaks to you,” while Kristen said you’re “incredibly picky and that’s part of his charm. He’s not always available to everyone.” How has that played out in your career?
As I alluded to in that article, I’m opinionated for sure. I think any actor should be. Any professional should be opinionated about what they do, but I think I’m much more pragmatic in terms of what I do. I don’t consider myself incredibly picky. I understand the reality of going to work and I enjoy work, and there’s not much of a strong correlation between the quality of a project and the joy I have making it. It has a lot more to do with the personalities involved. All of that is to say that going to work is its own joy, too. There was a moment earlier in my career where I think I was more self-conscious. But, at the same time, I don’t look back on anything I didn’t do and think, “Wow, I really missed the boat,” or “I should have done something else.” I’m so lucky to be on the path I found myself on career-wise. It’s my road. It’s so clear to me that there are no regrets.
You’re coming off a great year. You starred in Fleishman Is in Trouble, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, which maybe didn’t quite perform to expectations but was a great opportunity, and then you had a role in American Fiction, a film that got nominated for best picture at the Oscars. That’s all got to feel pretty good …
It’s lovely. I’ve gotten to work with some of my favorite actors and be in things that make me feel very fortunate. It’s not been by design. Things came my way and I would’ve been a fool not to do them. I’ve gotten to be in things that had some real relevance to conversations that we’re having as a culture. To see them into the mainstream and get a decent amount of people to see them and enter the zeitgeist is its own level of satisfaction and reward.
Nobody Wants This is now streaming on Netflix.
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