- [Producer] So as you can see,
you are in a very stereotypical kind of
high school cafeteria.
- Yes, I feel very repressed.
(laughing)
- This is my nightmare.
- Better lighting than
my cafeteria. - Yeah, absolutely.
- [Producer] What themes or ideas or experiences
about being a teen or young person
do you think your show explores,
that you didn't see portrayed on TV growing up?
- The angst,
the love,
the passion,
the sex.
- What? - What?
(laughing)
- Anyways...
- Those were legit answers!
- To try to fit into the mold of what you're seeing on TV
is not always gonna be the case.
- Well, it's not real.
- Those classic high school movies, like everyone,
I look back, and they look like, 30 years old.
- I was fully expecting like,
people looking like him all around.
I was expecting me to look like that.
- Me too.
- And I was like, "Oh, so in high school,
you're just gonna be an adult."
- [Jaz] "I'm gonna be so hot."
- [Sohpia] But I'll say, "Hell no,
"I don't look like nothing. I look, like, 12."
I still look 12. (laughing)
- Yeah.
- "I'm gonna turn 16 and get hot," - And I was like, a 13 year old like—
- [Jaz] That's how I felt. - [Lachlan] Yeah, very unrealistic
that I didn't look like John Travolta.
- [Jaz] Yeah and then I was 16, and I looked 16.
- Right. With like acne and I was like, - and was like, "What the heck?"
"I don't look-- What do you mean?"
-Where my boobs at?
- Why do I have boobs?
(laughing)
- The only teen show that comes to mind
that deals with like,
really real teenagers growing up, before us, was like,
'Freaks and Geeks.'
- [Alisha] Yes! - [Brandon] Yes!
- [Alisha] Oh my god.
- [Ross] The reason why that was such a cult classic
is because it was so real.
- [Alisha] So good.
- All the other teen shows were so dramatized
and romanticized.
And I think what we pride ourselves in is
tackling everything with a groundedness
and brutal honesty.
- [Brandon] I think that some of the topics that our
show covers that we didn't see growing up,
were like so much, really.
I mean, sexuality gets spoken about.
- [Sofia] I feel like we have kind of a different
approach to like, exploring your sexuality.
Just not really understanding everything yet,
and it being something everyone deals with.
- Like, you see in older shows and movies
how the guy is always going after sex,
and always like, they have hormones,
which they do, but also
the girl thinks about that stuff, too.
It's not like taboo, right?
- Yeah.
- So it's not just like, you know,
one type of character
has to deal with the awkward things,
and things that go on when you're growing up.
Like, everyone goes through that.
- These 15 year old girls, they have questions.
And they're not sure, they're lost,
and they are looking at Wikipedia for help.
Which is also realistic.
They're not just, you know, curious about it
and suddenly they're amazing and get it 100%.
No, they are curious about it—
- Gotta learn and research. Do research.
- They research it.
They do their homework.
- I had like, a health class in 7th grade,
and it's just, all we talked about was
how the reproductive system
worked, you know? - Yeah.
And then you watch like a weird pregnancy,
like a giving birth video,
and I don't know.
- [Ross] Basically all just scare tactics.
- [Alisha] Exactly!
- [Ross] To tell you not to get pregnant.
- Don't have sex. (laughs)
- I think something that is important
is you are not as interesting as the
relationship that you are in.
- You are interesting on your own,
and you're powerful on your own.
- [Lachlan] Yes.
- [Jaz] And who you're with does not define you!
- [Lachlan] Yes, yep.
- 'Cause we see that so much,
and it's like yes,
yay love, that's great,
but like, that's also not the most interesting
thing about you.
- I think, you see a lot in Sarah's character
of seeing relationships and the realistic
expectation of like,
who you're supposed to be dating,
and this is who I should be dating.
'Cause I know I felt that a lot
in high school, like I know this is who
I'm supposed to be dating, but this is where
my heart's leading me
and it's not easy, and it's not simple,
and I think that that's shown really well.
- Snaps for that, yeah.
- Just go for whoever you wanna date,
don't go for who's easy or
what's expected of you.
- But also they have quite normal,
well I wouldn't say that normal,
but like, (laughing)
but their relationships, as you'll see,
the kind of friendships they make,
if any of them have romances,
they, I think, are quite reflective
of teen relationships.
- And I feel like, through our show you can really
see that like, everyone is the same.
Like, we're all dealing with our own stuff.