Leighton Meester is set to guest on “Nobody Wants This” Season 2 — a fun bit of meta casting for the series, which stars Meester’s husband, Adam Brody, whose character is romancing Kristen Bell’s. In previewing the real-world convergence, Brody called working with his wife “delightful.”
“I was mostly a passenger in my scenes with her — a lucky bystander,” Brody told Deadline. “And it’s always a thrill and a joy to watch her work… When family visits set in general, it’s nice… your two worlds merge and you know all these people from your work life and people’s kids visit and spouses. And it’s nice even without acting, but then to act with all these people that she’s gotten to know very well — some before, but certainly throughout the last couple years making this show, she’s really gotten to know everyone. So, it was a very warm environment.”
According to a casting announcement (via Variety), Meester will portray “Joanne’s (Bell) middle school nemesis who is now an Instagram mommy influencer.” In the series, Joanne is an agnostic podcaster who falls for a rabbi (Brody). The two struggle with their own worlds colliding, with Bell debating conversion and Brody contemplating his career duties.
The show has been a big hit for Netflix last year, and it recently scored a few Emmy nominations, including for Best Comedy Series and acting nods for Brody and Bell. Series creator Erin Foster (who based “Nobody Wants This” on some of her real-life experiences) said the second season won’t deprive fans of what they want to see.
“It’s gonna be romantic and funny. I’m not in the business of depriving people of what they want on a show like this and making some, like, artistic choice to rob you of what you want to see,” Foster told IndieWire. “I really tried to stay on point with Season 1, [it] was all these firsts, first kiss, first date, and this is going to be the next four to six months of the relationship what that looks like.”
Foster, however, has handed over the reins as showrunner (a role she shared with Craig DiGregorio) for this go-round to Jenni Konner and Bruce Eric Kaplan. “We had great people last year, and we have great people this year, and we have a bigger team at the top. […] Season 1, you’re kind of nervous at how things are gonna go, so Season 2, I was able to have more people that I trusted around me that I could be like, ‘OK, you got this on set. I can go to a Favorite Daughter [her clothing brand] meeting if I have to,” Foster said.
The second season will premiere October 23 on Netflix.
As for Meester, the actress also has a history with Bell, who served as the narrator of Meester’s breakout series “Gossip Girl” from 2007-2012 on the CW. When Bell hosted the Screen Actors Guild Awards in February, Meester and Bell reunited for a sketch spoofing that series, which you can watch below:
