The Cast of ‘Nobody Wants This’ Reunited For a Special Episode of the Podcast That Inspired the Show

What happens when a sarcastic sex podcaster falls for a newly single rabbi? Love, obviously. And a Netflix phenomenon that had everyone remembering why we all had crushes on Adam Brody in 2003. Nobody Wants This quickly became the streaming equivalent of comfort food—hitting number one on Netflix and staying there for two weeks. When you have millennial icons Kristen Bell and Brody playing star-crossed lovers, it just makes sense that everyone would be obsessed.  

Writer and executive producer Erin Foster recently sat down with her sister Sara Foster (cohost of The World’s First Podcast) and the entire cast at an Emmys FYC event in Los Angeles. Bell, Brody, Justine Lupe, Timothy Simons, and Jackie Tohn revealed all the drama: the friendships, the relationships, the rivals, and who’s chronically late to work. Season two premieres on October 23, and based on this conversation, it’s going to be worth the wait.

A Netflix win: Nobody Wants This charts to the top 

The wit, the humor, the romance, the relatability, Nobody Wants This is chef’s kiss, and the series proved to be something that everybody wanted. The script is loosely based on Erin’s real relationship with her husband Simon Tikhman (much to his initial dismay—though— he eventually came around.) 

Surprisingly, Erin didn’t think her love life was funny enough to write about. Apparently, she was very wrong. In its first week, the show pulled in 15.9 million views. It’s been nominated for a Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Award, named one of the American Film Institute’s best TV series of the year, and Brody won a Critics’ Choice Award for best comedy actor. Not too shabby!

Not every actor was the first choice for the role they booked

Tohn jokes that before Nobody Wants This, she was going on auditions that didn’t make sense for her—including one forLittle House on the Prairie. 

Lucky for her, she and Bell have been best friends since they met more than 15 years ago. When Bell, who is an executive producer on the show, saw the script, she immediately thought of her bestie for the role of Esther, Noah’s sharp-tongued sister-in-law. 

“I got this script. This woman’s snarky Jewish mouth comes right outta my face,” Tohn recalls. But casting eventually gave her the script for Rebecca, Noah’s Jewish ex-girlfriend. 

Bell had different sights set out for Tohn: “I said, ‘You have to hold out for Esther…Tell them there’s a better role for me. I wanna work for this role instead.’”

Bell also had a vision for her leading man. When the writers were ready to audition potential Noahs, Bell shut it down. “I was like, ‘You guys can have as much to explore as you want. You’ll go international and audition everybody. But I’m just telling you right now, it is Adam Brody. So let me know when you figure that out,” Bell shares.

And how does Erin feel about Bell playing the part of Joanne, the character inspired by Erin’s life? “No, she was not my first choice,” Erin jokes. “I was my first choice, but Netflix didn’t feel the same.” (You’ll have to dive into World’s First Podcast if you don’t understand Erin’s characteristic humor.)

The chemistry was real

The chemistry between Brody and Bell had us losing our minds. Their decades-long friendship and previous collaborations on Scream and House of Lies didn’t hurt, but Brody credits the writing. 

“It is the beauty of the way these characters are set up. Of course, we have good chemistry, but so much of it…has to do with the way these characters are introduced. It is a harmony of actors and writers,” Brody explains. 

Bell chose Brody specifically for his weirdness, his natural skill, his unforeseen quips, and his ability to keep people on their toes—and unpredictability that made him inevitable for the role. 

Behind-the-scenes of Nobody Wants This

During rapid-fire questions, the cast revealed the tea on set. When asked which character they’d go to for advice, everyone unanimously agreed: Rabbi Noah. Which actor is most like their character? Tohn and Esther are basically the same person, though Tohn has one caveat: “We’re almost exactly the same except I kinda love everything and she’s a curmudgeon.” And the actor who’s always late? Plot twist: It’s Bell, but according to her, “I’m late, but I never hold set up.”

Erin teased that season two will lean into each actor’s strength, dropping an easter egg about what’s to come: “Kristen had so much fun with the kids in season one. You would see her really sink into the character. Each person has that, and it makes it more fun to write season two because you know what everyone enjoys doing.”

For more behind-the-scenes intel before season two drops and how Erin created the script, tune into the full conversation on The World’s First Podcast.