The stars of Girls parody web series L.A. Girls talk to Hypable about finding inspiration in the original show, and what we can expect for the rest of the season.
We recently gave you an exclusive first look at the pilot episode, which has now debuted online. In time for the second episode, Hypable sat down with the four stars to talk about their interpretation of the original HBO Girls character and what we can expect from the remaining episodes.
The pilot took a lot of iconic Girls scenes and transported them to L.A., and while each of the four main characters are still easily identified, they have also changed slightly in the relocation.
Watch the pilot below, and then see what Kylie Sparks (Hannah), Tiffany Ariany (Shoshana), Victoria Bullock (Jessa) and Rya Meyers (Marnie) had to say about L.A. Girls. Plus, Ariany and Sparks dish on the differences between working together on the Girls parody, and on cult web series Squaresville.
‘L.A. Girls’ exclusive interview:
How familiar were you with ‘Girls’ before beginning ‘L.A. Girls’? Has this changed since being cast/filming?
Tiffany Ariany: I’m a huge fan of the show and started watching from the pilot. Once I came up with the idea and started writing the series, I went back and re-watched both seasons.
Kylie Sparks: I was a fan of the show before we started shooting, but as we started prepping, I rewatched both seasons and really fell in love with it, so I’m really excited for season 3 to come out.
Victoria Bullock: I love the original show. I came to it just as the second season was starting so I watched all of the first season in one sitting. It’s one of my favorite shows on TV.
Rya Meyer: I had heard a lot of raving reviews about the show and had it on my watchlist, but hadn’t actually seen an episode. As soon as I was cast, I sat down and watched the entire two seasons in two days. I love the show!
What element of the original ‘Girls’ character was the most important to your parody portrayal?
Ariany: Since Shoshana is a Hebrew name, we knew we had to keep her Jewish background. There is also such a prominent Jewish community in Los Angeles that it was a natural adjustment.
Sparks: I think the whole idea of the “millennial dream” where pursuing your dreams as a twenty-something trying to survive, it becomes a struggle, which makes EVERYTHING a mess is a major part of Girls. Capturing the essence of that was important for L.A. Girls, even though we were parodying the show.
Bullock: Probably how unaffected she is. The ‘couldn’t care less’ vibe. I love how the original Jessa in Girls marches to the beat of her own drum. And she doesn’t care if you don’t like it.
Meyers: Marnie has a few mannerisms that I tried to take and exaggerate for L.A. Girls. I thought the physicality would be important because I believe it is often what comes sort of naturally to the character you build, and so for a parody it is fun to take that and make it more pronounced and a little less natural.
What characteristic of the original ‘Girls’ character is the most different when she is moved to L.A.?
Ariany: The L.A. Shoshana is a lot ditzier, richer (she’s from Beverly Hills a.k.a. a Jewish Beverly Hills Princess), and quirky. She’s definitely an exaggeration while still having the likable aspect from the original character.
Sparks: The entire idea that Hannah would want to be part of the Hollywood scene is REALLY different, since New York Hannah graduates from Midwestern liberal arts college to go to New York to be an author, which is on a completely different spectrum. L.A. Hannah is a bit out-of-touch with reality in that aspect.
Bullock: She probably showers a lot less. If its possible I think she is even more apathetic. Oh, and she is definitely always buzzed.
Meyers: Girls is so brilliant because they take very real problems and situations that arise and find the humor in them. What Tiffany and Matt did in writing this parody is take the show out of that reality and make it more extreme, so it is a different kind of humor. In Girls, Marnie is always so composed on the outside, even when she really has no idea what she’s doing. When she’s moved to L.A., she gets to be a little more expressive and ridiculous. Which I am totally grateful for, because I really love Allison Williams and her ease in that role, and it takes off a lot of pressure when I am allowed to play Marnie somewhat absurdly.
PAGE 2
On page 2, find out what we can expect from the rest of the season, the differences between working on ‘L.A. Girls’ and ‘Squaresville’, and more.
Tiffany, episode 1 of ‘L.A. Girls’ stayed very true to the events of ‘Girls’. Will we see more deviation over the series, or do you plan to transport the events of ‘Girls’ to L.A.?
Ariany: Fans of the show will recognize some spoofed story lines that we touch on in each episode. On the other hand, those not familiar with the HBO show will still be able to follow the web series because it stands as a spin-off as much as a parody. L.A. Girls does take its own distinct direction in a lot of ways after the first episode.
Kylie, given that ‘Girls’ is based around a character Lena Dunham created specifically for herself, did you feel any extra pressure parodying a character that became a breakout role for her?
Sparks: Oh, absolutely. She does great work writing, directing and RUNNING a show on top of starring in it, so there was definitely some big shoes to fill. I personally hope she gets to see it and hope she enjoys it. It’s all out of love!
‘Girls’ tackled some very confronting issues. Can we expect the same of ‘L.A. Girls’, or will it stay in the realm of parody?
Ariany: We tackle some of the issues but stay true to the parody format. L.A. Girls never takes itself too seriously and we definitely try and have fun with the story lines.
Kylie and Tiffany, tell us about how the experience working together on ‘L.A. Girls’ has been different from ‘Squaresville’
Sparks: Having a hand in the day-to-day behind the scenes of L.A. Girls on top of being it is totally different from Squaresville. It’s been fun to be on both sides of the fence and learn new things. I’ll always love Squaresville, obviously, but getting friends together to make something and collaborate has been a ton of fun.
Ariany: On Squaresville, I was just an actress. However, on L.A. Girls I’ve had the amazing opportunity and experience to not only be an actress but also a creator.
It’s a lot more work and instead of just being on set the day of my scenes, I have the responsibility of putting everything together from the beginning of the script to the moment we release an episode and after that as well. It’s definitely a lot more work but the whole
experience has been so great it has made everything worth it.
L.A. Girls is released every Wednesday at 8am ET. The first season will run 5 episodes.