From creator Meredith Scardino and executive producers Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, the second season of the Peacock series Girls5eva continues to follow the reunited girl group from the 90s, as they try to prove that they’re more than just one hit wonders. Dawn (Sara Bareilles), Wickie (Renée Elise Goldsberry), Summer (Busy Philipps) and Gloria (Paula Pell) are giving their dreams another shot on their own terms and working in the recording studio to come up with songs that they feel represent who they are now.
During this interview with Collider, co-stars Bareilles and Goldsberry talked about how the idea for this show really came together once they had all been cast, that this is a juicy season for everybody, what it’s been like for Bareilles to find her place in the comedy of it all, getting to combine their acting and singing talents, and whether Wickie would make a better hero or villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Collider: I love this show so much. I had no idea that this was the show that I needed in my life, but I am so glad to have it. Were you guys sold on what this show could be, from the very beginning? Could you see it from day one, or did it make it easier to see it once you guys were all together?
SARA BAREILLES: I think it all came to life, more so, once we were all in the soup with each other. Even on the page, it’s a pretty vivid world that’s written and it’s so specific. You can sense that the pace and the vibe of the show is so present on the page. But everything is technicolor once you’re actually on set with hair and makeup and costumes and weird props.
RENÉE ELISE GOLDSBERRY: I was scared to death. It’s super ambitious and I just thought, “Oh, God, how are we gonna do that?” But it was so spit-take, laugh-out-loud funny, just the pilot script. The first few pages of the pilot script, when I finally understood what Girls5eva meant, before I’d even heard the brilliant song written, just reading the lyrics of it made me laugh so hard. I knew this could go really wrong, but it was worth it because the stuff I was reading was just so brilliant. And then, they kept showing up: Paula [Pell] and Sara [Bareilles] and Busy [Philipps], and I just was like, “Wow!”
What can you say about the arc for your characters this season? What can you tease about what they’ll personally be going through and how that will affect the group?
BAREILLES: It’s a juicy season for everybody. I’ll speak for my character, Dawn. She’s really digging into an unlived dream of hers, that she’s allowing herself to really want, which is to really take hold of being a songwriter and to let her artistic expression come out, for the first time within the group, and really feel her role come to life. She’s juggling home life with her professional life, and she gets herself in trouble by letting her ambition get the better of her. She gets messy and I love it. I am here for it.
GOLDSBERRY: For me, I just feel like Wickie was always the engine, trying to be the one that was pushing them forward. They have their own momentum now. The main thing that needs to happen this season, she can’t really do. She’s not the songwriter. That’s really Dawn’s job. And so, she has a little bit more time on her hands while she’s waiting for Dawn to write her all these amazing solos. It’s interesting to see, what would Wickie ask for from her life, if she had an extra moment? If she were to ask for love, what would that look like for Wickie? That’s my tease.
Sara, it’s one thing to be a singer and performer, it’s another thing to act and be a part of a TV show. And with this, you’re doing both of those things, but on top of all that, you’re also doing comedy. What’s it been like for you to find your place and find your voice in comedy? Is that something that’s felt natural to you?
BAREILLES: In some ways, yes, because I’m such a fan of comedy and this brand of comedy, in particular. I was a huge 30 Rock fan. I’m a huge Tina Fey fan, and Robert Carlock and Jeff Richmond. And then, I was a big Kimmy Schmidt fan. Getting to know Meredith Scardino’s voice in this show feels like a gift. I understand the rhythm of it. Comedy is very musical. It’s all about timing and rhythm, so there is something that feels slightly intuitive about it. But let me tell you, I am learning from the greats, in real time. All of these women, in totally different ways, have very different comedic stylings, but it is a masterclass, every day on set. I play more of the straight person. I would describe Dawn as the one holding the balloon strings. My sweet friends are up there in the ether, and I’m holding them down, so they don’t float away.
GOLDSBERRY: I have to interrupt her because some of my biggest laugh-out-loud moments are her not holding us down, but being up there herself. This season, we all get to lift off a little bit. It’s really fun.
BAREILLES: Yeah.
Renée, I feel like Wickie would jump at the chance to get to be in the MCU and would be very jealous of you actually getting to do so. Since I know that you can’t say anything about joining the Marvel Universe yourself (with She-Hulk), I’m curious about whether you think Wickie would make a better hero or a better villain in a superhero movie.
GOLDSBERRY: Gosh, Wickie would be so good at both. I think she might choose villain because they probably have better costumes, but I think she’d be a hero. They all need an Achilles heel. They all need to be incredibly powerful, but also have that flaw, that kryptonite thing, and she has that, for sure. So, I would say hero because I think there’s something there to look up to. But villain, she would absolutely pick, every day of the week, because I think she’d look so good.
We often hear actors say they wish they could be rock stars, and we see music performers cross over into the acting world. What’s it like for each of you to actually get to do both of those things, and have success in both of those things?
BAREILLES: We don’t have any problems anymore, it turns out. We don’t stress out about anything.
GOLDSBERRY: I feel like, a lot of times, I’m doing something in my career that’s over here, and something will cross my mind where I’m like, “I’d love to do this,” and somehow or another, something will happen, so that I get to go do that very other thing. What’s really wonderful about Girls5eva and even just the diversity in these women and the cast is that it feels like you’re checking all those boxes, as an artist. It feels like theater. It feels like television. There actually is drama in this. We might always go for the joke, but there is real pain and pathos there. I don’t know, I feel like this is a good place to let the lines bleed into each other.
BAREILLES: And I think it’s a nice trend in art that people don’t have to feel like they need to stay boxed-in. More and more people are reaching for that polymath status. We’re artists, so we’re drawn to creation.
GOLDSBERRY: And people are thinking, “Hey, look at that Sarah Bareilles. I can tell that she’s a great actress.” Just the fact that someone would have the courage to not keep us in a box.
BAREILLES: I just want someone to have the courage to give me a cooking show. Just give me that shot. No, please don’t. It would be bad.
You could sing while you’re cooking.
BAREILLES: That I could do.
GOLDSBERRY: I’d watch that.
Girls5eva is available to stream at Peacock.