Nobody Wants This is one of the most talked-about shows of 2024, with the popular 10-part Netflix series renewed for a second season.
The series stars Kristen Bell and Adam Brody as agnostic sex podcaster Joanne and rabbi Noah, following the unlikely couple as they navigate their new relationship, and the merging of their two worlds.
The series was created by Erin Foster (our real life Joanne), with Nobody Wants This based on her own relationship with Simon Tikhman, and conversion to Judaism.
“The emotional themes of the show are really, really accurate to my real experience – it’s just that the situations aren’t the same,” Foster explained in a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter.
And while she has ensured that the storylines are different enough from her own, there are some very real-life moments that did make it into the show.
One such moment took place in episode six, where Joanne pulls away from Noah after he gives her “the ick” – cringing in particular at the oversized bouquet of sunflowers that he gives to her mother.
This, Foster confirmed, happened in real life, with her now-husband Simon bringing a big bouquet of sunflowers to the restaurant where he was meeting her mum for the first time.
“The flowers were so long, and they kept falling over,” Foster explained during an interview with Vulture. “Sitting there, I was like, Well, if someone cares this much, then that feels like a weakness.”
The anecdote proved divisive, with Foster recalling that the men in the writing room were completely baffled by her reaction. However, when the women in the room understood immediately, she knew “it was a good story to tell”.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Foster and Tikhman, like Joanne and Noah, of course got past it, with the show creator crediting her husband for his maturity.
“The moment in ‘The Ick’ when Noah pulls Joanne aside and says, ‘You gotta stop this. We like each other. Get your shit together,’ that was a real moment that happened with me and Simon,” Foster explained to the Hollywood Reporter. “And it wasn’t from the flowers, necessarily,” she continued, explaining that it was a fear of him being too emotionally available and being unable to handle her.
She later continued: “And when I pulled away, because I was spooked by that, instead of him grabbing on tighter and panicking – like we do as human beings when we feel someone pulling away, we spiral and become even less appealing – instead of doing that, he really stood in himself. He stood strong and was very unwavering. He was like, ‘I see what you’re doing. I need you to take a beat. I’m not going anywhere. And when you’re ready to stop this spinning out that you’re doing, I’ll be right here; you know where to find me.” It just woke me up. I was 35 years old and hadn’t had anyone have that conversation with me.”
Well, this is lovely.
Nobody Wants This season one is available to watch now on Netflix.
