Single Drunk Female Cast Talks Season 2, Exciting Cameos, and What They Stole From Set
After a spectacularly embarrassing public breakdown, Samantha Fink (Sofia Black-D’Elia) is forced to move back home with her overbearing mother to sober up and avoid jail time in Freeform’s Single Drunk Female. Kristen Maldonado of Pop Culture Planet spoke with the cast and creatives at their New York premiere about season 2, exciting cameos, and what they stole from set.
Sofia Black-D’Elia told me about the new struggles Sam is dealing with in season 2 after finding her sober feet. “This is a story about a young gal in recovery. The more time she has sober, the more past issues she has to face and she doesn't have the same vices that she used to in order to deal with those things,” she said. “It seems to get more challenging as it goes, but she's also obviously growing a lot.”
Lily Mae Harrington’s Felicia is balancing a new relationship, while Sasha Compère’s Brit is in the middle of a divorce. “Season one she was a lot less risk-averse. She was tight and really stuck in her ways and with good reason. She was taking care of Sam for most of their friendship and I think she was just at a breaking point,” said Compère. “Brit’s on a journey, but, by the end, she really figures out that she just needs to be honest with Joel and with her friends. Tell them that she's sad, she's grieving, and then it allows her to be able to move forward.”
Much of Single Drunk Female is inspired by moments in creator Simone Finch’s real-life. “Brit is going through the perfect divorce, which I did. My ex and I are still friends and it's from real life,” Finch told me. “There's some things that I'm like, ‘We can't put that in there. That's too much.’ Or we put it in there and then I lie and say it's not from my life. I've done that a few times because I'm ashamed.”
But the biggest difference in season 2 is the strength of Sam, Felicia, and Brit’s friendship. “That's the most important part and that's the biggest difference between the dynamics of season one and season two,” said Compère. “We had a little bit drama in the past, but, at the end of the day, we're family. We love each other. We're friends. […] It’s nice to be around the girls and just call it like it is.”
Garrick Bernard’s James falls off the sober wagon really hard at the end of season one and works to get back to a better place in season two. “There is a moment in the later episodes of the season where he is in church. Without giving too much away, that definitely took a lot out of me,” he shared. “I had gone through a bit of a troubling time before filming so I definitely brought a little bit of that energy to the performance for sure. That was one of the tougher things to do this season.”
Season two even features exciting new cameos and guest stars with Molly Ringwald, Bob the Drag Queen, Ricky Velez, and Busy Philipps. “Every single time we got to a table read I would take a screenshot because I could not believe how fabulous everyone was,” said showrunner Daisy Gardner. “When Busy [Philipps] showed up, it was a dream. I've loved her for years. I've always wanted to work with her [and] my daughter knows her from Girls5eva so she was like, ‘Oh my God!’ And then when Bob the Drag Queen agreed to come do a stunt cast for us, we had a blast.”
Bernard continued: “I’m coming from the stand-up world, so having Ricky Velez on there and having Ron Funches in there as well, it's really nice. To see other comics just come onto the show… they're much bigger than I am and much better at the craft, but it's just beautiful to be working with those talents.”
Busy Philipps loved joining the cast and working opposite Black-D’Elia as the ultimate sponsor Darby. “Oh my God, it was such a delight because of [Sofia Black-D’Elia] because she's the most adorable delightful person. I loved working with her,” said Philipps. “It was so great to do scenes with someone so engaged and fun and young and I just love, love Sophia. I think she's infinitely talented.”
A big highlight of this season is the costumes by Cailey Breneman… so much so that the cast even took pieces home! “Oh, all the clothes! I've taken like everything in his wardrobe. I didn’t know how to dress coming into this and — big shout out to Cailey — I've come out with an entirely different wardrobe, entirely different style, and I love it,” said Bernard, while Lily Mae Harrington said: “There's a couple necklaces, not expensive ones, just like classic little chains that fit me really well. Our costume designer Cailey Breneman is so good that sometimes I'm like, ‘Oh, I just want that for my little life.’ I haven't gotten in trouble yet.”
Compère added: “I took a dress or two. Costumes were on point. I must say there's a couple of pieces that came home with me. Approved, approved! And I took something from Brit's home that I won’t share. I just want to keep that private for myself.”
New episodes of Single Drunk Female season 2 air Wednesdays on Freeform, with the full season available on Hulu. See more from the red carpet premiere:
