Not here for romance. Jenna Ortega, Ayo Edebiri and more TV actors opened up about wanting more friendship than romance on their respective shows.
The Bear actress weighed in after fans noticed potential sparks between Sydney and Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) in season 1.
“They got a lot of trauma on both sides. Like if even that [was explored] — I don’t think that window is open,” Edebiri exclusively told Us Weekly in January 2023. “But if it were, there would need to be like two seasons where it’s just them doing therapy individually before that would even be an option.”
Creator Christopher Storer also addressed whether the coworkers would take their relationship to the next level in the future.
“We wanted to make something that was about friendship and a partnership,” he told Variety that same month. “It really is so funny that that is one of the things that people took away — of all the heavy s—t that’s going on in the show! It was interesting because Ayo and Jeremy, since they are our friends and are such wonderful people, I think there is this charisma that comes off both of them.”
Storer added: “From the beginning, it was like, ‘We should just show people being really good at their jobs and pushing each other.’ Selfishly, I hadn’t seen a show without a romantic plot and was like, ‘That could be kind of cool and interesting.’”
Meanwhile, Ortega shut down the abundance of romance surrounding Wednesday Addams in her her Netflix series.
“I told [the writers] very early on that I didn’t want her to be in the middle of a love triangle. I’ve always been against the love triangle idea,” the Scream actress told ETalk in November 2022. “As far as the boys went, I had to accept it — but honestly, I’m going to fight this love triangle thing so hard. Because I don’t think Wednesday would ever be in a love triangle.”
At the time, Ortega showed her support for scenes that revolved around Wednesday’s growth.
“Someone like Wednesday seems very one tone. But there are a lot of different routes that you could take with someone like her,” she told Netflix’s Tudum. “Adding those layers of insecurity or those lived-in qualities that make a teenager a teenager is really interesting.”
The California native continued: “Especially with a character that we’ve never gotten the opportunity to know well enough, because she’s always been the one-liner, off to the side with a funny punchline. To actually have real frustration and uncertainty was really interesting to play and discover.”
Scroll down for more romantic ships that didn’t have the support of their actors:
Buck and Eddie (‘9-1-1’)
In response to fan interest in Buck and Eddie’s potential future, Ryan Guzman praised the emotional connection between the onscreen coworkers.
“But that’s what true bromance is. The bromance that I see in Eddie and Buck is like an older brother/younger brother relationship. Other people might associate their relationship with something else. Oliver [Stark] and I definitely have fun with that,” he told Anthem Magazine in 2019. “We definitely enjoy all the posts that fans give us on social media — it’s pretty amazing. We share those all the time, actually. That being said, again, I think having two men being in tune with each other is pretty rare to see because, even though a lot people want to see it, they’re afraid to ask for it or venture out.”
Midge and Lenny (‘The Marvelous Mrs Maisel’)
Rachel Brosnahan recalled begging creator Amy Sherman-Palladino to not explore a connection between Midge and Lenny (Luke Kirby).
“I think that their friendship is so important to both of them, but especially to Midge, and it’s an intimate friendship, unlike a lot of the ones I’ve seen between men and women on television,” the Emmy Award winner told The Hollywood Reporter in 2019. “They like each other because they admire each other, they admire each other’s talent and they admire each other’s drive. And that is allowed to be all that it is, you know? And I love it, and I don’t want to risk it for anything, but I appreciate that they walk right up to the line.”
Brosnahan added: “Amy and I were in complete agreement about that. For me it was about wanting to let their friendship be their friendship, as dynamic and wonderful and weird as it is. I love it exactly as it is, and I don’t need more from it, and I think Midge feels the same way.”
In season 4 of the hit Prime Video show, which aired in 2022, the twosome ultimately gave into their feelings and had sex.
Ted and Rebecca (‘Ted Lasso’)
During an interview in 2022, Hannah Waddingham revealed she wasn’t rooting for Ted (Jason Sudeikis) and Rebecca.
“It’s social conditioning says a lead woman and the lead man are going to end up together,” the Ted Lasso actress said while promoting the show. “Far deeper is the beauty of sometimes a platonic relationship, where you will be the last one at the person’s bedside, even if you haven’t slept with them. There may be more longevity in that.”
Poppy and Ian (‘Mythic Quest’)
According to Charlotte Nicdao, the magic behind her character’s relationship with Ian (Rob McElhenney) was the lack of romance.
“I always love exploring the relationship between Poppy and Ian. I really think there isn’t anything else like it on TV at the moment which is a big call but I don’t know, maybe I’m biased,” she told The Playlist in November 2022. “I really love getting to explore that relationship because it keeps getting more and more complicated each season and I can’t wait to see where it goes next.”
Nicdao continued: “I love that the show holds that relationship up as being just as important as a romantic relationship. Just because we’re not rooting for them romantically — although I know some people are — I’m not and I still see that they’re probably the most central figures in each other’s lives and always will be and I think that is worth looking at.”
Bellamy and Clarke (‘The 100’)
Since The 100 premiered on The CW in 2014, viewers were rooting for a romance between best friends Bellamy and Clarke. Eliza Taylor, however, had other thoughts about the fan-favorite couple’s future.
“Do I love Bellarke? You know what, it’s complicated. I love our platonic relationship on the show. I think it’s great,” the Australia native said during a livestream in 2016. “But the whole shipping thing I am not accustomed to and I don’t get.”
The fictional couple ultimately did not get together before The 100 aired its final season in 2020.
Carmy and Sydney (‘The Bear’)
“I think when we were making it, neither of us [me nor Jeremy Allen White] were thinking about [romance],” Edebiri shared with Us in January 2023 about a potential romance between her character and White’s. “It did feel really nice to get to do something that felt different. There aren’t that many platonic male [and] female relationships.”
Wednesday and Xavier (‘Wednesday’)
In November 2022, Ortega said she had no interest in exploring Wednesday’s love life in season 2.
“Now that Tyler’s off the table, I feel like she’s off of boys for a while. I feel like her and Xavier are just getting to a safe place. I think there’s an opportunity there for a really sweet platonic relationship,” she detailed to MTV. “Because I don’t think it’s shown often enough, men and women having safe platonic relationships that don’t become romantic and are just genuine, almost sibling-like relationships. I think that’d be wonderful to see.”
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Chiara
Source: Us Weekly
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