Completely fictitious yet probably closer to the world of reality television production than many of us will ever know, brand new Lifetime exclusive series UnREAL is finally coming to the UK, and we got the opportunity to put some questions to one of the show's stars, Shiri Appleby.
Talking about the series, her favourite reality shows and more, she dishes on her favourite moments, what to expect and more - read on to find out what she had to say.
What can you tell us about new series UnREAL and the character you play in the show?
UnREAL is a fictional look behind-the-scenes of a reality TV dating show. It's really [a] show about the people who make these kinds of television shows and you get to see the lengths that they'll go to to manipulate the contestants and how they really struggle with their own worlds and values.
The character I play, her name is Rachel Goldberg, she is a reality show producer that suffered a breakdown at the end of last season and she's back in this environment for a handful of different reasons, and I'm working really hard to try and keep her wits about her this year, but she finds it to be a constant struggle!
What was it about this show that drew you to getting involved?
Well, before I actually read the script I watched their short Sequin Razed, which the show is based on, and it was unlike anything I had ever seen, I mean it was beautifully shy, it was starring two women, it was dark and conflicted and it really lets uncomfortable moments linger, and it was really posing some dark, fascinating questions, and then I read the script and I could totally see and feel the tone and understand it having watched the short.
My agents at the time had made it really clear that Lifetime was really looking to change the brand, to actually rebrand themselves, and helping to do it with this show, they were going to go as dark and deep as they possibly could, and I thought that that presented a lot of opportunity.
With Rachel specifically, either she is a really rich character because she really gets high off the manipulation and the take down, but when the high wears off she is left with a ton of guilt and remorse, and underneath it all she has an incredible amount of vulnerability, and a sense of humour, but she just presented a lot of opportunities to really stretch and go to dark places, and that's really what I have been looking to do with my career lately.
What are some of your favourite moments in the show that viewers should keep an eye out for?
The sex scenes we tried to get through as quickly as possible, because both of the guys are the nicest I've ever worked with, so there was nothing uncomfortable about it.
Constance and I, there were moments where we literally couldn't speak, something would happen and I would be hysterically laughing so hard to the point that I'm like, crying on the set.
Scenes with my mother - those scenes I found just to be really satisfying you know? To see Rachel in a different world, and come to understand why she is the way she is.
There's such a strong cast with this show, who did you really enjoy sharing scenes with?
I mean the cast is an amazing group of people of like 20 women and I have to say, when you hear it's going to be with 20 women going through hair and makeup... but it was the group of the most supportive, awesome women and I really get along with everybody.
Constance and I just happened to have a ton of scenes together and we both have a lot in common, we are both married with kids and you know our families are our priorities, and we've both been doing it for a long time and we really carried the weight of the show together so we have a really great friendship, and it was easy to do a lot of the dramatic scenes together, really pushing yourself at work because you're working in such a big environment.
UnREAL airs on Tuesday 7th July at 10pm, brand new and exclusive to Lifetime.