INTERVIEW: Liz Tigelaar: Creator of Life Unexpected

If you read my site, you know that Life Unexpected is a show I have been looking forward to for a long time. It centers around Lux (Britt Robertson) who wants to emancipate herself from the foster care system at age 16. She finds her biological parents (played by Shiri Appleby and Kris Polaha) and through unforeseen circumstances, ends up with the family she never had.

I recently had the chance to chat with Liz Tigelaar, the absolutely brilliant creator of the show, who has put her heart into this wonderful series. Here is what she had to say about her passion project, the casting process, and what we can expect from its freshman season.

What was your inspiration behind creating Life Unexpected?
The show is very close to my heart.  I’m adopted and I’ve always had questions about who my birth parents were and had a fantasy about who I imagined they were.  In a weird way, even though I have the best adopted family any person could ask for, I’ve kind of been searching for them my entire life — going from person to person, wondering “Are you like my birth mom?  Are you like me?  Essentially, searching for someone who’s just like me…”  This pilot is about that search and how you don’t always get the answers you’re expecting — sometimes you get better than you ever imagined, other times you’re disappointed.  The show is also about what it means to be a grown up and in your thirties today.

When I first saw the pilot back in September, I thought it reminded me of the Old School CW/WB at it’s best. What does it mean to you to be on this network?
It means a lot.  My first job was on Dawson’s Creek on the WB.  I’ve always had an affinity for that type of show so it means a ton to be back here, eleven years later.  I feel like I’ve come full circle.  If anyone had told me when I was a P.A. on Dawson’s Creek, sitting around with people like Mike White, Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec that I’d be here, I never would’ve believed it.

The show has also been compared to Gilmore Girls (it reminded me of the show as well). Do you like that comparison? Did you watch the show?
I didn’t watch Gilmore Girls regularly but I watched it enough to know I love the comparisons.  I can only hope we’re a fraction as successful as that show was.  I appreciate being mentioned along side of a show like that, absolutely.

The show has a great mix of incredibly poignant and funny moments. And one thing that really shines through is that it has a ton of heart. Did you draw from any of your personal experiences to create and write the show?
The show is incredibly personal to me.  Each character is a part of me, especially Cate and Lux.  I struggle myself with knowing I’m a grown up but feeling like a kid, knowing I could be a parent now but wishing someone would still take care of me.  All Cate’s fears, insecurities, neuroses and skewed logic come from me so I love writing Cate.  She’s flawed and damaged and authentic and just herself, kind of take it or leave it.  But there’s a lot of Lux in me, too.  I’m not as bold as Lux but what she throws out there, the way she looks at things, the way she calls people on things… I probably aspire to be Lux when I grow up.  I also always pictured Lux to be blond.  For some reason, that was important to me.  Probably because I’m blond too and I just saw myself in her.  Is that lame?  We also have the same taste in music and fashion sense. 🙂

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Shiri Appleby (Cate Cassidy) from Life Unexpected

Life Unexpected is one of the best pilots I saw back in September, and a show I have been excited about for quite some time. I was absolutely hooked from the first few minutes. The show centers around Lux (Britt Robertson) who has decided to emancipate herself from foster care at 16. This process leads her to her biological father Nate “Baze” Bazile (Kris Polaha from Mad Men) and her biological mother Cate Cassidy (Shiri Appleby from ER and Roswell). Baze owns a bar and lives above it, and is stuck almost in a state of arrested development. Cate is a local radio star of a show called “Morning Madness” (which Lux listens to every morning) with her partner and off-air boyfriend Ryan Thomas (Kerr Smith from Dawson’s Creek). You can absolutely tell is a well-thought out, passion project. It is quirky, sweet, funny at times, but most of all, it just has a lot of heart. We need more of these types of dramas out there, and I’m so excited for this one. I recently had the chance to chat with Shiri Appleby, about what drew her to the role of Cate, how she relates to her character, and her favorite moment from filming the show.

First of all, I saw the first few episodes, and I love Life Unexpected.

Thank you so much. We’re so excited for people to really get to see it, it’s been such a long time coming.

Tell us a little more about your character, Cate Cassidy.
I sort of like to think that she’s the girl that you see across the room that you would sit and have lunch together, but then when you get to know her, you realize how broken and messed up she really is.

What originally drew you to the role of Cate?
I think the fact that there was a moment where the character realizes that she has responsibilities in life and she has to grow up. And I think that’s a moment that most of us goes through, because I don’t think becoming an adult is something that just naturally happens with age. And I thought she was going to go through a really interesting journey and ride. And I can just really relate to her issues, her being scared to commit to somebody long-term, how do you know if you can trust somebody, and how do you also know that you’re good enough to be there for somebody else.

You obviously are not in the same situation as Cate, how do you relate to the character?
I think it’s something that I talk about with my girlfriends all the time. How do you know that you’re able to commit to somebody for the rest of your life? All of these issues that she has, regardless of the fact that she’s now a new surprise mother, are issues that all my friends and young women are facing and having to grow up and make real life decisions. I think her story and her arc is really relatable.

Cate’s a radio host. Did you listen to any radio shows to prepare for the role?
You know, I didn’t. Kerr was really good, he went on Ryan Seacrest. Once you get to a radio station set, you sort of put those headphones on, and we’re mic’d [sitting] next to each other, we kind of just like let it go. It feels really, really natural. Obviously, I’ve done a lot of radio tours and gone to radio stations in the past for other projects, so I’ve had a little bit of experience in that world, so it kind of felt pretty comfortable.

Just coming off ER’s final season, what made you want to jump back into a TV series? I think the show is really special, but what made it special for you?
Well, ever since Roswell ended about 8 years ago, I was wanting to do another television show. But after that experience, you realize what a commitment it is, so I look for shows that I felt like I would want to spend five years of my life being a part of, and when I read this script instantly I knew that this was a character that I would be excited to go to work to play for years, if we’re so lucky.

Life Unexpected in on the CW, and Roswell was on the WB (its former incarnation). How does it feel like to be back on this network specifically?
It feels really good. I know the way these people at the network work, I knew a lot of the publicists already, and I feel like this network is hungry to us to go out there and do what we can do. They’ve been really, really supportive, and they have been since day 1 of this show which has been a real, real blessing for all of us. But it feels like home — I get it. I know what kind of stories they tell.

Do you still have a fan base from Roswell that you think will come over and watch this show?
Yes! I hope so! They’ve been incredibly loyal, which is such a gift. I hope they’ll come and watch this show. If people like Roswell, there’s a lot of similar themes of being there for each other, and yearning for people, and love and friendship and family. There are some pretty similar themes, obviously set in a different world but I think both of our shows are about being a good person and finding true love.

ADVANCE REVIEW – Life Unexpected & Video Preview

After a slew of hit and miss shows from the CW for the new season, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Life Unexpected. I received the pilot back in September, and was floored. There was no release date at the time, so I decided to wait to share the greatness. It is one of the best shows/pilots I have seen in a long time. You can absolutely tell is a well-thought out, passion project. It reminded me of Gilmore Girls. It is quirky, sweet, funny at times, but most of all, it just has a lot of heart.

The show centers around Lux (Britt Robertson) who has decided to emancipate herself from foster care at 16. This process leads her to her biological father Nate “Baze” Bazile (Kris Polaha from Mad Men) and her biological mother Cate Cassidy (Shiri Appleby from ER and Roswell). Baze owns a bar and lives above it, and is stuck almost in a state of arrested development–friends with a bunch of frat boys and waking up every day at noon. Cate is a local radio star of a show called “Morning Madness” (which Lux listens to every morning) with her partner and off-air boyfriend Ryan Thomas (Kerr Smith aka Jack from Dawson’s Creek). Through unforseen legal decisions (a judge grants Cate and Baze joint custody), their world becomes interconnected, and Lux ends up with the parents she never knew she had.