“I’ll probably miss just being in some of the spaces with Fran, a.k.a. Lolly,” Bryant told Parade.com recently. “A lot of my favorite scenes were just Lolly and I in the living room or Lolly and I in the kitchen or Lolly and I in the little sunroom, and I think in a way it started to feel like our actual little space together, so those are the pieces that I think I’m going to miss. The routine of that and how normal it felt.” She explained that a lot of those scenes ended up being ad-libbed because she and Lolly Adefope are such good friends in real life, “it felt more real if we kind of loosened it up.” There’s plenty of that in Season 3. In fact, there’s a girl’s night out scene we never knew we needed. And this might be Annie’s boldest season style-wise. But this also might be Annie’s most vulnerable season yet, with storylines ranging from inappropriate doctors giving unsolicited and unfounded advice (which Bryant said she’s experienced in her real life) to Annie facing her own fat-phobia, which Bryant said was the most challenging scene this season. “Annie kind of deals with her own fat-phobia that she had for someone else. And it was really hard, it was really emotional to shoot,” Bryant shared. “The director was like, ‘why don’t you try to do an improvised version of the take so that it’s just more in your own words?’ And that’s what we ended up using and I think it really forced me to sit in those judgmental feelings that I had and really look at how ugly they could be, not just toward Annie herself but to other people. It was intense.” This is of course the aspect of the show we’ll miss most, the way it forces viewers (and characters) to face things, feelings and people that might have previously made them uncomfortable. But, as corny as this sounds, we can’t just cry because it’s over, we have to also smile because it happened! Not just because it brought so much joy to our lives in so many ways, but because it gave TV a much-needed makeover. Sure, it should have happened sooner and there’s still plenty of work to be done, but Shrill made a mark in more ways than one. Bryant has been seeing more “different types of bodies on TV and that always makes me excited.” But she’s been so involved in the show, she’s still not sure of the lasting impact Shrill will have on Hollywood. “It’s hard to say, I think I’ll probably have a stronger answer a year from now,” she said. “I’ve been kind of safely in my Shrill and SNL bubble where I feel respected and valued. And so, we’ll see, I think.” She added, “I can’t really know until I get out there and try.”
Watch our interview with Bryant to find out how else Season 3 challenged her, why she envies Fran’s style more than Annie’s, and what her ideal post-pandemic girls’ night out looks like. Spoiler alert: We invited ourselves.
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