An Interview with Lily Mae Harrington from ‘Single Drunk Female’

Lily Mae Harrington is a rising star in Hollywood, and she continues to add to her impressive resume courtesy of her appearances on a bevy of television shows and films and she is also a talented musician, and released her first album in 2019. Currently, she is wowing audiences everywhere as Felicia O’Brien on the Freeform series, Single Drunk Female and we here at Nerds That Geek were incredibly fortunate to sit down with Lily to discuss her role as Felicia and the wonder of the show, before tonight’s new episode airs on Freeform at 10:30 p.m. EST.
 
John Betancourt: What was it that attracted you to Single Drunk Female?
 
Lily Mae Harrington: Definitely at first, it was Leslye Headland, and Jenni Konner. I'm a huge Russian Doll fan and was a huge Girls fan. And they're able to really like… show women in complicated forms, in all of the work that they do. They're two creators I've always wanted to work with regardless of the project, and so when it came about, and it was someone a character with a Boston accent, I was like, here we go. I'm ready. This is… my time. -laughs-
 
John Betancourt: Big on the Boston Accent, huh? -laughs-
 
Lily Mae Harrington: I'm a Massachusetts girl. I've always been waiting to bring out the accent.
 
John Betancourt: So obviously, that has to be one of the reasons you were attracted to playing Felicia, what else attracted you to the character?
 
Lily Mae Harrington: Well, I just love that she, and well, especially, you know, when you're first auditioning for a series, you do the pilot, and you only get the pilot script. And so, at first, you know, she's kind of this mischievous figure, and in a way, you know, is kind of the evil villain to the sobriety in that first episode, if you will. And I loved the idea of being able to play someone that was enticing, yet dangerous.
 
John Betancourt: And you bring up another good point there, that Felicia is incredibly complex and can be the moral core of the story and also knows when to throw down and party. Which is incredibly realistic, what did you do as an actor to bring that kind of dynamic to this series?
 
Lily Mae Harrington: Well, I definitely felt like naturally, I had an awesome chemistry with Sophia. I mean, even on our first Zoom audition, there was like sparks going across the Zoom and the phone. And what was cool is, you know, she is kind of… she was always my compass. In every episode, and where she was at, in every episode, and that's the thing is you have these friends for so long, and it is these complicated relationships and deeper onion layers. But I definitely feel like it was also you know, where the writers wanted to take it. And we also didn't want to do this stereotype of a bad single mom. We really wanted to look into what other layers could exist, as well as her being ready to throw down and party, being the most devious one. But yeah, so that was really important to her development too, that she was a really good single mom, and that she has a good relationship with the father of her baby. And so that really steered the ship in a different direction for me, which is great. And I think, again, kind of adds to her complexity.
 
John Betancourt: That’s some great insight into your character and your process and I like that you speak even more to the realism of the show because I definitely want to dive into further by asking you, what it means to you be involved with such an incredibly progressive and realistic show?
 
Lily Mae Harrington: You know, it's so funny when, when it was first cast, and when we were shooting it, the progressiveness didn't even cross my mind to be completely honest. It really didn't come up for me until it was aired and until I saw people's response, and even just seeing a realistic take of a queer Jewish girl in the northeast. Like, specifically that, I mean, so many people have responded, so personally, just with that detail, and I mean, we have so many other things like with like Sasha's character, Brit, the Haitian community in Boston is like such a major thing that is looked over. And I think a lot of it, like I said, that didn't cross my mind until you're seeing these responses from people. And it feels really good. It feels right. You know, and that's the thing is never… I mean, it, maybe it was from the showrunner’s perspective, or the network perspective. But from our perspective, I never even thought twice about it, because it is a similar world that that I live in. You know, I'm surrounded by queer people. I'm surrounded by POCs in LA, maybe not in my small town in Massachusetts before, but yeah.
 
Yeah, I think it's actually mirroring our generation’s life. And I think that's also what's really special about the show is, there aren't a lot of young millennials led shows, you know? We're not quite Gen Z, if you are, like, specifying in generations, kind of this late 20s… where we're the last of the millennials, if you will. And so that's also a specific experience that I feel like no other show has quite captured. Maybe other than like Broad City, I was a huge Broad City fan. And that was part of understanding my relationship with Sam and just the love and vibrancy of female friendship in our time. And I really steered that in a direction that was definitely based on Broad City. But what else is on right now that that feels reflective of me, and my friends? It’s not a lot. So, I think that's, that's also part of their response. And so cool that a story of a lead character that the sobriety people might not relate to, but they're all these other details of her. And all these other characters that are really reflective of now. And I think it's awesome.
 
John Betancourt: See and you bring up another great point. Specifically how the show has so many layers and nuances and messages to it and with that in mind, what message are you hoping audiences latch onto the most?
 
Lily Mae Harrington: I think it's really making the best choices for yourself and living in, again, this time where I am really 28. I am. You know, I probably relate to Sam more than I relate to any other character, as a person, as Lily. And I hope the main thing is that, you know, that to enter into a place of really making the best decisions for yourself and your health, whether that's alcoholism or something else, I think is the main message that I'd like people to take away.
 
John Betancourt: Last question before we go, what is it you are most proud of when it comes to your time on this series?
 
Lily Mae Harrington: Ah, I'm probably most proud of the comfortability, I've grown on set. I've been working for 10 years, but the consistency of being on a series for a couple of months. Just really, I feel like I feel a whole different comfortability and confidence when it comes to that. And this is the first character I've ever improv’d with. And before I had taken some improv classes, and it was really not my thing, but when it came to this specific character, who I really, really understood and, and really felt connected to, that just came really naturally. So that was a new thing for me too. And proud to say a lot of my stuff ended up in the cut. So that's it. Oh, I'm super proud of that.
 
John Betancourt: Oh see, now that is something I was not aware of. That’s amazing because you’ve great scene stealing moments, that’s for sure.
 
Lily Mae Harrington: Yeah, we had a lot of fun. I mean, Sophia and Rebecca also had some great improv stuff. And we were lucky that we had showrunners that let us kind of roll with it. And yeah, so I'm super proud. I got to rise to that occasion.
 
John Betancourt: Well, that is amazing and awesome and, thank you so much for your time today. I really do appreciate it.
 
Lily Mae Harrington: For sure, thanks John.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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