Fans of romcoms, rejoice: the hit Netflix series Nobody Wants This is back for another (much-demanded) series. That means ten more episodes of watching Kristen Bell and Adam Brody play sex podcaster Joanne and rabbi Noah, who fall madly in love after a meet-cute.
Season two features some memorable cameos – hello, Seth Rogan – but perhaps the most meta is Leighton Meester.
Meester, of course, played Blair Waldorf during the hit Noughties series Gossip Girl (a role that she ultimately played for five years), but what makes her appearance especially intriguing here is that she actually is the real-life wife of Adam Brody, who plays main character Noah.
“I haven’t been a series regular on a show in a long time, and so it’s really lovely to get to know everyone well,” Brody told online website Parade about her role.
“Same goes for the crew. And to build that sense of like family and community and teamwork, and so to share them with [Meester] and her with them, it was a joy because I love both, and I knew that they would all make wonderful music together.”
Which episode does Meester appear in?
She appears in episode five – and according to Erin Foster, who created the series, it was actually her co-showrunner Jenni Konner’s idea to ask Meester to join.
“It’s because the character was already written into the script without being cast at all,” Foster told The Hollywood Reporter.
“When she said yes, I went back into the script — [Meester and Brody] didn’t even have any scenes together so I gave them their little scene together and I really wanted him to say, ‘She’s not my type.’ He says that in the episode and it just meant a lot to me to get to say something funny like that because I thought it could become a meme.”
Who does she play?
Meester plays a figure from Joanne’s past: Abby, or Abby Loves Smoothies (she’s also an influencer).
She’s Jewish, and hires Noah to run her baby’s naming ceremony, where Joanne runs into her for the first time in years. Joanne tells Noah that the pair went to school together; Abby says they were “total LYLAS” (love you like a sister).
However, things went sour when Abby came over for a sleepover and cut the hair off her doll.
“I’m mortified, but I was like 11. I was so tired,” Abby says when Joanne finally confronts her about it. “You guys wouldn’t let me go to sleep! But I’m sorry. So psycho.”
At the end of the episode, it’s also revealed that Abby is a fan of Joanne and Morgan’s sex-themed podcast. “It’s why I hired your rabbi boyfriend,” Abby eventually says. “I tell people, ‘I grew up with them.'”
Nobody Wants This Season 2 is streaming now on Netflix
