Adam Brody on his big romcom comeback in Nobody Wants This

If anyone ever doubted the power of a primetime teen soap opera, one need only look to the response to the trailer for Netflix’s new culture clash romcom Nobody Wants This. For a rare moment, millennials of a certain age were united in ecstasy at the sight of Adam Brody, who famously played the socially awkward yet quick-witted Seth Cohen in Fox’s Noughties juggernaut The O.C. ‘The sound of Adam Brody’s voice brings back all of my teenage heartbeats!’ shouted one ardent fan on X. ‘Adam Brody romcom series? I’ve dreamed of days like this!’ raved another, while a third simply declared: ‘Teenage me is having a meltdown!’

Without sounding melodramatic, I had a similar response. One of the biggest breakout characters in teen TV history, Brody’s character was the sensitive, Jewish dork who stole the hearts of teenage girls (mine included) with his sarcastic one-liners, obsession with the band Death Cab for Cutie and creation of ‘Chrismukkah’ – the rather genius holiday fusion of Christmas and Hanukkah. So when I learned that Brody would be returning to the small screen as a witty, Jewish heartthrob, I was hit with a powerful wave of nostalgia. At the same time, I couldn’t help but wonder: why has it taken two decades for Brody to become a romantic lead?

As it turns out, he hasn’t purposefully been avoiding romcoms in the years since The O.C. came to a close. ‘The truth is, I love them,’ the 44-year-old Californian clarifies over Zoom from Los Angeles. ‘I don’t know if it’s the cycle of the business for the past 15 years – I think they’ve just been a little out of vogue,’ he muses, swinging from side to side in his chair. ‘But I think that had one of this quality come my way sooner, I would have done it.’

This time around, Brody has graduated from a high-schooler to a hot rabbi. Or, as his character says in an early episode of the show, a ‘Torah bad boy’. Inspired by creator Erin Foster’s real-life experience of converting to Judaism, Nobody Wants This follows Noah (Brody), an unconventional rabbi on the rebound, and Joanne (Kristen Bell), a snarky agnostic podcaster, who are forced to reckon with a number of obstacles as they embark upon a passionate romance. Bell was attached to the project first, Brody explains. The pair were ‘pretty friendly’, he says, having shared the screen together a couple of times before (playing exes, ironically, in Some Girl(s)). In fact, she was the one who insisted he play Noah. ‘She was sort of adamant that it be me. I heard through the grapevine and mutual friends that this was going to end up at my desk and when it did happen, I was really pleased.’

Viewers will undoubtedly note that the character of Noah is a perfect fit for Brody, not least because it feels like meeting the adult version of Seth Cohen. On the surface of things, there’s not a huge separation between the real-life Brody and his fictional counterparts, either. At 44, he still has a boyish charm, a mop of beachy curls and a tendency to lace every other sentence with his signature wit. Noah, Brody notes, felt ‘similar and comfortable in a lot of ways’, although he emphasises that the aesthetic parallels between them are largely superficial. ‘I mean, I’m an Angelino. I’m Jewish. I talk in a modern way. So by all appearances, I more or less look like the character. I’m not doing anything radically different with my appearance.’

Playing a rabbi, however, posed an interesting challenge. ‘I’d say a core element of [Noah] is his deep faith and passion for his religion,’ says Brody, who was raised in the Jewish faith, but doesn’t practise these days. ‘And that is something that I didn’t share and is also something that was exciting to explore. You know, that was the part of it, for me, that was going to be the challenge and reward.’ During the actors’ strike, he had time to delve deeper into the religion, which he found illuminating. ‘I really enjoyed that. The older I get, like, the research part of the job is very fun.’

Aside from being a hilarious exploration of cultural difference, Nobody Wants This is also a refreshing love story. This isn’t a series about the horrors of modern dating – although Noah and Joanne’s romance certainly encounters its fair share of difficulties, largely due to meddling family members who disapprove of Noah’s relationship with a ‘shiksa’. Rather, it captures the essence of what a healthy, happy relationship can look like, even when the baggage of our past shows up in unexpected ways. Plus, Bell and Brody have great chemistry. ‘Regardless of the religious background, just to kind of banter with her down the street is its own pleasure,’ he says. Is he ready to be hailed the hot rabbi? ‘Listen, I don’t want to force things,’ he deadpans. ‘So that’s an affectionate term that I’ll gladly wear with pride, should it be bestowed on me.’

Brody may be having a full-circle moment playing a heartthrob, but one glance at his filmography proves he can’t be typecast. Granted, there have been a fair sprinkling of ‘nice guy’ roles, such as the good boyfriend Dave Rygalski in Gilmore Girls, or the annoying but approachable finance bro Seth Morris in Fleishman Is In Trouble. But he’s played the sexy bad guy, too, such as the murderous devil-worshipping rockstar in Jennifer’s Body, or the man who attempts to take advantage of a seemingly incapacitated woman in Promising Young Woman. If you want to talk about range, he’s even donned a Lycra suit in the DC superhero Shazam! movies.

Brody can’t pass as a high-schooler any more, but the beauty of age is naturally bringing more nuanced roles. ‘Just like you have more life experience, the roles get more complex and vary more than anything.’ He credits Foster’s ‘intelligence and voice’ for bringing the personalities to life in Nobody Wants This, but says being older also allowed him to bring nuance to a character finding love the second time around. ‘Mine and Kristen’s characters are older than last time I’ve done this sort of thing; we’re bringing a different level of experience and baggage. The characters are carrying that and they’re at a different point in their lives and a different crossroads. And, you know, perhaps a more complicated one.’

I wager that being the romantic lead in a Netflix series is bound to reignite conversation around The O.C. As much as it remains etched into the minds of teens from the early 2000s, many critics have heralded the drama, which ran from 2003 to 2007, as one of the most impactful teen shows ever. Like its early Noughties counterparts One Tree Hill and Desperate Housewives, there are now rewatch podcasts feeding superfan nostalgia, while a new generation is discovering it over on TikTok. Given two decades have passed since we were first introduced to Seth Cohen and the sunny beaches of SoCal, Brody is pleasantly good-humoured when asked about the enduring conversation. ‘I’d be lying if I said I was engaged in it much,’ he says frankly. ‘But at the same time, I love that these things, you know, carry on a life... not of their own, but stay in the consciousness and either find new fans or have people revisit them. I mean, I love that they’re not forgotten, you know? And I’m very proud to have a character in my past that really resonated with a large group of people, both my peers and a generation younger than me. So, yeah, I mean, it warms my heart.’

Last year, The O.C. celebrated its 20th anniversary, which although Brody acknowledges is a ‘big marker’ in his life, is not exponentially more significant than other turning points, such as marriage and having children. ‘It feels both like ancient history and yesterday,’ he says of the milestone. ‘I mean, it’s incredibly human to reflect on time and the passage of it constantly.’ Brody was just 23 when he starred in the show. ‘I was both young and not so young, depending on how you look at it,’ he muses. Now, he’s a father, which he thinks contributes to the feeling that the show was a lifetime ago. There is, however, the question of middle age. ‘You know, if I was an athlete, I’d be retired by now,’ he says thoughtfully. ‘And there’s just something about that that is incredibly human, that we all grapple with, and is like, beautiful and horrible and fascinating.’

If Brody ever tires of talking about Seth Cohen, I imagine he can find a sympathetic shoulder from his wife and queen of the mid-00s teen drama Leighton Meester, otherwise known as Blair Waldorf (incidentally, Gossip Girl’s elusive, antagonistic narrator was voiced by Kristen Bell). A match made in teen soap heaven, the pair married in 2014, and have since had two children together; a daughter, Arlo, in 2015, and a son (whose name has not been publicly revealed) in 2020.

‘We’re incredibly fortunate, and it’s an incredibly lucky lifestyle to have,’ says Brody when asked how they make it work as two jobbing actors. They don’t operate via a ‘your turn, my turn’ strategy, he explains, but rather have an ongoing dialogue. And if a project means being away from home, there are plus sides. ‘I think while you do have to spend some significant time away from your children, the trade-off for us and our schedule, I can’t say this for every actor, people work differently, but the uninterrupted time we do get is vast and invaluable. It’s just a really lovely balance for us,’ he says. I imagine Meester is a big supporter, I say. Has she watched Nobody Wants This? ‘She is and she has,’ he says, flashing a smile. The kids are a different story. ‘You know, no one’s less impressed with you than your kids, and that’s universal, I believe,’ he says drolly. ‘I just don’t think we’ve done anything that has really hit for them yet, but perhaps we will, and then, you know, we’ll get some respect.’

If Brody has a reputation for being selective about his roles, it’s also abundantly clear that he has strong boundaries. Fatherhood, he says, has freed him from the pressure of maintaining a career reputation. ‘It allows me to be a little less pretentious, I guess, on one hand, and on the other hand, it allows me to bring a whole level of emotion and earned knowledge about relationships, about people and about parenthood to my work that is very applicable.’ He certainly doesn’t allow work to rule his life. ‘I have another reputation that’s more important, ultimately. Yeah, [it] allows you to see through a different lens.’

In the future, he’d love to do more comedy. ‘The sets are so fun when everyone’s laughing and making one another laugh,’ he says, with a passion that reminds me of Seth Cohen rhapsodising about comics. He’s also intrigued by ‘slapstick arthouse’, which has something deeper at play. ‘Not that there has to be,’ he levels. ‘But f*ck it, I would take The Three Stooges. I mean, that’s one of my fantasies.’

In typical Brody-esque fashion, he doesn’t know what his next project might be. ‘I rarely know what my next adventure will be, which is exciting.’ He doesn’t enjoy the ‘pure impotence’ of waiting for a phone call, although at this stage of his career, he’s well acquainted with it. When it does ring, though, he’s ready. ‘I love it,’ he says firmly. ‘I have like a Pavlovian response when it’s my agent calling.’ After the release of Nobody Wants This, something tells me he won’t have long to wait.

All 10 episodes of Nobody Wants This are available to watch on Netflix now.

This interview is taken from Red's December 2024 issue, on sale 24 October 2024.

You Might Also Like

• Flattering summer dresses

• 15 trainers you'll want to wear every day

• This high street moisturiser is sold every 18 seconds