Modern Family, and seems poised to enter the streaming landscape with a bang thanks to Reboot. Once the first three episodes drop, Reboot will continue with a new episode every Tuesday.
Reboot is about the cast of a popular early 2000s family sitcom that has been, as per the show's title, rebooted. Taking place across the boardrooms, trailers, and sets of a television studio, Reboot is full of hilarious meta jokes and acute commentary on the television industry. Much of the meta humor comes thanks to the character Hannah, who together with her counterpart Gordon (Paul Reiser), is a writer on the rebooted fictional sitcom Step Right Up.
Hannah is played by Rachel Bloom, who is a show creator and writer in her own right. Bloom previously co-created, wrote, and starred in the brilliant musical comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which ran for four seasons on the CW. Bloom spoke with Screen Rant about portraying a writer on screen, being a part of Reboot, and the likelihood of a musical duet between her and her co-star Paul Reiser.
Rachel Bloom Talks Reboot
Screen Rant: Even from the trailer, it seems like your character is involved in a very meta-discussion on how TV rooms and writer's rooms work. How is it to play that while also keeping the emotion and the relatability intact?
Rachel Bloom: Well, I created a TV show. I'm a TV show creator, so to me, they're one and the same. I really relate to the material; it's an emotional area for me, and so they crossed over nicely.
You share a lot of scenes with Paul Reiser, who is also in the writer's room with you. It seems like you're playing two sides of the same coin. Can you talk about what that relationship is like for your characters, and for you as actors?
Rachel Bloom: In a meta way, Paul has been doing TV as a creator and an actor for a while, and I kind of came onto the scene more within the past ten years, so there is an actual generational divide. And I think the real clash of the characters is the point of view of "Why do you create a show?" My character fundamentally tackles this show to deconstruct the past. As she says, "The characters don't do the right thing anymore." He wants to just do the show the way the show always was. And so I think that the main clash is, "Do we want to reboot things to live in nostalgia, or do we want to reboot things to take a second look?" And [the answer to that] depends who you are.
Obviously, this is a comedy, but for anyone who's watching Reboot to get a taste of what it's like on a set, or in a writer's room, how accurate do you feel like the show is to your experience?
Rachel Bloom: It's really accurate. I mean, they're very good with the verisimilitude on this show. I think Steve [Levitan] has said, "Look, we're doing a comedy show. There's no reason to not make the show-within-a-show the most authentic it can be." So for anyone who wants to go into the business, it's a very good representation of it.
And what drew you to this in the first place? The cast is amazing, the showrunner is amazing, but what brought you in?
Rachel Bloom: Well, look, I love the premise, and Steve Levitan's obviously a legend, so it would have been a lot for me to turn it down, and I love the character. I really love the character. And then, also, I like to work! I like having jobs.
Finally, you're a fantastic singer, and Paul Reiser literally studied piano composition. What are the odds that, in this season or in a future season, we will see you two perform music together?
Rachel Bloom: Look, I can't speak for the writers. Maybe the writer's room decides that Hannah has a secret good voice. The way I've been playing her so far is that she hates performing and singing, so I think the odds are quite low. However, I would love to, in our real life, perform with Paul.
About Reboot
Hulu reboots an early 2000’s family sitcom, forcing its dysfunctional cast back together. Now they must deal with their unresolved issues in today’s fast-changing world.
The series stars Keegan-Michael Key, Judy Greer, Johnny Knoxville, Paul Reiser, Rachel Bloom, Calum Worthy, and Krista Marie Yu.
Check out our other interviews for Reboot here:
The first three episodes of Reboot drop September 20th on Hulu.