Ms. Smulders, your new series, High School, currently available on Amazon Freevee, is based on the childhood memories of twins Tegan and Sara, both known as indie pop duo. Did you know them both?
I wish I was cool enough to answer yes to that question.
But actually, I only got to know them both after I got the part, and then I got better and better because they were on the set quite often.
My good friend Clea DuVall developed the series and I was immediately drawn into the story.
Even more so when I then also read the book by Tegan and Sara, which is the basis for the series.
My hope now is that I can easily get tickets for their next tour!
You play the mother of the two. Did you approach the role like any other fictional character? Or did you always have in mind that you would play the mother of the two executive producers?
I didn't think about it that much because I had a clear picture of who this woman was after reading the book.
I was also familiar with the setting: Tegan and Sara grew up in Canada in the 80's and 90's, just like me.
You in Calgary, I in Vancouver, but the differences aren't that big.
And even though I'm her age and not her mother's, I knew pretty well what it was like for parents back then.
So many of us were latchkeys, the front doors weren't locked and the appointment to be home was enough.
The memories of that time were crucial in finding this character.
Did the series feel like a journey back in time to your own youth?
That was really wonderfully nostalgic.
My very first day of shooting was an incredible flashback, if only because we were shooting in a house with a basement.
Back in Canada, all of our houses had basements, unlike in California where I live today.
Everyone wore flannel, there were videocassettes everywhere, and the posters on the walls all looked very familiar.
That was exactly the nineties flair that I remember.
Were you always going to concerts or illegal raves back then?
I meant it seriously: Unfortunately, I really wasn't and am not that cool.
Of course there were also raves like that in our area.
But I don't remember if I just didn't have access to this world or just didn't dare to go there.
Don't get me wrong: I wasn't just a well-behaved nerd.
But I wasn't as wild and casual as Tegan and Sara.
And above all, I wasn't as enthusiastic about music as they were.
What I can hardly understand anymore when I hear all the great songs that we were allowed to use for the series.
Did you like going to school?
Definitely going to high school, that is, the final years of school, from eighth to twelfth grade.
That's when I started performing on theater stages and discovered acting for myself.
And many of my friendships from back then have lasted to this day!
I found middle school, i.e. the sixth to eighth grades, more difficult.
Interestingly, my own daughters are having a hard time with that.
Even if their experiences are otherwise not necessarily comparable to mine.