On tonight’s episode of Lifetime’s UnReal, Breeda Wool‘s character Faith brought Everlasting‘s British bachelor Adam Cromwell back home to Mississippi with her to meet her family. When the crew sees the farm Faith lives on and meets her really close friend Amy (Malea Mitchell), it becomes clear that Faith’s being a virgin might not just be about waiting for the right guy.
The show’s producer, Rachel (Shiri Appelby), catches on to the women’s close relationship and confronts Faith. It’s hard for Faith to say out loud, but eventually she decides to go on camera and discuss that she isn’t interested in Adam: She has it bad for Amy.
Since this makes for great television, Rachel is super jazzed at getting Faith to make such a huge announcement, but when Faith decides she also wants to share it with entire religious, conservative small town community that she’s in love with a woman and telling the world on national TV, things get a little more complicated. Faith ends up freaking out in front of the microphone and Adam saves her by asking Faith to return to LA with him and to continue on the journey of Everlasting.
We spoke with Breeda about this week’s episode of UnReal and what we can expect from Faith in episodes six and beyond.
AfterEllen.com: Did you know this would be your character’s trajectory from the beginning?
Breeda Wool: I had a very good idea. I didn’t think that I had been a virgin. Sarah and I kind of went back and forth on if I was an actual virgin or whether I’d actually had some experiences with women in high school, and what that might have looked like. But then I saw I was a virgin, that I was very religious, and that I was more like one of the guys-there was a lot of things that I was like ‘Oh.’ [Show creator] Sarah Shapiro actually came up to me right when we were about to start and told me my whole arc up until episode 5 and I became very excited. All of a sudden I had this-I felt very honored I was able to have a story like that.
AE: Did finding out Faith was going to be gay change how you played her?
BW: I think if I had thought that I was trying to pursue Adam for real. I mean, I don’t know-I think I am trying to pursue Adam for real. I think I’m trying to not be gay even though I am. In the story, I’ve spent my whole life trying to-going on the show is like my big effort to get away from Amy and get away from those thoughts and try to quote unquote correct myself in accordance with my religious fate and in accordance with my community and my grandmother. It’s interesting as well because I’m from a very small town and it’s very interesting because I feel like everybody knows. Everybody knows about me and Amy. I feel like everybody pressures me to go on this show and there’s a lot that’s unsaid and a lot that’s unspoken about. That’s where I come from.
Sarah actually gave me-when I was preparing, I watched L Word: Mississippi and a few other documentaries and it really hit me right in my gut. I was like, how do I tell this story about someone who was so confused. The whole me as Faith coming out story is so challenging because an acceptance of myself means a betrayal of everyone who knows and loves me. And to be confronted with that level of-it’s a very high stakes game. I can imagine what it would be like to be in the closet; I can imagine what it would have been like. But when I had the opportunity to play in this world on UnReal and the opportunity to play Faith, it’s like all of your hopes and dreams and your life, none of them can ever come to meet. Your dreams and your wants and desires-even my thoughts! Even my thoughts in the story I considered then. How do you have, in that place where you live, you’re trying to do right by everybody and you have these thoughts and your own feelings are a betrayal. It’s a universal story. When we made this, you could not get married in Mississippi. I mean, absolutely not. Now Amy and Faith can get married.
AE: Did you know the actress who played Amy before UnReal?
BW: Malea Mitchell? She’s such a babe. Holy cow, that was awesome. I was actually shown-one of the producers came up to me and said, ‘Could you be in love with any of these women? I think you should be in love with this woman.’ And he showed me Malea’s picture and I said, “Oh yeah. I could totally be in love with that girl.” And then when she came up-she came up only for a few days-and it’s so funny when you are. She rides on set and I’d been thinking of her for like, months. I’d been dreaming up our wedding and our what it would be like if we had kids and if Gram accepted us and what it would be like if we got married in our church. Everyone came to our wedding and what a cool party-all this stuff I clearly can’t have. But I’d been dreaming it up and she arrives on set, and Im like “Hey, there you are! There you are, love of my life!” It was actually really funny because she left and I had to keep shooting. She was like, “It’s so nice to meet you’ and we just stood there and she goes, ‘I kind of did fall in love with you a little.’ I was like, “Yeah, me too.” [laughs] Then we just parted ways. Playing make believe is awesome.
AE: You are also playing a queer role in AWOL, but they are very different characters.
BW: Lola Kirke is also babetown. I love when people give me really attractive people to be in love with. I’m like ‘Thanks everybody!’ Not that I couldn’t be in love with someone who may or may not be unattractive, but you know, it’s a perk of my job. I had been working on AWOL since 2010. I did the short film with Deb Shoval and our film went to Sundance and we won the Women in Film award and we did really well and then we shot the first half and then we waited for two years and shot the second half. So this film had been this epic part of my life for a really long time. It’s a very meaningful project to me and I’m very proud that we finished it. It’s in post-production and we’ve done a lot of-we’ve been nominated for a lot of grants and a lot of awards and I really think that-it’s Deb Shoval first feature film and I think she’s got a really artful point of view and I think it’s going to be a really cool and unique film. They are very different roles but I feel very fortunate that I was given both those roles, and given both those roles by lady filmmakers. I find myself in situations very frequently where I’m hired and supported by women in the industry. It’s been a big part of my career so far, actually.
AE: So going forward, what can you tell us about Faith’s role on Everlasting?
BW: Faith is the best beard you could ask for. I don’t think Adam wants to marry anybody so I think I’m the perfect remedy for that. I’m the perfect wife for reality. We would both get so much out of it. I think going forward, the issue of going back to my hometown or never going back is something that comes up. You know, do I remain in California-do I remain a reality star? Faith becomes an audience favorite, so do I go back to my hometown and actualize who I am as a human being and go through this sort of spiritual enlightenment in a way or do I just avoid it and create a new life for myself in reality TV? Maybe I do both, I don’t know! All I know is that I go back to Mississippi now, I can totally ask Amy to marry me, as of today.
UnReal airs Monday nights on Lifetime and is also available On Demand. Follow AWOL on Facebook to find out when it is screening near you.
