In this week's bonus episode, host Bobby Finger talks to the star of the new Netflix original series Bonding, Brendan Scannell. During their chat, Brendan discusses how he came to the role of a dom's assistant/bodyguard, the importance of creating a family of friends in one's life, and the importance of pride in communities of people who grew up thinking of sexuality as something to be ashamed of. He also gushes about some recent queer TV and film, including Gregg Araki's series Now Apocalypse and the film God's Own Country. And, duh, he loves I Think You Should Leave as much as everyone else. Bonding is now streaming on Netflix. Call 754-CALL-BOB and share your current obsessions, and we may play it on a future episode!
In this week's bonus episode, host Bobby Finger talks to the star of the new Netflix original series Bonding, Brendan Scannell. During their chat, Brendan discusses how he came to the role of a dom's assistant/bodyguard, the importance of creating a family of friends in one's life, and the importance of pride in communities of people who grew up thinking of sexuality as something to be ashamed of. He also gushes about some recent queer TV and film, including Gregg Araki's series Now Apocalypse and the film God's Own Country. And, duh, he loves I Think You Should Leave as much as everyone else.
Bonding is now streaming on Netflix.
Call 754-CALL-BOB and share your current obsessions, and we may play it on a future episode!
[Music]
Bobby: Welcome to I'm Obsessed With This, the Netflix podcast about the shows and films that everyone seems to be talking about and why. I'm your host, Bobby Finger, and in today's bonus episode, I chat with one of the stars of the new Netflix original series, Bonding, Brendan Scannell. We will be having a spoiler-filled discussion of the series, so consider this your final warning. And, if you haven't seen it yet, what are you waiting for? Bonding is now streaming on Netflix. But for now, let's get to the interview.
[Music]
Bobby: Okay. We've got Brendan Scannell on the line with us right now. You all probably recognize him from Heathers maybe, in which he played Heather Duke. Am I right? It was Heather Duke?
Brendan: It was Heather Duke, yeah.
Bobby: Did I get that wrong? You are currently Pete in Bonding, which also stars Zoe Levin as a dominatrix living in New York who recruits you, her old friend and high school crush, to be her assistant body guard, all of those things. Great to have you with us today on I'm Obsessed With This.
Brendan: Yeah. Thanks for having me. Love a pod.
Bobby: Who doesn't? Just heard that your mic was rubbing against your jacket and that it was a great jacket. Can you describe the jacket for the audience? I feel like it's probably wonderful.
Brendan: It is a Maje, M-A-J-E, brand jacket from their new Spring/Summer season. It's green and floral. It's a bomber, and it has a bunch of fun patches on it.
Bobby: It sounds wonderfully trendy. Are you going to pay attention to the Met Gala tonight?
Brendan: I'm going to follow it on Twitter, I think. I don't—Can you watch it? Is it on E! or something like that?
Bobby: I'm not sure if Fashion Police is really going to have a resurgence this year, but I—
Brendan: Oh, I mean, God willing.
Bobby: …think you can follow on Twitter. God willing, someone will like—Maybe Joan Rivers will come back from the dead just for this night. The New York Times always posts photos in pretty much real time, which is, I think, the best way to pay attention to it.
Brendan: I saw some of the photos last night from their, like, pre-Met Gala party, and yeah. People are, like, turning out.
Bobby: I'm really excited to see everyone's interpretation of camp. It'll be really fun, but back to Bonding. It was created by Rightor Doyle who has said he was inspired by his own time as, I mean, what your character does. He was literally a bodyguard for his friend, who was a dominatrix in New York City. More than most shows, I would suspect an autobiographical show like this is probably extremely tough to cast. So, I wanted to start at the beginning and just ask how did you find yourself in this particular role.
Brendan: Well, I read it. I got sent it by, I think, a friend of mine who works at Anonymous Content, who produced it. And so, I read it, and I'm a comic. And so, there's, like, a stand-up comedy element of it where Pete wants to be a stand-up comedian and is too, kind of, nervous or doesn't have the confidence to get on stage. And so, it almost felt like, as I reading it, like a new take on, kind of, that, like, tired comedian playing a comic in a television show, kind of, format. And so, because of that, it felt like maybe, like Rightor had written a more interesting show than I could ever write for myself, and I didn't fully understand that is part based off of his real life. And, if anyone has seen photos of us, we look almost nothing alike, but yeah. I just really connected to it. I really connected to Pete's, kind of, like, journey to confidence, and I had really identified with, strongly with maybe a couple years ago feeling like almost exactly where he was, which was lost in a new city, in my case Los Angeles, and just feeling very out of place and very unsure of what comes next and falling into an insane assistant job, which is, like, actually how I used to make money when I had day jobs. I was always a personal assistant when I, like, first moved here to L.A. So, that was always, like, my bag, and so, this, kind of, like, assistant to somebody who calls all the shots felt very familiar to me.
Bobby: That was one thing that I really liked about the show. Even though it was this very specific industry that he found himself in, which was, like, specifically dom sex work, there was almost something universal about the idea of being, sort of, aimless in your early 20s looking for work, and then, when you actually do get a job, there's this weird learning curve. Like, it could have been, this bodyguard, dom assistant sex work, it could have been an office job. It could have been a writing job. It could have been anything because, no matter what you're doing, there's this weird sense of like, "I feel completely lost at this new place."
Brendan: Oh, yeah. And but, because you need money, you just say you can do it.
Bobby: And, you're like, "Sure. I'm fine. I need to pay my rent."
Brendan: Like, if somebody asked me if I could write a ride a horse to be in a show, I'd be like, "Absolutely. I can ride a horse." And then, I would arrive to Westworld, Season Three and fall off a god damn horse.
Bobby: What is the—Have you had to—What's the strangest thing you've had to tell someone that you were good at, if it was a skill, whether that it is in acting or some other line of work, that you've had to convince someone you were good at because you needed the check?
Brendan: Oh. I once renovated a penthouse in New York, and I had no ability, no prior ability to do that. So, you just, kind of, say you can do something, and you do it.
Bobby: You just had to say you were a contractor. You were the third Property Brother, and it was all going to be fine.
Brendan: Yeah.
Bobby: How was the end result?
Brendan: It turns out I don't have great taste.
Bobby: That's too bad. So, that didn't happen again?
Brendan: No, it didn't. I don't think it'll ever happen again.
Bobby: Did you have a sense of that particular, like, sex worker industry going into the show? Like, how do you research something like this. It's just such a niche world that not a lot of people know about, which is, I think, one of the appeals of the show. How did you prepare going into it once you actually booked it?
Brendan: Well, what's nice about my role within the show is Pete is, like, a bit of an audience conduit in that he is coming to this world with no previous information as well. So, his, kind of, lack of expertise is, like, a big source of, kind of, the comedy of the show. But, one of the cool things we did while we were shooting is we shot in these actual dom sex dungeons in New York City, and, or BDSM dungeons, and so, you were, kind of, actually able to see some of the spaces that are actually used in that profession. And, that was pretty wild and, kind of, cool, and all of the workers there, the guy running the front desk, were so unimpressed by a film crew. You know? They're, like, they see things all the time. They, the last thing they thought was interesting was, like, crafty, and all of them were also, like, "Oh, yeah. Billions was just here." Because, Billions has a big, kind of, plot line about it as well. So, I kept thinking, as I was in this space, like, "Paul Giamatti was just here." That's, like, the one thing that everyone thinks when they go into, you know, a BDSM dungeon in New York
Bobby: That's, like, the one thing that everyone thinks when they go into, you know, a BDSM dungeon in New York. Paul Giamatti was just here shooting my favorite show, Billions.
Brendan: My favorite show.
Bobby: I have no idea. I still have no idea what Billions is about, and you just muddied the water even more for me.
Brendan: Guess what?
Bobby: It's just like, "What?"
Brendan: It's about billions, having them, loving it, the tension that comes with it.
Bobby: But, the other thing on the show, so, the woman in the show, your best friend in the show, she is your old childhood best friend, and I think one, sort of, integral part of the show is that you two have to have this very relatable and understandable relationship that, sort of, was blossoming and huge in high school and then you, sort of, grow up and there was, you know, this, sort of, not traumatic event, in the car that's revealed at the end of the season, but this, sort of, falling out. And then, you were reconnected. Do you have a friend like that who was really big one day and then not so much the next who you had to reconnect with in some way in adulthood?
Brendan: I mean, I feel like what I've learned is you just, kind of, never know who is going to pop up where, and I guess an analog of this would be, like, I went to summer camp growing up. I went to Peter Camp, and now, in L.A., many years later, I'm good friends with somebody I, like, knew when I was 17 and doing a lot of movement work with. And, you think, in camp, like, "Oh my gosh! We're going to be friends forever." But then, you don't see anyone every again, and then, you run into them five years later in L.A. And, you, kind of, can still connect. But, my best friends in high school were always girls. I mean, I had this, like, rag-tag group of brilliant girls who basically carried me through high school, and so, feeling like this relationship was based in relationships that I had had in high school with these women, and that was definitely something I was trying to bring with it. And just, like, the history and weight of a friendship, a lot of the show is about just the power dynamics within friendship and within our relationships, and it, kind of, uses BDSM as a lens to explore those things. So, a big part of Pete and Tiff's relationship is this, kind of, imbalance that has always existed because Tiff is somebody who exerts power over other people. So, it's like that friend of yours who you can never nail down or won't text you back or won't schedule plans, even though you want to hang out with them, and so, I definitely felt close to that and tried to bring my own relationships to it.
Bobby: Yeah. And, that's another common theme in the show, which is just about honesty. The inciting incident of the entire show is Tiff finally being honest with you about what she does and then asking you for this favor, and then, throughout the course of the season, some of the most crucial plot twists or plot points are when one character is finally honest with another character. It just so happens that so many of these revelations and these moments of truth are centered around sex work and dom work and are often taking place inside one of those, you know, BDSM rooms, and I think that is one of the things that leads to the universality of this show is that so much of it is about just honesty and living your truth and being truthful with people who care about because, if you don't, then things are going to be a little rougher for you.
[Scene from Bonding]
Tiff: I'm sorry for cutting you down and disrespecting you and not treating you like my equal. You're my best friend, and that's really fucked up for both of us.
Pete: That's pretty good. A little general, a little precious, but serviceable.
[End of scene]
Bobby: What do you want people to take from this show? Like, how do you want people to leave it?
Brendan: Well, I think for me the show is, at its core, it's about this friendship between two people. So, what I—And, I think that those, there aren't that many types of stories that are about that.
Bobby: Like, platonic, just a platonic friendship that isn't centered around, you know, this romantic thing.
Brendan: Right. And, those are the most important relationships in my life, outside of my family, and they're such a huge part of your life in your 20s and that, kind of, like, pre—I mean, I can't speak from any experience—but, like, pre-marriage, pre-kids phase. Like, you know, it's friends. Your friends are your family, and—
Bobby: They're everything.
Brendan: Right. And so, I hope people are entertained, and I hope people, you know, are excited by some of the saucier elements of the show. And, you know, it's supposed to be funny. So, I hope people laugh too.
Bobby: Yeah. It has a good sense of balance because it's going from, like, moments of tenderness and that sort of emotional core between you and Tiff to moments of, like, really frank, like, sexual explicitness to moments that are really, really funny. What was it like working with D'Arcy Carden? I can only imagine being around her.
Brendan: I mean, she is amazing, and she's somebody who—Like, she knows Rightor from the show Barry and had, kind of, done it. So, the story of this show is that it wasn't developed by Netflix. It was bought by Netflix, kind of, after the fact. So, it was created by this French company Black Bells. And so, when I agreed to do it, I loved the script and I knew who Rightor was, but I fully expected nobody to ever see it. I was like, "This is a project that my parents will see." You know? When you do, like, an Indie movie and you're like, you know, this could be huge or this could be, you know, nothing. And, but, I really connected with the story, and then, when I found out D'Arcy was doing it and that I got to do a scene with her, I was like, "Well then, this whole project has been worth it already." And, we shot in this amazing brownstone in Fort Greene in Brooklyn, and she just, kind of, knocked every take out of the park. She does something completely different in every take. She's completely alive, and, in one take where she's talking about the husband, how he screams "Mother" when he gets tickled, she, in this one take, she actually started fully weeping. And, she was crying, and that's not the one they used because I think it didn't make, wouldn't have necessarily made the most sense, but just watching this actress, kind of, work herself into a state of, like, inconsolability was amazing. And when the camera's not on you, you can, kind of, just watch and enjoy it.
[Scene from Bonding]
Daphne: What do you think is happening up there? Because, I told her exactly what he wants.
Pete: Oh, some people say things privately that they wouldn't say publicly.
Daphne: I'm not public. I'm his wife.
[End of scene]
Brendan: Working with her was amazing. There were—I mean, in the first episode when I get cum on my face, they kept missing my face in the first couple takes, so that was really funny. And then, the fingering scene with Alex Hurt, who plays my roommate, was really funny as well. That was my first sex scene, so.
Bobby: A big moment in every actor's career, I'm sure.
Brendan: A big moment, yeah.
Bobby: Before I got on the phone with you, I was trying to remember this, and I couldn't. I was just reading another interview with another actor about sex scenes, and it was just completely unrelated. And, it was a woman, and she was saying, "I told my parents, you know, this is the one thing. I want you to wait 10 years. Then, you can watch it." I just can't have you watch this movie for 10 years." What is it like to film a series like this that is pretty sexually explicit? To be fair, it's, like, hilarious. But do you have that sort of relationship with your parents where it's like, "Watch it. Don't talk to me about it." Do they talk to you about it? Like, how does it feel to be in a show like this?
Brendan: I mean, I have a comedy background, so my parents have seen, like, me say some pretty filthy stuff onstage, which, when I first started doing that when I was, like, 17 or 18, they really bristled at. I'm from Indiana, from this, kind of, small town in Indiana, and, but you, kind of, you know, you wear them down.
Bobby: Right.
Brendan: And, this is, kind of, the magnum opus of, like, projects I didn't think my parents would connect to, and they love it. And, they have watched it now, like, three or four times, so.
Bobby: That's great. And, it's an easy show to watch three or four times because the episodes are only 15 minutes long.
Brendan: It's so quick.
Bobby: So, what do you think about a series like this? Because I just chatted with Ryan O'Connell, Homemade Special, about this run time, and friends of mine who have also watched the show have been really endeared by the run time because it's just like it almost helps you connect to the show at a faster pace because it's just so easy to digest. So, as a viewer, what do you think of 15-minute shows?
Brendan: I mean, I loved Special, and I love the length of Bonding. I've seen it a couple times live now played through at theatres because it played a few festivals last year, and it's like you get into an episode. You have fun. It ends with a bang, and then, onto the next. And, I think it, in some ways, it, kind of, like, is an easier digestible way of watching what I view as, kind of, like, an Indie movie broken up into pieces.
Bobby: Yeah.
Brendan: And, it, like, creates a beginning, middle, end done pretty quickly. So, and, I also watched Tim Robinson's show I Think You Should Leave, which I think is, like, the funniest thing I've ever seen, and that's, kind of, in that same length. And, I don't know. I could say something very broad generally about, like, attention spans or about our phones and that kind of thing, but that's for boring people to talk about. And, I'll just say I love it. I liked doing it. I felt—We shot completely, like, out of order based on locations, so, for me, it was interesting to be like, "Okay. This scene we're doing right now is in episode one and the scenes in episode eight. So, where is Pete at, and where is Pete at in terms of his relationship?" Because, everything else I have done in the past has been, kind of, episode by episode.
Bobby: What else have you been watching on Netflix that you've been obsessed with? You mentioned I Think You Should Leave, which I also just finished and completely loved. But what was your favorite sketch from that?
Brendan: I loved the sketch about I think it's for, like, back surgery. It's like laser back physicians that back pivots and becomes this, like, thing about him getting scammed by a guy who tells him he can be a famous singer. I love the hot dog one. I used to watch Tim do improv at iO in Chicago, like seven years ago, and he was always literally the funniest person I had ever seen do comedy. And then, he went and did SNL and was on it for a season and, kind of, you know, didn't get his due or land the way sometimes people—
Bobby: Yeah. It didn't click or something.
Brendan: Sometimes, people—I don't know. That show is kind of a beast, and it has very specific things that work on it, I think. And then, he did Detroiters, which I love, and, when this, I saw this show was coming out—Because, of course, Netflix announces everything, like, two days before, and I watched it that day just all the way through.
Bobby: It was pretty incredible. I know so little about the comedy world in general, and so, he was this brand-new discovery for me. So, I was like, "Oh, okay. I've never heard of this guy, but I guess he might be one of the funniest people I've ever seen in my entire life." What else have you been watching, any films, any other series?
Brendan: I loved Someone Great, and yeah. I mean, I loved Russian Doll. I had worked with Leslye Headland on Heathers, and so, when we were shooting Heathers, she was like, "Oh, yeah. I think I'm going to go do this Netflix series that I'm creating." And, you know, how people are. They, like, are constantly, like, hedging or talking. You know, you're like, "I'm doing this thing, and probably no one will ever see it." And, that's to protect yourself from pain. And, she was like, "Yeah. It's this thing with Natasha Lyonne. Like, we'll see." And then, for like a year later for it to come out and to be so fucking dynamite and amazing and funny and brilliant and emotional, that was really amazing to watch, and the response was so positive. And then, I felt like—It was a good reminder, I think, as artists, or for whatever you do listening at home, to, like, doing work you really care about leads to the best results typically, and that's, kind of, how I feel about Bonding too because this was a project that I just really connected to and didn't really expect much from. And, it's been—I mean, the last two weeks have been the most exciting of my life probably.
Bobby: Yeah. Have you been getting the whole, like, recognized on the street treatment since it premiered?
Brendan: Yeah. Yeah, pretty intensely actually.
Bobby: So, people are really liking it, it seems.
Brendan: People are really like it, and, you know, it's cool. And obviously, like, as a gay person, I don't know if this is your experience, but you go to a lot of gay spaces and that's been really cool to, kind of, like, be, have so many people coming up to me in, like, my community and say that they love something I did. Because, that's such a, that's a real opinion that I care about.
Bobby: More so than just, like, random listeners. It's just, like, people who—
Brendan: I love random listeners as well.
Bobby: Yeah, people from the community.
Brendan: But, kind of, people in your, like, day-to-day life, and it was almost immediate.
Bobby: That's, kind of, all you can hope for from something like this, from any project, is that you get that exact response that you want from, like, the exact audience that you want. And, there's something about the show that's just very, it's so open-minded and comforting, and I'm sure it makes a lot of people happy to see that kind of representation onscreen, if only just because it's—When's the last there was a show like this on television? When's the last time there was a movie like this on television? I'm sure people are just relieved to see it at all.
Brendan: Yeah. And, I think that, like, shame is such a part of, like, all cultures, but it's such a part of the LGBT community's experience. It's just growing up and, kind of, being imbued with this sense of cultural shame. Like, we all have this, you know, pride, rah, rah, but, like, at the source of that, the reason you need things like pride is because you're taught from, kind of, a young age that your personality, or the person you are, is incorrect. And so, to, kind of, make a show that playing a recently out gay character who, kind of, goes on this journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance and, you know, doesn't land at, you know, zero to 100, but I think it's done in a really real way. It was awesome and something that I'm always looking for more of.
Bobby: Just because we're on the topic of gay stuff—and it doesn't have to be Netflix-related—what is some good queer TV, queer film that you've watched recently that you would like to recommend to the listeners? Again, from anywhere. As a gay person, you're constantly trying to watch gay stuff?
Brendan: Yeah.
Bobby: Almost regardless of quality or, like, I've got to watch it, and so, when you do watch something and it's amazing, you're like, "Well, I've got to tell everyone about it because it's so good."
Brendan: Yeah. I really loved Now Apocalypse, and that's on Starz. And, it's creator by Gregg Araki, who is, kind of, this, like, iconic, you know, queer way of '90s, early 2000s, or still a director, obviously, but that's, kind of, like, when he came up, you know, to light with, like, Todd Haynes and all that stuff. And so, that was really great, and he also directed two episodes of Heathers. I only watch things directed by people who directed Heathers. But yeah, working with him was like, "Hello. You're an icon."
Bobby: And, he made, just for the listeners, he made Mysterious Skin.
Brendan: Yeah.
Bobby: He made Doom Generation.
Brendan: Mysterious Skin, that's, I mean, a devastating movie that everyone should see, I think.
Bobby: And, Smiley Face, which is considerably less devastating.
Brendan: Yeah. Yeah. He does it all.
Bobby: He does it all.
Brendan: Yeah. I mean, really, last year, I guess I saw God's Own Country, which is this British movie that's really good. There's this musical on the West End right now that's going to come to Broadway, I hope, called Everyone's Talking About Jamie, and I saw it in London when I was there last year. And, it's about this, like, teen boy who wants to be a drag queen, and he has, like, this very supportive mom and an unsupportive school administration. And basically, his whole thing is he's just a boy who wants to wear a dress, and I'm like, "Hello, same." And so, I just cried basically the whole time.
Bobby: And, it's potentially coming to Broadway, but not confirmed yet?
Brendan: I mean, I don't actually know. I'm not in that scene. I wish I was. I just auditioned for a play that I didn't get, but, if anyone is out there listening and you make plays, I'm interested in plays.
Bobby: I think I can let you go. It's been great chatting with you about this. Good luck on getting some theatrical work in the future. That would be great.
Brendan: That would be great.
Bobby: I hope it all works out, but I also hope that you continue to get great responses from people who have seen Bonding and loved it because I know I really liked it. Thanks for chatting with us, Brendan. Have a good one.
Brendan: I took a photo in the jacket to post when it comes out, so you'll see it.
Bobby: Perfect. Thanks, Brendan.
Brendan: All right, thank you. Bye-bye.
[Music]
Bobby: Thanks for listening to another episode of I'm Obsessed With This. And, don't forget to call 754-CALL-BOB to share your current obsessions, and we might discuss it on next week's episode. See you next time.
[Music]