EXCLUSIVE | 'Firefly Lane' star Jenna Rosenow on playing Kimber Watts and how 'every show needs its villain'
Based on the New York Times Bestselling book by Kristin Hannah, ‘Firefly Lane’ is a Netflix series created by Maggie Friedman and tells the “sweeping story of two inseparable best friends and their enduring, complicated bond, spanning four tumultuous decades.” Aside from Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke in the lead roles, the show also stars Jenna Rosenow as Kimber Watts, an editor at Seattle Digest. Rosenow spoke to MEAWW in an exclusive interview about the show, her character and much more. Here are a few excerpts –
“Sometimes a script will come along and you’ve just got an instant gut feeling that it’s going to be a great show. ‘Firefly Lane’ was one of those for me,” Rosenow says. “As soon as I read the audition sides I was like ‘I want this role -- I need to be a part of this show’. It was so well written and the scenes were hilarious I thought what a fun character to get to play with.”
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She explained that her character Kimber “is a young socialite who is trying to make a name for herself in the journalism world”. Kimber is “constantly looking for that next big story that’s going to put her on the map. She’s very preoccupied with herself and is willing to do whatever it takes to get what she needs so she doesn’t care who she has to step on to get things done.” She also said that Kimber “definitely brings a touch of comedy which I feel is always welcome when there’s quite a lot of other heavy content being dealt with in the show. So you can expect to see a character you’re going to love to hate… Every show needs its villain right?”
Villain or not, Rosenow and Kimber share some similarities. “We’re both extremely driven. Very career-oriented,” she said, and adding, “Apart from that we couldn’t be more different! But that’s the fun of it, building a character who is in such stark contrast to you as a person is great, it gives you the opportunity to create and use your imagination to discover why is this person the way they are? What’s happened in their life up until where you’re seeing them on the screen that has made them like this? It’s always a very exciting process for me."
Rosenow said that she had not read Hannah’s book prior to the first audition, but after that, “I went straight out and got a copy because I had to know more about it! Kristin Hannah is incredible. She was on board as an EP on the show.” Here, she revealed a fun tidbit. “Like any book to film or series adaptation, certain liberties are taken and things do change if it serves the telling of the story better for show. Kimber isn’t actually in the books, that character was added for the show so that’s just one example of that! I think at the core of it though it’s a loyal portrayal of the characters in the story and fans of the book will hopefully love the show just as much!”
Speaking about ‘One Of Us Is Lying’, her upcoming role, Rosenow said that the series is based on a novel by another New York Times best-selling author, Karen M. McManus. “It’s a YA thriller/mystery about five teenagers who go into detention together but only four leave. I remember reading a review describing the book as a cross between ‘Breakfast Club’ and ‘Pretty Little Liars’ and I thought well this sounds like it could be a pretty epic show! I play Amber, a college sorority girl who has a slight Adderall addiction and quite enjoys the company of Nate, her dealer.”
