EXCLUSIVE | 'Shrill' star Luka Jones ruminates on playing the role of 'the bad boy' Ryan
This story may contain spoilers for Season 2 of 'Shrill'
On the second season of Hulu's 'Shrill', Annie Easton (Aidy Bryant) and Ryan (Luka Jones) finally get some time to figure out how they would do in a romantic relationship. It begins well as the two of them acknowledge their feelings for each other and begin romantically seeing each other.
This is a first for Ryan who is not used to romantic relationships and had spent a good part of the first season treating her wrong. "The second season gives Annie and Ryan more time to feel each other out and see if they can truly work in a romantic partnership. Annie has her own challenges going on in the season that Ryan gets a chance to help her out with," Luka Jones tells MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) in an exclusive interview.
"And a lot of it (in terms of their storyline) is about how he goes about trying to help and whether or not it ends up truly working for Annie. It’s great that he’s taken an opportunity to step up and try to be part of an adult relationship. But they still need to see if they are right for each other in the long term."
They're not.
At the end of the second season, Annie comes to the realization that she should not only be pushing her limits when it comes to her professional life but also her personal life, her love life, leading her to break up with Ryan. First, Ryan happens to alert the entire office that they had sex in the workplace. He then completely disregards an important gathering that Annie is invited to.
Ryan is also not an ambitious person. He boasts a complacent personality and happens to be very complacent with where he is in life. Yet, Jones believes his character is only trying his best. Well at least in the second season as he tries to be a better partner to Annie and be there for her.
"I think that Ryan is trying his best. And I don’t think that’s obvious to the entire audience. And I don’t blame them for not seeing that. Our judgments of characters, and people in real life for that matter, are always going to be coming from a point of view that has its own lack of objectivity. But we evaluate the best that we can," he points out.
"Ryan is more thoroughly committed to making things work with Annie in Season 2 than he was in Season 1. I think this will be obvious to people. I hope so. And I think many audience members will have a slightly more sympathetic view of him as Season 2 progresses."
Jones' character of Ryan was first perceived as that of an "insufferable male child". While Jones agrees to a certain extent, he thinks people form their responses to Ryan based on their own past. "I’ve noticed a fairly wide range of responses to him and I think part of what informs people’s responses is whether or not they have personally been affected in a negative way by someone like him. I like that the character is making people feel things. And I understand why the reaction might be even stronger because Annie is such a deeply sympathetic character who many of us feel very protective of."
That said, Jones does a really good portrayal of Ryan. You could be upset by him, or like his daft personality or feel triggered. "[Some] have seen him from a slightly more sympathetic point of view," he adds.
Either way, Jones loves playing the role of Ryan. "Ryan is the closest thing to a bad guy that I’ve played. Or rather he is the character that I’ve played who it’s most understandable that audience members are going to have some problems with him and are going to negatively judge him."
With their relationship ending in Season 2, where does Ryan's character stand?
All episodes of Season 2 of 'Shrill' are currently streaming on Hulu.