Dollface, Hulu’s new comedy series starring Kat Dennings and Brenda Song, had its official premiere on the streaming service last week. The series’ creators took the opportunity to speak on the lack of female representation in the television industry and the power of “female friendship.”
The surreal comedy follows a young woman named Jules, who is played Dennings, as she struggles to come to terms with being dumped by her boyfriend of 5 yrs. In the wake of the breakup, Jules is tasked with rekindling her old female friendships that she left behind during her relationship.
Dennings, who also happens to be an executive producer on the new series, shed light on other shows that showcased strong female friendships such as Sex and the City and Girls, and how her show will have a different take despite being in the same genre.
“That’s something I don’t see all of the time, and I’ve been through that myself and I really like showing that —seeing how the different friends either welcome her back or don’t trust her anymore,” Dennings commented in a THR interview. Dollface’s concept and premise was initially based on 26-year-old creator Jordan Weiss, who wrote the original script as a sample for a writer’s assistant job before Margot Robbie took in interest in it through her LuckyChap banner.
“She took a huge chance on me; I originally wrote this when I was an assistant — I was 24 — and she read it and was willing to champion it,” Weiss mentioned. “I think her willingness to believe in me at that stage says everything about what kind of producer she is.”
I feel like my entire life I’ve heard a million love songs, seen a million movies about romantic comedies —guy getting the girl —seen a lot of shows where there was a will-they-won’t-they between two characters I rooted to end up together. It was always a romantic relationship,” Weiss said. “I wanted to see a show that was about all of those things but between two women in a platonic friendship, because I think that the most important love stories in my own life have been with my girlfriends.
Aside from the core comedic elements, the series will take an unconventional approach and blend fantasy and reality together through a series of animated sequences. Dollface will also co-star Esther Povitsky and Shay Mitchell alongside the two co-leads.
“It would be really dishonest to not have women writers, women producers and women directors,” said showrunner Ira Ungerleider. “We had half the shows directed by women, we have Margot [Robbie] and Jordan [Weiss] and Kat [Dennings] and Nicole [King] as executive producers and almost all of the writers except for one is a woman, so that felt like the most honest way to be doing this story.”
Below the series trailer can be viewed: