Love, Victor’s Bebe Wooden on Lake’s Season 2 United states of americaand Downs

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There’s loads to fancy about the 2nd season of Hulu’s Love, Victor, which practice’s the titular Victor Salazar in the aftermath of popping out to his fogeys. Beyond a no-punches-held storyline that peels encourage the layers of a non secular mom’s hesitance to embrace her son’s sexuality, there’s a bottle episode about virginity (and the loss thereof), talk of lube, sobering discussions about breaking apart (for greater than one couple), the ongoing “femme vs. masc” fight in the habitual neighborhood, and much greater than the enlighten’s first season — at the origin intended for Disney+ — even came end to tackling.

For the duration of it all, Bebe Wooden stays Love, Victor’s emotionally grounded, one-liner queen as the wisecracking, older-than-her-16-years Lake Meriwether, one in all Victor’s classmates and friends. For the duration of season two’s ten episodes, Lake’s spin becomes one in all the enlighten’s most profound: whereas relationship Victor’s easiest honest appropriate friend, Felix, she realizes that her boyfriend’s mom (played by Betsy Brandt, of Breaking Atrocious popularity) is struggling with psychological illness, causing her to lose her job and leaving the teenaged Felix fending for the family on his grasp. What follows is a rocky toll road that touches on damaged belief, hunting for encourage, blinding satisfaction, and [spoiler alert] a breakup that hurts greater than it’s good to presumably request.

Days after Love, Victor’s 2nd season hit Hulu, Wooden — whose debut single “Don’t Name Me Flower” drops on June 25 — hopped on Zoom from Los Angeles to receive Vulture by Lake’s americaand downs, citing no longer-so-refined clues that’ve been there for the rationale that enlighten’s early episodes that counsel the place the character would possibly well poke in seasons to come encourage.

What attain you design of Lake’s spin from season one to season two? No longer handiest did the enlighten grow and former, but it completely feels fancy your character namely has so vital extra to attain this season.

Successfully, at the conclude of season one, obviously she’s reckoned with the fact that she ought to no longer care as vital about what of us take into yarn her. Season two, the enlighten picks up appropriate the place we left off: Victor is popping out to his family, but then there’s a 10-week gap. We skip [over] what we talk over with as “the very supreme summer season bubble”; we handiest gaze the tail conclude of that. I assume that that used to be potentially a wide adjustment time for Lake. I assume she potentially realized loads within her supreme summer season bubble — and I’m obvious it helped that she wasn’t in college whereas she used to be ready to attain all of this self-discovery. That’s no longer one thing we essentially gaze, but we attain gaze the aftereffects of that.

That’s one thing that I tried to take into yarn loads when we had been filming the 2nd season, used to be: what occurred in this summer season? She’s grown up loads. One of my current substances about her spin is how she does some of direction mettlesome stuff although she thoroughly is aware of that her actions would possibly well luxuriate in consequences. She restful makes handsome spicy choices for the wellbeing of others and her coronary heart’s constantly in a good space. I know when we had been filming some of those episodes the place Felix used to be upset with Lake, I hadn’t bought the script by which Betsy [Brandt], who performs Felix’s mom, says Lake did one thing appropriate [by asking her mother for help].

On yarn of I hadn’t bought that script yet, when we had been filming most of the 2nd season, I felt fancy I used to be appropriate there with Lake, because I used to be fancy, “What the fuck, Felix?” I wasn’t as thought of Felix as I assume Lake used to be. I assume Lake used to be very, very patient — fancy, “God, I did one thing injurious, let me are trying to repair it,” when of direction, I assume that she used to be in a spicy site and did the suitable ingredient.

That storyline between Lake, Felix, and Felix’s mom is barely one in all several plots that enlighten how sweeping a alternate Love, Victor has made this season. Modified into as soon as that alternate noticeable, or freeing, as a performer?

Oh, fully. That used to be positively one thing the writers had been of direction because they’d so vital site in the author’s room to explore certain things. Something that resonates with me that we had been ready to delve into components extra in season two is these insane pressures that we positioned on first- and 2nd-gen People. I’m the granddaughter of Cuban immigrants. So seeing that I used to be fancy, “Hell yeah, let’s dive into this extra.” And I assume we with out a doubt did. James [Martinez] and Ana [Ortiz] attain this sort of decent job this season. They are out of the ordinary performers.

Theirs used to be one in all my current storylines because it illustrated how advanced popping out would possibly well also additionally be; this season didn’t sanitize that job. I even luxuriate in to judge that spread out rather a lot of site for you and your fellow forged members to play, versus delivering the tried and factual popping out stories we’ve gotten accustomed to.

There used to be a lot of room to play. I assume I had handiest one or two scenes with Betsy, but it completely’s such an honor to work with some of direction seasoned actors. That is when, as a performer, I felt the most excitement toward merely taking part in — since the scenes that I attain luxuriate in along with her, one in all them is amazingly jubilant and the opposite is merely… no longer.

When she breaks the plates, there used to be nothing in the script about Lake getting emotional in that 2nd. Nonetheless her performance used to be merely so honest appropriate I couldn’t encourage but gain of direction unhappy and emotional. I assume they selected one in all the takes the place Lake is a exiguous bit bit extra emotional because merely looking out at her performance used to be fully heartbreaking in every components. That used to be of direction enjoyable; being ready to play with characters that weren’t round in the most most principal season used to be mountainous thrilling.

I must focus on Lake’s likelihood to “defy” Felix, who asks her to carry the direct of his mom’s psychological properly being a secret, and inquire of her mom for encourage. How attain you assume that speaks to her character?

I assume that Lake used to be constantly of direction right-willed, even in the most most principal season in the case of her friendship with Mia. She’s constantly there, constantly ready to stand up for other of us. Even in the most most principal season, when she’s much less confident, she’s interesting to attain that. In season two, she’s extra confident in herself, and thus ready to utter these abilities of standing up for other of us extra. In a components, that’s what she’s doing with Felix.

I’ve viewed rather a lot of mixed opinions [about her choice] on Twitter, which is charming, but rather a lot of us in the forged are in our twenties. I omit incessantly that I’m looking out at a enlighten about 16-year-olds; Lake, as a minor, what else is she going to attain? She’s going to enlighten her mom, you admire what I indicate? Telling her mom one thing is no longer a violation of anyone’s belief, I don’t assume, namely as a minor, and given the peril that her boyfriend, who she loves, is in. Felix is her first fancy, so she’s retaining; she cares. And the aftermath of telling her mom used to be, I’m obvious, a exiguous bit thoroughly different to what Lake imagined. It used to be worrying for all people, but indirectly it all worked out.

I’m constantly in dread at the traces the writers present you with, fancy the very particular Ford v Ferrari shaggy dog epic she makes this season. You talked about getting some input on Lake as a character; attain you gain concerned with advising about particular traces she would or wouldn’t enlighten?

Marcos [Luevanos, one of our executive producers] has stated to me he puts rather a lot of himself in Lake and I fancy that. Marcos and I are of direction honest appropriate friends now, so we’re ready to focus on certain things that I’d fancy to happen. Nonetheless in the case of the comedic loveliness that is Lake, rather a lot of that is Marcos’s handsome skills. I don’t know if it used to be sever again, but there used to be this 2nd the place Felix references that he’s been looking out at me on Instagram mutter or lip-sync to ABBA, and Marcos put aside that in because I assume I positioned on my “end friends” stories on Instagram this loopy lip sync extravaganza to ABBA. He put aside that in.

What’s comical is, Lake and I principally are very thoroughly different of us. She thinks about certain things that I don’t take into yarn, and vice versa. She is amazingly vital, I assume, a baby of the 2010s, and I’m no longer. Nonetheless in the case of whatever righteousness Lake has, I assume we fragment that; whatever fancy of current culture Lake has, I additionally luxuriate in that as properly. So I fancy getting those jokes and stuff because no longer handiest attain they truthfully feel fancy one thing that I’d enlighten with my friends, but they truthfully feel fancy what Marcos would enlighten and what rather a lot of my friends would enlighten.

There’s this wink that we gain in the finale, that there would possibly well even be some romance blossoming between you and a female-presenting character. If the enlighten gets picked up for a third season, now that you’ve spent two fleshy seasons taking part in her, the place would you be attracted to seeing Lake poke?

Right here’s the ingredient: it’s constantly been there. In season one, Lake makes several feedback about Mia and her beauty, joking about how if Victor doesn’t desire to sleep along with her, she would. So it’s constantly been there! I don’t even assume Lake is basically… I don’t assume it’s one thing she’s even questioning. [A long pause.] I assume Lake and I fragment the the same outlook, which is: if it’s sizzling, it’s sizzling, and if any individual is spicy you, poke for it. I of direction hope that we gain to delve into that for season three. I of direction desire to, and I’ve viewed that rather a lot of of us on Twitter additionally agree.

Despite the fact that it used to be one thing that she lately stumbled on about herself, I don’t assume she would want time to job that. I assume if she feels chemistry with any individual, she desires to proceed after it. I already in my belief assume she’s processed whatever she has to job. I am hoping that’s the case.

This interview has been edited and condensed.