Adam Brody’s new Netflix series, Nobody Wants This, premiered on September 26. Adam plays a young and hot rabbi who falls for an agnostic woman and how that relationship comes to be.
The 44-year-old actor told the LA Times that despite being Jewish himself and having had a Bar Mitzvah, “I didn’t know the first thing about Judaism.”
In fact, Adam was hesitant to even take the part in the first place. “I initially winced at the religiosity of it,” the actor admitted, “But I came around to being excited by that aspect and going, ‘Well, that’s the different part than me, and that’s what will be fun stuff to research and explore and commit to and play.’”
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Due to his character Noah being a rabbi and an assumed leader in his community, Adam knew he had to really commit to becoming this character. “I should at least have a passive, light understanding of it,” he said.
He stood by his words too, according to his co-star Kristen Bell.
“Every time I would come up to him, he would be listening to some Jewish podcast, or reading some very Jewish book, really putting in the work,” she said.
While Adam did grow up in a Jewish family and even celebrated Jewish holidays, he still felt like there were pieces missing that he needed in order to play this role correctly.
“You can’t name a Jewish actor who didn’t audition,” said Erin Foster, the show’s creator, to IndieWire.
She explained that some of the actors who auditioned could even be considered ‘more’ Jewish than Adam, however none of them had the “genuine warmth” of her husband, whom the character is based on.
“Adam was the only one who had that purity about him,” she noted.
Adam went into the project knowing what it was and while he was initially hesitant due to the religious aspects of the show, he now says, “It did unlock a much deeper knowledge and appreciation for the history of a people and a culture.”
Be sure to check out the trailer for the new series starring Adam Brody and Kristen Bell, Nobody Wants This!
