Netflix just dropped season two of Ginny & Georgia, and Romi Shraiter is giving us an insider’s look at the show, her character Samantha, and sharing with us her wishes for season three should the show get renewed!
Ginny & Georgia is a comedy-drama series created by Sarah Lampert about Ginny Miller and her single mother, Georgia after they move to a small town in New England for… another fresh start. Filled with drama, hilarity, and some serious themes about identity, mental health, and trauma, it’s no surprise that this wonderful show got renewed for a second season–even more dramatic and fun-filled than the previous.
To talk about this new season, as well as her wishes for upcoming seasons, Romi Shraiter spoke with Daryn Snijdewind about her role on Ginny & Georgia, what it was like working on the show behind-the-scenes, and more!
Romi, can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you initially booked the role of Samantha?
RS: Yeah, totally! My name is Romi; I am twenty-two; I’m a Leo. I booked Samantha–it was my first real, big-girl job in the industry. I just went to an audition, it was between my first and second year of theatre school, and I wasn’t really committed to taking any jobs that would take me out of school, so that took me out of the running for a lot of things. But my agent was like, “Listen, just go to this; it’s a really small bit; it’ll probably be a day or two. If you book it, we’ll talk about it then.” And I was like, “Okay!” So I went to my audition, and I had planned to go on a backpacking trip with two of my best friends from high school the next day. And I did it, and I didn’t think that I would book it, and I had so much fun–I ran into so many people that I knew in the waiting room! So I was having a great time, and I was like, “Okay, see you never!” and left. We went to France, and I forgot to tell my agent that I was going to France because I didn’t know how to be an actor and I didn’t know how it all worked. So the next day she called me, and she was like, “Where are you?! Why are you in France right now?!” And I was like, “Uh, sorry, whoops!” And then I booked the role, and it ended up working really well with the timing of my trip, and it was super great, and I was so overwhelmed and confused, but I had a great time!
For people just tuning in and for people about to catch up, how would you describe this new season of Ginny & Georgia?
RS: Oh gosh, this new season slaps! It’s so fun; I love it! I think it’s really good, it gets to dive in further to a lot of the topics that we explored in season one, but there are so many cliffhangers–I really hope we get renewed because there are so many answers that I would like to see resolved. But I think it really focuses on the relationships this season and deepening all of those from where we left off.
How would you describe your character, Samantha, to someone who has never seen the show?
RS: Listen, personally, I don’t love Samantha, I think she can be kind of the worst. She is always saying this crazy, out-of-pocket stuff. It comes from, you know, a lot of insecurity, a lot of trying really hard to fit in and doing the wrong thing at every turn. But I think it’s also important to say because a lot of people really don’t like Samantha and are like, “She’s so out of line, over the top! People don’t actually talk like that!” Everything that she says comes from the lived experiences of our writing team, so I think it’s important to represent that because she makes some pretty non-politically correct comments. And it’s easy to sort of, like, swipe that under the rug, and the show really doesn’t do that. And I think we’ll see some more interesting things about Samantha in season three.
What is Samantha’s opinion on the MANG drama? Does she have one?
RS: I think she kinda loves it when there’s drama because it makes her feel better about herself. I think she was kinda bummed when they all got back together and she didn’t get to sneak her way in there.
What has been your favorite scene to film this season?
RS: My favorite scene to film is the scene where a bunch of us are at Blue Farm, and we’re talking about Christmas, and I make fun of Hunter for crying, and everyone’s like, “shut up, you!” because at the very end, Damian [Romeo]–Press–throws a potato chip at Abby, and it took so long to get that shot! It was so fun; we were all just laughing the whole time; it was great. But also, all the big scenes with everybody is so fun.
This actually leads to our next question, what is your favorite behind-the-scenes story from the Ginny & Georgia set?
RS: Our last day this season was really beautiful and really fun. We were filming one of the Brodie’s basement scenes, but it was also a tandem day where we were also filming a young Georgia scene, so there were so many people there, and it was really fun. We all wrote each other cute little cards and ate donuts all day–it was great, it was so fun!
That’s so sweet; I love that! That’s such a cool way to spend your last day. It must be so strange with all the uncertainty in the air on whether or not you guys will come back.
RS: Yeah, totally. It was very lovely. On-screen, we all hate each other, but in real life, we’re all buddies.
You mentioned earlier that Samantha has said some pretty out-of-pocket stuff. I have some things here that Sam has said. What would you do if Samantha was real and said that stuff to you or in front of you?
Sam thinks your boyfriend, who she dated in middle school, is still in love with her.
RS: What would I do? I’m very bad at confrontation, so I would probably be like, “…Okay!” and then go cry later on.
Aw! Okay, next one, Sam telling your friend who’s right next to you that their skin tone is “exotic.” What would you say?
RS: Listen, I would fight that bitch. I don’t understand why–like we see it a little bit this season, where people are like, “What are you doing?” but really, it’s just Ginny who calls her out that one time. Most of the time, everyone makes a face that I don’t think [Sam] notices. So I hope maybe next season she’ll have to be checked because she’s just off in her own world. I don’t think she knows!
Last one! Sam asks why you knew how to play the piano if you grew up poor.
RS: I think–I hope–exactly how the scene plays out.
Just everyone going like, “WTF?”
RS: “WTF! Why are you here?!”
Which person do you think Sam would work best with? Old flame Hunter or the total jerk, Press? Or someone else entirely?
RS: Oh my god, okay, serious answer: I think Press because they’re both equally toxic. They could be having their whole chaotic, horrible moment off to the side–not direct that energy onto other people, hopefully. But, me, Romi, someone else entirely! And this is not in the realm of the show, so it’s just my own personal fantasy. My favorite character in the show is Padma, and I love Becky [Rebecca Ablack], and she’s one of my favorite people in the whole world outside of the show. And there’s a scene–and Becky and I talk about this all the time–where the band is singing the song about the breakup, and we’re all watching them sing, and everyone is like, “Oh, what’s this song about, are you, okay dude?” And I’m just like, “Oh my god, this is so dreamy!” And here we’ll say that’s about Hunter, but the real ones will know that it’s Padma.
That’s so cute; I love that! I love that so much; I thought you were gonna say, like, Abby or something, which would be totally understandable.
RS: Listen, that too. I think there’s going to be some interesting plotlines between Sam and Abby come next season.
I’m very excited for that.
RS: But, my heart is with Padma. I love Padma; it’s Padma.
Give us a Samantha redemption arc with Padma involved!
RS: Please! I just want to hang out with Rebecca all day.
Ginny & Georgia handles some pretty serious themes. How do intimacy coordinators, directors, and whatnot prepare you guys for your performance?
RS: I feel like we are very lucky. I’ve heard some horror stories from some friends in the industry, but we have a really, really solid, amazing team of people that work on the show. Right from the beginning of season one, it’s been a really lovely space, and we also have a lot of new, younger actors who, myself included, this was their first job or one of their first jobs–a lot of new people doing things for the first time. So there was a lot of space for learning and taking things sorta slowly, asking questions, because not everyone was a seasoned vet. Yeah, there was really a lot of support and a lot of trust and a lot of good relationships built within the space, so I think it’s a lot easier to open up and be vulnerable in a space where you know that everyone is on your team, and you know that if something were to happen–god forbid–you have people that you can turn to and you don’t have to feel super isolated and sad.
Should Ginny & Georgia be renewed again (fingers crossed!), what are your predictions/wishes for season 3?
RS: Oh my gosh, I really hope it gets renewed; I want to see how it all plays out! I’m going to put myself out on a ledge here and say that I love everyone, but I am Team Joe. So I hope we get to see some of that because we have been waiting for two seasons; come on! Let’s go! This interview is really just my fan account for the Ablack siblings [Rebecca and Raymond Ablack]; I love them! Personally, what I’m excited to see–what we find out at the end, Sam is maybe going through some similar stuff to what Abby is going through, so I’m excited to see how that storyline might develop. I hope we get to learn more about Norah–I want to know everything! It can go any direction, and I’ll be happy; I just hope we get renewed because we have the potential to.
A lot of your predictions are also my predictions/wishes because I am also Team Joe.
RS: Yes!
Because Paul, he’s great and all, and he’s the mayor, but Joe’s been there! He’s been there from the beginning! He gave her the sunglasses!
RS: Exactly! They have roots, baby! Also, in season one, he was so sweet and nice, and Georgia is a little scary. But now we’re like, “Wait a minute… Joe’s also got some scary vibes going on; maybe he could handle this whole situation here.” Let’s go!
I think they would be amazing partners in crime, like partners in crime.
RS: Literally “in crime.” Absolutely. Give the people what they want!
Ginny & Georgia season two is streaming on Netflix right now! You can follow Romi on Instagram and Twitter @romi_shraiter, as well as @gngbts on Instagram for more Ginny & Georgia content. You can catch her in an upcoming series on Crave called Little Bird, which is about the Sixties Scoop in Canada–which she encourages everyone to research!
