‘Such Brave Girls’ Creator/ Star Kat Sadler Couldn’t Have Her Characters “Grow Too Much” In Season 2: “The Best Comedies Make Their Characters Live In Purgatory”

If you’re sick of traditional family sitcoms, then the BAFTA-winning Such Brave Girls is for you. Created, written by, and starring the brilliant Kat Sadler, the series follows Josie (Sadler) who struggles with mental health and her sexuality as she lives at home with her delusional sister Billie (Sadler’s real-life sister Lizzie Davidson) and their unhinged mother Deb (Louise Brealey). To get them out of their cramped house, Deb hitches her wagon to Dev (Paul Bazely), a boring, but moneyed widower, and forces Josie to marry the lovestruck, but selfish Seb (Freddie Meredith). Despite various half-baked schemes and dysfunctional dynamics, the trio of women hilariously try to crawl their way out of hardship, but prove to be their own worst enemies.

Sadler was inspired to create the BBC Three series when she struggled with her mental health and moved back home for a while. Being around her sister Davidson and their mother, Sadler realized their family “dynamic” could form a basis for a show. “I just started writing down everything they said and how they talked,” remembered Sadler. “Most characters in family sitcoms talk in quite a heartwarming way. That is so not my experience.” With the support of her family, Sadler was able to craft a series and pitch it to BBC staff who eagerly came on board.

Sadler knew the tone of the show would be a tricky once, even in this current “wave of trauma comedy.” While other series want audiences to “sympathize with the lead,” Sadler wanted to turn that convention on its head. “I wanted to do something that was quite tongue in cheek about trauma and make a joke about it,” explained Sadler. “I wanted to make a joke about it and talk about it the way that I know that my friends and I talk about it.” Sadler found a collaborator in director/actor Simon Bird, who wrote her a letter after viewing the pilot asking to be a part of the series. “Everything he said totally aligned with how I felt,” said Sadler. “It was the perfect match.”

Sadler visited the Decider studio to talk about Season 2, the complexity of her characters, and the show’s memorable title design.

DECIDER: The impetus for Such Brave Girls came from when you were under section and your sister Lizzie revealed she was $20,000 in debt. How long did it take you to craft the series after that?

KAT SADLER: I moved home for a bit, so I was around my sister and my mom. I just started writing down everything they said and how they talked. Most characters in family sitcoms talk in quite a heartwarming way. That is so not my experience [laughs]. During that time, I bleached Lizzie’s hair for real. That’s why Josie beaches Billie’s hair in the pilot. We put everything together, and we pitched it to BBC. After that, I used anecdotes from interviews that I had conducted with my mom and my sister and got to work. I had this crazy room full of post-it notes of all the stories I wanted to build into the show. It took a while.

The show kind of reminds me of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia because it follows a hilarious group of narcissists who you can’t help rooting for in all their terribleness. How did you sell this idea to BBC Three and later A24?

That’s a huge compliment. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is one of my favorite shows. That’s me. Both BBC and A24 got on board quite quickly, which was lovely because that was a surprise [laughs]. I think they understood what I was trying to capture. There has been this wave of trauma comedies that want audiences to sympathize with the lead. I wanted to do something that was quite tongue in cheek about trauma. I wanted to make a joke about it and talk about it the way that I know that my friends and I talk about it.

How soon did Simon Bird—best known to American audiences for starring in The Inbetweeners—come on to direct the series?

He came on after we did the pilot. He wrote me a letter saying what he would do if he was a director on it. Everything he said totally aligned with how I felt. He knew it was all about takes and jokes. It was the perfect match. He’s one of my best friends now. We all love him so much. He’s done all of Season 2, and we’re not going to stop.

Viewers of Such Brave Girls often don’t realize at first that you and Lizzie are sisters. Then they are delighted to learn that you really are related. Was it important to cast your sister as Billie?

It was always going to be her. There was no world in which Billie was going to be played by anyone else. Lizzie is so naturally funny. So much of my job was working out how to translate the bits of Lizzie that I think are so funny and put them into the character of Billie. I’ve never seen a character like her on screen before. She’s so front footed and spins everything in a way that makes it work for her. Lizzie’s always a step ahead of everyone, so I wanted to capture that in a character. Lizzie was always going to be Billie.

Louise Brealey is so good as the matriarch of the family. Did she get your mom’s real-life blessing to play your on-screen mother? What was casting her like?

My mom knows that Deb is not her. I think she enjoys the fact that Deb is a kind of caricature of a mother figure. My mom and Louise did meet for the first time at our screening of Season 2. It was so funny and surreal. Lou really is the best comedy actor. She blows us away with the way she captures the nuance of Deb. Deb’s such a wild character, but you believe every moment with her. She’s so talented.

I think Freddie Meredith does a great job with the tricky role of Seb. He’s repellent, but at the same time, his love for Josie seems to be pure. Can you talk about crafting that character and casting Freddie?

Freddie came in the room for his audition and just knocked it out of the park. He’s the only man I’ve met that is as awkward as I am. When we sat in the room together, just being awkward, it was like magic. Seb couldn’t be played by just anyone. He can’t be too simpering or wet. He’s a narcissist in his own right, but he also has this very pure love for Josie. It’s a tough role. Plus, Freddie’s such a clown. He can make any line funny because he just makes the best choices.

I love how Season 2 started with this fake out of Josie functioning normally in college. Did you toy with the notion of the girls actually growing in Season 2?

I did, but the best comedies make their characters live in purgatory. You can grow a little bit, but you can’t learn too much or else the show’s broken. These characters all have to commit to this mutual delusion that the way they live is the right way. I couldn’t change too much. A big inspiration for Such Brave Girls is Peep Show. The Peep Show writers talk about how those characters have to remain in hell. Keeping the girls in Purgatory is the best way to make a sitcom. The girls can’t grow too much. It’s not allowed.

In Season 2, you introduce Deb’s sister, Aunt Wendy. Was it important for you to have this parallel sister experience that was much more toxic than the relationship between Josie and Billie?

I was very interested in showing a bit of Deb’s background and giving audiences a little window into why she is the way she is. Bringing in her sister was a really fun way to do that. Also, Kate Fleetwood is just incredible. She came in as Wendy and just blew us away. It was an honor to work with her.

I love how Deb is with James Bond. She compares both Dev and Graham to the famous spy. Why is 007 Deb’s dream man?

She wants to be rescued [laughs]. Deep down, she thinks she’s like this fragile woman who needs to be rescued by this strong man. James Bond is the strongest man she can think of. He could kill anyone or whatever. For her, he’s the archetype of male power. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever met a man who hasn’t loved being compared to James Bond. So, I feel like Deb learned that too and is just peddling it to anyone. Yeah, I love that Dev is, like, obsessed with it too.

I love Dev’s journey throughout the two seasons. As he gets more exposure to the girls, their toxicity seems to seep into him. Were they always to be his downfall?

I think so because everyone Everyone has a narcissistic streak. People are all out for themselves. As Dev becomes more and more entangled with the girls, the house almost is like a poison to him.