Posted in: Netflix, streaming, Trailer, TV | Tagged: Adrian Grenier, betty gabriel, clickbait, netflix, streaming

Clickbait: Adrian Grenier, Betty Gabriel Discuss IRL Catfishing & More

Netflix's character-based psychological thriller series Clickbait is currently streaming on the network portraying the dangerous world of social media misinformation. An eight-episode limited series told from revolving points of view, Clickbait is a compelling, high stakes thriller that explores the ways in which our most dangerous and uncontrolled impulses are fueled in the age of social media, revealing the ever-widening fractures we find between our virtual and real-life personas. Recently Adrian Grenier, who plays Nick Brewer- A seemingly upstanding college volleyball coach and devoted husband and father whose life is derailed when he becomes a part of a bizarre crime; and Betty Gabriel, who plays Nick's wife Sophie- an Oakland woman struggling to keep her family together as they become the subject of the biggest media story in the nation, sat with Bleeding Cool for a quick 5 minute Q & A where they discussed being catfished in real life, what drew them to the script, and the dangers of social media.

Let's jump right in. I want to know from the both of you, have either one of you ever been catfished or anything similar to what happens in "Clickbait"? 

Adrian Grenier: Oh yeah. It's all the rage. I'm just going to tell the story that's happening currently right now. I have some scam artists who are creating catfishes of me. They're basically pretending to be me and soliciting my audience for money, for charity, or whatever they say to convince people to give them money. So these people are active and pretending to be me. And in fact, if you go to my Instagram, you'll see that I have a little saved story that says warning don't trust any accounts that are pretending to be me. 

Ripped from real life, so this story rang a little true to you? When I watched it, every character had a realistic reaction to the situations they are in. Can you tell me, Betty, what was your reaction when you first read the script? 

Betty Gabriel:  So I read the first three (episodes) before saying yes to the job. I thought for me it was really compelling, the journey that this character goes on. I thought, oh, that's really complicated and messy. I was craving something like that as an artist. And beyond that, you do have this engaging thriller. And but for me, it was all about how is this family functioning and how are they interacting? And I had really great actors to play opposite of.  Zoe Kazan (Pia Brewster), and Jaylin Fletcher, and Camaron Engels play my sons. And there they were all just incredible and went along for the ride.

You mentioned you have trouble with catfishing in your real life. Adrian, what was your reaction to the first time you read the script?

AG:  I mean, it's a complex web of media malice. I mean, there's so many twists and turns not only in the storyline but also in the meta-story of what people are saying and projecting and reading and believing. It's really hard to know which way is up and which way is down. That's an exciting role to play, to say the least. It's like any psychological thriller work where you can't really necessarily believe what's on the surface. And I mean it is a scary world, it can be scary, I think it's just asking us as a society to level up and learn how to better handle all of this technology. 

Is the story meant to serve as a bit of a mirror and/or maybe a warning, would you say? 

AG: I think one hundred percent. I really only want to do projects that have a deeper meaning or have something to share with the audience beyond just the story. Anybody can put some twists and turns into a plot and some surprises, but very few projects actually get to a deeper meaning and challenge the audience to think more. 

This was filmed in Australia, correct? Betty, what was that experience like filming in Australia?

BG: This is actually my second time working in Australia at the same in the same city, same studios, which is strange. But, yeah, it's a pretty fascinating place being from America. I would say we're really different. And it's evident in the fact that they don't have guns there at all. I don't know how they did that, but it's pretty impressive. And, you know, how they dealt with covid was really impressive. Everyone said yes to the mandates and to all the restrictions and rules. And I just, that is not happening in America, and I don't know how they pull that off. 

Nick Brewer (Grenier) is a loving father, husband, and brother, who one day suddenly and mysteriously disappears. A video appears on the internet of the badly beaten Nick holding a card that says "I abuse women. At 5 million views, I die". Is this a threat or confession? Or both? As his sister (Kazan) and wife (Gabriel) rush to find and save him, they uncover a side of Nick they didn't know existed. An eight-episode limited series told from revolving points of view, Clickbait is a compelling, high stakes thriller that explores the ways in which our most dangerous and uncontrolled impulses are fueled in the age of social media, revealing the ever-widening fractures we find between our virtual and real-life personas.

Clickbait stars Zoe Kazan (The Plot Against America, The Deuce), Betty Gabriel (Get Out, Counterpart), Adrian Grenier (Entourage, Affairs of State) Phoenix Raei (Stateless, The Heights) Abraham Lim (The Catch), Jessica Collins (Revolution), Ian Meadows (Dead Lucky), Daniel Henshall (Okja), Motell Foster (Foxhole), Jaylin Fletcher (Snowpiercer) and Camaron Engels (Malibu Rescue) from Tony Ayres (The Slap), David Heyman (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Harry Potter, Gravity), NBCUniversal International Studios and Australian-based Matchbox Pictures. Co-written by Ayres and Christian White, Clickbait is the first Netflix original series to be made in Victoria and will be produced at Melbourne's Docklands Studios, employing the Oz government's Location Incentive program. Film Victoria's Production Incentive Attraction Fund also supports.

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