You might not look at reality TV the same way once you get hooked on Lifetime's new drama UnREAL , which follows a fictional reality dating show called Everlasting during production. Breeda Wool, who plays Faith on UnREAL and a contestant on Everlasting hoping to find love, really got in the head of her Mississippi character for the show. For Wool, this included reading The Bible, listening to country, and watching rodeos. "It was a lot of fun to walk in those cowboy boots," she tells me.
"I read most of [The Bible]," Wool says, then mentioning that some crew would recommend certain passages for her character if the messages pertained to the role. Wool also listened to a lot of country music, and explains that she actually "got really into Shania Twain." Throw watching rodeo footage in the mix, specifically a documentary featuring two bull-riding women, and you've got yourself Faith from Mississippi.
In the pilot episode of UnREAL, it wasn't difficult to feel for Faith, as she seemed to be naive to the cruelty and manipulation the producers were so ready to throw at her (Faith is called a "linebacker in a jumpsuit" at one point). Wool's character seems to be on Everlasting for all the right reasons — to use that well-worn reality show phrase — so seeing her at the hands of producers who will say or do anything to get drama is painful. And while we will have to watch too see what direction her Everlasting journey goes, Wool does offer up some hints as to how Faith's character will build throughout the season.
"[Faith] is accustom to doing what it is that people want her to do," she says. "I think over the course of the show, because of the sort of pressure she is under for being on Everlasting, she ends up finding out what it is that she really wants. The show brings out in her, her true desires and true wants in life," Wool explains, as opposed to doing what everyone around her wants.
This journey of Faith's character building seems like an even more important journey than that of the "journey of love" the show circles around, but I still have to wonder what is in store for Everlasting and UnREAL. I ask Wool to tease viewers using only emojis, and her response does not disappoint.
Judging by these emoji choices, I'd say that there's a lot of romance, heartbreak, eggplant (!?!?), and drama coming up for the rest of UnREAL, making this the most... dramatic... series... ever (said in my best Chris Harrison voice).
Images: James Dittiger, Joseph Viles/Lifetime; Emojis Courtesy of Breeda Wool
