Lizzy Caplan, Adam Brody interview: On still being recognised for Mean Girls, Gilmore Girls and more

Based on a book of the same name, dramedy series Fleishman Is In Trouble follows the recently divorced Toby Fleishman (Jesse Eisenberg), who dives into the world of app-based dating. But just at the start of his first summer of rediscovering singlehood, his ex-wife Rachel (Claire Danes) disappears, leaving him with the kids and no hint of where she is. Part story of a failing marriage, part whodunnit, the series, which will soon be streaming in India on Disney+ Hotstar, also stars Adam Brody and Lizzy Caplan as Toby’s closest friends from college whom he turns to for advice and comfort.

Both Brody and Caplan have built a sizable body of work across film and television. Brody is arguably most known as the forever lovable Seth Cohen from The OC, as well as films like The Kid Detective. He’s even jumped onto the superhero bandwagon with 2019’s Shazam and its upcoming sequel. Similarly, Caplan is known for her role in the pop culture phenomenon masquerading as a movie Mean Girls, and more recently in shows like Masters Of Sex and movies like Now You See Me 2.

Over Zoom, the two actors spoke to me about what they get recognised for most, what they’re tired of getting offered and breaking the typecasting curse.

Edited Excerpts:

You’ve both built a significant body of work across film and TV. What do both of you get recognised for most?

Lizzy Caplan: Definitely Mean Girls.

Adam Brody: It’s got to be The OC for me. I mean there are some runner-ups, but it’s mainly that. It’s so funny to be most recognised for Seth which I played when I was a kid (laughs) but yeah, it’s him.

Can you tell? When someone comes up to you, can either of you guess what it is they’re going to recognise you for?

Lizzy Caplan: Actually yes, I can usually guess. If it’s a woman in her 50s or 60s, it’s a Masters Of Sex conversation. I’ve had a lot of explicit conversations with women of a certain age. They like that show and talking about their sex lives to me. And then of course Mean Girls tends to be younger kids. And these are younger kids now too which is so weird because that version of high school is so different from theirs.

Adam Brody: I think I get more younger people for Gilmore Girls. I was on that show for a bit and people love a Gilmore Girls rewatch.

Is there a kind of role either of you is tired of getting offered?

Lizzy Caplan: I think, for me, that was more of a question from before. I feel like I have no complaints now, I get a lot of varied things to read, so I think I’ve managed to go beyond that.

Adam Brody: I think we’ve aged out of it (laughs). But no, the recent roles have been much more varied. Even just the other day, my friend offered me something very different and I said “do you think I can do it?”, and he said “yeah”.

Lizzy Caplan: It’s the only goal. To do many different things and not feel pressured into the same thing over and over again, and I feel like if you are super famous, it can happen on that end too. You want to stay somewhere in the middle.

The nature of being an actor is you’re often required to pick up very strange and specific skills as part of projects. What’s the strangest skill either of you have had to pick up for a project?

Lizzy Caplan: I’m terrible at picking up skills. I was supposed to learn how to ride a horse for a movie, and I couldn’t even do that. And then the movie I did with Jesse Eisenberg (Now You See Me 2) for which I had to learn a few magic tricks, but I’ve forgotten them now.

Adam Brody: I think I need to play some people with special skills because I’ve had to pick up very few. I’ve got no skills. Maybe I should play a chef. Or a sniper.

Lizzy Caplan: Maybe a sniping chef?