Adam Brody and Kristen Bell. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Netflix
Kristen Bell and Adam Brody‘s onscreen chemistry is like no other.
The duo star in Netflix’s rom-com series, Nobody Wants This, which hit the streaming platform in late September 2024. Along with Bell, sisters Erin Foster and Sara Foster serve as executive producers.
In the show, Bell stars as Joanne, a podcaster producer and host who has a history of picking the wrong guys. For his part, Brody stars as Noah, a handsome rabbi she meets at a mutual friend’s dinner party.
While speaking to TV Line ahead of the season 1 premiere, Brody — who has worked with Bell numerous times — addressed the pair’s undeniable onscreen chemistry.
“I knew we had great chemistry. I knew how talented and fun she is,” Brody told the outlet. “But it actually wasn’t until I saw the first episode shortly thereafter, that I, like, saw the chemistry and said, ‘Oh, OK, this is real.’”
Erin, whose life the series is loosely based upon, added, “They just have, like, unreal chemistry. It’s crazy, because they’re friends in real life. They don’t have that chemistry off-camera. There’s no, like, sexual tension on set, and then the camera goes, and it’s like, ‘Holy s—!’ It’s really there.”
Keep reading for everything Bell and Brody have said about their chemistry in Nobody Wants This.
Previously Working Together
Costarring in Nobody Wants This isn’t the first time Bell and Brody have shared the screen together. The pair previously worked together on House of Lies, Scream 4, CHiPs and Some Girl(s).
“You get incredibly familiar with someone on set within a few hours; if I sit here with you for three more hours, we’re going to know each other pretty well and be comfortable,” Brody said in a September 2024 interview with the Los Angeles Times. “It’s not like something that can’t be acquired, but I do think having worked together before, knowing that we got along, knowing that we work well together — you know there’s a high floor, if that’s the phrase. You’re starting from a good place. How high you can go is still an open question.”
The Importance of Extended Eye Contact
Adam Brody and Kristen Bell in ‘Nobody Wants This.’ Netflix
Bell talked about the importance of eye contact when filming a rom-com like Nobody Wants This in two separate interviews in September 2024.
“Adam can stare longingly into someone’s eyes for an extended period of time — and so can I,” Bell told Harper’s Bazaar. “And not to burst everyone’s bubble, but [the onscreen connection comes from] the math of that, the anticipation of that. If someone can hold it with you and you know that they can stay in that eye contact space, you are going to crack a lens.”
She told the L.A. Times: “As a rom-com, and particularly this one that so often leans into just the eye contact and no dialogue, I know he has a mode where he can just stare deeply into somebody’s eyes for an uncomfortable amount of time. I also have that mode. It’s just a trick in the magician’s bag. Some actors can do it, and some actors can’t, in my opinion. I was like, ‘Well, I know I can do it. I know Adam can do it. We can fill all the space.’”
Admiration
“I’ve been a fan of Kristen’s for a very long time. I think she’s a flawless comedian and actor all around,” Brody told the L.A. Times in September 2024. “I still can see you in modes I haven’t even seen you in yet, but I know you know you can do it and I can picture it, because I think you’re tonally very, very versatile.
Knowing Adam Brody’s ‘Zones’
For her part, Bell gushed about knowing her costar’s strengths and how he’s able to play into them onscreen.
“I feel like I know Adam’s zones, and I feel like that’s because I have watched a lot of stuff he’s been in. I’m a big fan of his work,” she told the L.A. Times in September 2024, adding that her husband, Dax Shepard, has cast Brody in movies he’s directed.
She continued, “I knew when I read the script, this had to be a person who led with charm and intelligence and vulnerability, and I just know he has those modes very easily.”
Their Steamy Smooch
When asked about their characters’ first kiss early on in the series, both Bell and Brody reflected on how they got the “greatest kiss of all time” just right.
“I think what’s clear to both of us is that the butterflies and the heart palpitations live in the anticipation — the lead-up is so much more romantic than the actual kiss,” Bell told Harper’s Bazaar in September 2024, noting that the take that made it into the show “wasn’t scripted.”
Brody added, “I don’t think we talked about this either, but we might have — but maybe the thing that felt the most real to me is then we stop [kissing], and then you’ve got to go, and then there’s another quick kiss. That, to me, feels so organic, true to life — the first time you’re making out with somebody, and it’s so great and you don’t want to say goodbye, and it’s like you’re kissing until the last second.”
Dax Shepard’s Stamp of Approval
In an interview with TV Line in September 2024, Bell shared that her husband was hooked from the very first episode, thanks to their chemistry.
“When I was showing my husband the first episode, he grabbed my arm during that scene and goes, ‘God, I want you guys to kiss so bad!’” she recalled. “Like, it was affecting him, and I’m like, ‘Oh, we’ve done something really special.’”
