Equal parts survival drama, thriller, and coming-of-age, Amazon Prime Video's newest teen series The Wilds tells the story of a rag-tag group of girls who, under the guise of vacationing at a women-only, self-care retreat, are stranded on a deserted island, and with all the surprising twists, turns, and mess that the motley encounters on their journey to save themselves and get back home, it's safe to say the show is our new favorite binge-watch of the season! (And did we mention it's also queer AF?)
PRIDE got to talk to the ensemble cast and the creative team behind The Wilds about queer representation, first heartbreak, the importance of women calling the shots behind the camera, and more!
"I think one of the strongest parts of Toni's character is how strongly she knows herself and how strongly she asserts that in her life," Erana James, who plays queer character Toni, told PRIDE when asked about bringing LGBTQ+ representation to the series. "When we were about to start reading scripts and see just how solid and confident she is in her sexuality, that was just so beautiful to tell. I was just able to tell a story of love and what it means to love someone, whoever they are. And I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to tell that story."
"It was super lucky that when me and Erana met, we became instantly really, really close friends," Mia Healey — who plays Shelby, one of Toni's fellow castaways with whom she shares a tension-filled frenemy dynamic that quickly becomes something more — said when asked about building chemistry with Erana. "We ended up like living in L.A. together for three months, and then living together back in New Zealand for a while. So, that chemistry was kind of already there, because we knew each other so well. And once we became that close, and we were getting sort of scenes that we had to dive into, we just sort of lent into it. We were living together, and we just kind of experimented with ideas and talked in-depth about the scene and about the characters and laid out our intentions and what we wanted from each person in that scene. And I guess just having that open conversation around it made all the difference, I think."
"I think women can write men and men can write women and we can all sort of explore different types of characters, but obviously, having women's point of views on shows that are about strong women is very important," executive producer and showrunner Amy B. Harris said when asked about the importance of having women behind-the-scenes calling the shots, especially on a show where the main cast is all women.
She continued:
"I think it's important that people are represented on screen and then behind-the-scenes so that everything feels authentic. That, to me, is the key to authenticity."
The Wilds is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video!
