I Am Not Okay With This, an adaptation of Charles Forsman’s graphic novel, has taken Netflix by storm. The coming-of-age story adds an element of the supernatural by giving its protagonist telekinetic powers, which double as a metaphor for uncontrollable emotions and hidden rage.
Sophia Lillis plays the heroine in question, Sydney Novak, and she is aided in the most confusing time of her adolescence by her neighbor Stanley, played by her It costar Wyatt Oleff. As fellow outcasts, Sydney and Stanley have a lot in common and learn to see the world differently together. The two young actors chatted with Screen Rant about how their characters grow and develop over the course of the show’s first season.
First and foremost, guys, amazing job on this show. I watched it all the way through; it was a pretty easy watch. This takes a little influence from something like Stranger Things and Chronicle. How would you guys describe the show?
Talk to me a little bit about your characters. You guys are reteaming again, obviously playing different characters than you played in It. You’re playing Stan again but a completely different version, which I love, by the way. Talk to me about Sydney and Stan, and their relationship.
Wyatt Oleff: I haven’t heard Chronicle before, but I like that comparison.
Yeah, I’d say it’s an irreverent origin story. I feel like that’s how everyone’s describing it, but that’s the way to describe it. I don’t think there’s a lot of ways to interpret it, because Jonathan with his directing style is so direct. So, I think that’s just kind of a way he wants the show to be seen, and I think he’s pretty happy with that.
The mystery really revolves around Sydney and really unfolds from there. How do you think the general audience is going to relate to Sydney?
Sophia Lillis: Well, Sydney, kind of has a closed life. She only has one friend, and that’s basically her only confidante; the only thing that she looks to. Suddenly, when Stan comes along and then she also kind of figures out that she has superpowers, he kind of shows her a whole new world and a whole new way of looking at herself and acting and being.
How her actions may have consequences and how she acts in front of people. Because she’s not a jerk, but she’s, you know… And he kind of makes her a different person, and she suddenly has a whole new world and a whole new relationship other than her very closed amount of friends. One friend.
There’s some underlying issues with fathers in this. Can you talk to me about how Stan relates with his father? By the way, Stan’s a snappy dresser. Talk about his relationship with his father, which kind of molds the person that he is.
Sophia Lillis: Well, I feel like she’s very relatable, in the way that she she kind of acts and her choices. And in the way that she really just wants to do the best she can and try to lead a life that she wants; just a normal life.
You admire her a lot and, at same time, you can see yourself a lot in her. The way she just really wants to be with her friend; our very wholesome wants and needs are very… You think, “I’ve been there before.”
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Wyatt Oleff: Yeah. The way I view it, I believe that Stan wants to be almost the complete opposite of his father. You only get very small glimpses of what his dad is like, and through that, you can kind of understand why Stanley acts the way he does. It’s very subtle, but I think that storytelling is really strong there.
And for me, the way I interpreted it was, Stanley just wants to act like a completely different person to really not be what his dad is. And I think that’s one of the main driving factors of his personality. Yeah, just a nice little detail there.
