LOS ANGELES, May 13 (UPI) — Scott Foley said he related to his character on It’s Not Like That,” premiering Friday on Prime Video, because he reminded him of his own father. Foley plays Malcolm, a widower pastor raising three children.
In a recent Zoom interview with UPI, Foley, 53, said his own mother died when he was 15. He regrets being so hard on his own father.
“I’m basically playing a version of my father whose life I made hell at 15 years old after losing my mom,” Foley said. “So there’s penance that I’m paying on this show which I’m happy to pay forward.”
Erinn Hayes plays Lori, the best friend of Malcolm’s wife. At the same time Lori and Malcolm are grieving, Lori is going through a divorce. Lori has a teenage son and daughter herself.
“Grief is the ticket you pay after love,” Hayes, 49, said. “There was so much love between Malcolm and his wife. There was so much love between my character and her best friend who passed.”
Lori’s husband, David (J.R. Ramirez), ended the marriage. Their friend’s death reminded him life is short and he had regrets about marrying young.
Still, David recognizes how hard the divorce is for their children. Ramirez, 45, appreciated how the show portrayed David’s struggle.
“I realize he’s not a villain,” Ramirez said. “There’s no villain in this story. He’s just someone trying to figure it out not having the answers. He’s so relatable.”
In the first episode of It’s Not Like That, Malcolm and Lori kiss. Foley and Hayes recognized that most shows delay a kiss between their leads for as long as possible.
“It’s not the ‘will they/won’t they’ because they have,” Foley said. “It’s the ‘what happens once they have?’ That’s where the real drama comes in.”
Were Malcolm and Lori to pursue a romance, it would not only complicate her divorce, but further complicate Malcolm and David’s friendship and complicate things for their children.
“The way their lives are entwined, the kiss is complicated,” Hayes said. “There’s a lot of things to consider if you’re going to put these two people together and they are considering it. So I love that it starts with it.”
Foley was at the center of a classic TV love triangle on Felicity. As a father and pastor, Malcolm has much more to consider.
“What did it mean? Who else needs to know? Can we keep it a secret? Where are we going from here?” Foley asked. “There are so many questions, and I think that’s the beauty of what the writers have done for us. They’ve left it open ended.”
The writers have allowed David some redemption too, Ramirez said. The series will see David taking responsibility for his actions.
“You see the other side of this man who hits his head on the ground and wakes up and is like, ‘Shoot, I need to take responsibility for my actions,'” Ramirez said. “Maybe the decision I made wasn’t what I wanted. He’s really trying to figure it out and there’s a beauty in that.”
Lori and Malcolm try to date again, which involves texting and dating apps in 2026. Both actors have been married over 20 years and view dating apps with horror.
“The internet wasn’t around when I started dating, much less dating apps and social media,” Foley said. “It’s insane right now. That’s beautiful character dynamics for this show to have to deal with that.”
Hayes said her single friends have filled her in.
“Everybody switches back and forth,” Hayes said. “Oh, I was on this for a while, now I got off that. Now I’m back on Bumble. Now I’m back on this. It seems exhausting and I feel very lucky to not be on it and very privileged to get to do this part where I get to explore it in a fake world.”