Geekscape Interviews: Jessica Rothe on ‘Parallels’ and the Potential for Series

“I’m a little technologically inept,” she tells me, referencing her lack of social media presence.

“And you were in a sci-fi movie?” I ask her, bewildered.

“I know, right? I’m the worst geek ever.” A ball of enthusiasm and energy, Colorado-native Jessica Rothe stars in the now-buzzing indie sci-fi movie Parallels, available now for streaming on Netflix and for iTunes and other VOD platforms March 31. She also does not have a Twitter account.

I need to mention a little off-topic how much I love Geekscape and our community. My review for the film gave the site massive traffic and our comments activity had never been higher. You guys even started your own petition to get the pilot-turned-movie back on track to series. I happily signed it, and I hope we can continue to explore the bizarre world Parallels created.

While director Christopher Leone has told us directly that Parallels might continue and is working hard behind the scenes to ensure that it does, if Parallels remain just as a film then what a film we have. Among the characters we follow for its runtime, there stands Beatrix. Her world has passed her by, and just as she seems to get her feet planted, away she’s tossed into different Earths before she even had the chance to say otherwise.

Awhile back I sat down with Jessica Rothe about the film, her hopes for the potential series, and how she could be a sci-fi writer in the making.

Let’s kick this off right and get to know you, Jessica Rothe, better. What do you geek over?

Jessica: I love, love love reading. My boyfriend recently introduced me to graphic novels, which I had never really read before. I’ve been reading the Saga series and things like that.

Very cool.

Jessica: I can totally begin to geek out over that. But I’ll read anything from To Kill a Mockingbird to 1984 and I’ll definitely geek out over some Bob’s Burgers as well.

So let’s talk about Parallels. What can you tell me about Beatrix in your own words? Adulthood has kind of started without her. Is there anything you found in her that you could relate?

Jessica: I think that I relate to Beatrix in the way that she’s extremely hard-working and compassionate person who, just along the way, things haven’t quite gone to plan but she’s learned to adapt and roll with the punches. And she’s finally worked so hard and achieved in getting into college, and not just college but into Harvard (Author’s note: It was actually Princeton, but I don’t think it’s that crucial, do you?) and then her life takes an unexpected twist and she has to kind of figure out how that fits into everything.

I can definitely relate to working really hard towards something and then having the world kind of say, “Oh, just kidding! You’re gonna go in a different direction.” And kind of having to figure out how to use that to your advantage. And yeah, kind of that reconnecting with a long lost sibling and learning how to be a family again, I think it’s a really interesting journey.

In your interpretation, how do you think Beatrice feels about her relationships to her companions? What do you think her dynamic with her estranged brother is really like? How do you think she sees Harold?

Jessica: With Ronan, I think it’s kind of like when you go away to college and you come back and you’re this brand new person but everybody at home is treating you exactly the same. And that’s really frustrating, because you want them to see you and respect you as this new person. [So] Ronan comes back and still really views Beatrix as his little sister, but Beatrix has been the one to grow and stayed home to hold down the fort. So there’s an element of frustration and anger and feeling abandoned. But I think she’s also very curious who this new person is, this brother that she hasn’t seen in such a long time.

And with Harold, [laughs] I think in this world Beatrix has such great affection for him and love for him, but I think that he’s that guy she’s never even considered. I think that every time that her brother so clearly sees that he’s [Harold] interested, I think it’s the kind of situation where it’s, like “Oh, no no no, he’s just my friend!” She tends to nearly justify his interest in her as just being friends, whether it’s because she isn’t ready to look at their relationship as more than that or just that she’s clueless in a way that girls can be. [laughs]

So Parallels might go to series, possibly. Is that true?

Jessica: Yeah, which would be so exciting! For me, what’s so exciting about [Parallels] becoming a series is that I think the audience gets a taste of what’s in store for them, like three-fourths into the pilot when we begin to see versions of themselves pop up and you kind of get that … sick little joy [from them] in wondering how many different versions of themselves they’re gonna run into and the conundrums that the characters are gonna fall into.

I know that the viewing that I saw when that started happening, the audience really became engaged … because it’s so exciting to realize the potential for what it could mean. How big this world could be.

I think with infinite Earths, it’s gotta be pretty huge.

Jessica: Yeah! [laughs]

About Polly, Constance Wu’s character. Do you think Beatrix trusts her in any way?

Jessica: I think Beatrix is pretty wary of her. I think Beatrix is a trusting person and wants to trust her, but I think that there’s just something in her gut that she’s not quite sure how she feels about her. [laughs] And she knows something is a little off because I think Beatrix is also really intuitive. I think the difference between her and Ronan is Ronan has an impulse and acts upon it, but Beatrix is more likely to kind of sit back and watch, and kind of determine how she’s going to proceed.

So I think with Polly, she’s probably the most likely to pick up on the oddities that keep on happening and kind of tracking it. And I mean, I don’t know because who knows where the show will go, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Beatrix was the one who figures it out unless Harold, like, walks in on them accidentally.

That’d be a hell of a moment.

Jessica: Yeah! [laughs]

Should Parallels go to series, what kind of adventures would you want Beatrix to go through? The character arcs in the film were kind of unfinished because of the cliffhanger ending, but where do you think Beatrix will end up in the theoretical first season?

Jessica: Oh my goodness. That’s an amazing question! I really hope for Beatrix that she finds peace with whatever they learn about their parents and that there’s some sort of closure for her about their family. I really think that so much of what’s motivated her for her whole life has been trying to repair the damage that was caused when the family broke apart, and finding that wholeness would really feel good to her.

I also hope that she, in one of the Earths, she gets to go to Harvard. She kind of gets to fulfill her dreams in that way and gets to feel like she has a place in the universe where she belongs. That’s what school represents to her, it’s feeling like she has a purpose and feels like she’s going somewhere. She has a use. If this journey gives her that, then I think that’s a really exciting element for her.

I’m also really excited to see how all of the characters continue to adapt. The fact that they’re consistently changing, I think that’s one of the most exciting things about the show. It’s that you put four characters who you begin to know very well in various situations and that you watch them have to figure it out. And whether they fail or triumph, and kind of all of the wonderful and horrible and funny and heartbreaking things that happen along the way with that.

Fun question: What kind of alternate realities would you like to see? What kind of Earth would you like to see? Like, “I wish XYZ happened instead.”

Jessica: Oh my gosh. I mean, I think an Earth — and to keep it just one answer, would be an Earth where slavery and people using each other wasn’t ever thought of.

Oh, wow.

Jessica: An Earth where people were just equal on all terms. Although with human nature I don’t even think that’s possible and I don’t know how it’d work out. But I think a fun one, I think it would be interesting to see one where humans decided to live underwater.

Wow, so like an Atlantis?

Jessica: All of the communities, underwater. That would just be completely different.

You should be a science-fiction writer.

Jessica: [laughs] Maybe you can help me. If they pick up the show you can give me a writing credit.

While we hope Parallels succeeds so we can see more of you and the rest, can you tell us any future projects you have in the works? I saw your IMDb, you have like five movies coming out.

Jessica: I do! A film I did two years ago with my really, really wonderful friend Hannah Murray, it’s screening in LA [soon]. We were just at the TIFF New Wave festival where the film premiered, and so I get to see Hannah again. As for the rest of them, I have no idea when they’re gonna come out. The Preppy Connection, which was an amazing, amazing film I did with Thomas Mann, Lucy Fry and Logan Huffman is going to come out [soon], I think they’re looking to finish the edit this month.

The crazy thing is, I come from a theatre background and I’m so used to knowing what my timeline is. You perform for four months and then you’re done, but with film I do what I do on set and then it’s out of my hands. So I have no idea when I’m going to see it! [laughs] But I’ve been very blessed to work on many different projects with wonderful people.

Parallels is now streaming on Netflix and will be available for other VOD platforms March 31.