When Erin Foster began writing the script for Nobody Wants This, “I really pictured me on the poster,” she says. The creator of the Emmy-nominated Netflix rom-com is only half joking, as the story of Joanne (Kristen Bell) — an agnostic 30-something sex podcaster who falls for Noah (Adam Brody), a rabbi — is loosely based on Foster and her husband’s real-life love story. And though the series originally was written for Foster to star in, when it came to remaining behind the scenes, she says, “I was very happy to hand the reins over to Kristen.

“Netflix wanted Kristen in the role because they’d worked with her a handful of times and they knew the power of Kristen,” Foster says of Bell, who earned her first Emmy nom for her portrayal in the series. “We didn’t look at anybody else, really.”

How did you know Adam was your Noah?

As soon as Kristen got cast, she felt really strongly that it should be Adam, but we wanted to audition and see what our options were because we kind of had the pick of the litter. We auditioned every Jewish guy in, not even America [but also] from here to Zimbabwe, and none of them felt right. There’s something about the character where he needs to be funny, but he can’t have darkness. A lot of comedians have an edge or a bite that Noah doesn’t have. He has warmth, and we really didn’t find that combination. So, eventually she was like, “I said it should be Adam.” She was right.

I hadn’t realized the original title for the series was Shiksa (a Yiddish word used to describe a non-Jewish woman).

I was really attached to it being called Shiksa because it was Shiksa for three years, and I liked the punchiness of it. At the end of the day, Netflix really knows what they’re doing and knew that that just wasn’t commercial enough. It’s hard to say internationally — it would’ve been really confusing for people. … Ted [Sarandos] knows best.

This series came out at a time where there’s a lot of conversation around Jewish identity. How do you feel that played into the response to the show?

It was really important to me and continues to be really important to tell positive Jewish stories. I know that it can be polarizing, but it shouldn’t be. This is not the show to tackle conflict in Israel and Palestine. I’m not the person to tell that story. And after [the attacks on] Oct. 7 happened, there were conversations around if we were going to dive into it, and the truth is, the way that I can get my message across best is by shedding a positive light on Jewish characters and Jewish traditions. I don’t think somebody watching wants to see another voice give you their opinion on what’s happening. 

Did you think viewers might have a hard time finding Noah and Joanne’s relationship believable?

That was top of mind for me because we watch a lot of rom-coms where you really just can’t picture these two people actually liking each other. Sometimes we get really carried away with formulas of opposites attract, and we take it to such an extreme that you go, “These people really would not be able to make it work.” So I couldn’t make Joanne that wild and crazy, and I couldn’t make Noah too conservative, because they really wouldn’t have anything in common. 

Did you wrestle with how much of yourself to put into the series?

I always have to be careful to not think that everything that happens in my life and my relationship is going to translate and be right for a script, and the best way to figure that out is really in the writers room.

How did you pull off shooting in L.A.?

In some ways, it’s my lack of experience doing this because when you’ve been doing this for long enough, you learn that it’s easier to build stages and just be at a studio. I sort of haven’t been ruined by the system yet, where I was still hopeful and I pushed and begged. As a viewer, I watched so many shows with really bad sets, and I hate seeing a fake light coming from a window or a fake restaurant. It takes me out of a show. So I really fought for it, and in a positive way, I got my way. But it also was hard to do.

What has the positive response to the show meant to you?

I grew up in L.A. and I grew up around the entertainment business, and I’ve been in a lot of rooms where I felt insecure. “What do I tell them that I do for a living?” Or, “How do I bring up the last project that I worked on?” You always want to feel like you’re an interesting, relevant person for someone to talk to, and I really felt the shift this past year. Like, “OK, I have something to contribute. I’m not the person you got stuck sitting next to.” 

This story first appeared in an August stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.