- Nobody Wants This is set to hit our screens with season two later this year
- And now Leighton Meester will be joining the cast
- Meester already has some very personal connections to the show
Every so often, a rom-com hits Netflix that grips the world (we’re looking at you, One Day) – and in September last year, Nobody Wants This did just that.
And fans are in luck – as season two of the hit show will begin filming in March, and is expected to hit the streaming service at some point later this year.
As well as the original cast (more on that later), there will be a few new faces in the show this series, as we find out what will happen with the seemingly ill-fated romance between podcast host Joanne (played by Kristen Bell), and Jewish Rabbi Noah Roklov (Adam Brody).
And viewers went wild – as it was announced that Leighton Meester will be joining the season two cast of Nobody Wants This.
Featuring as Abby in season two, the character is described as Joanne’s middle school nemesis who is now an Instagram mommy influencer.
Meester already has several links to Nobody Wants This. Not only did she star in Gossip Girl – with Kristen Bell voicing the titular character – but she has been married to Brody since 2014.
Who else is in the Nobody Wants This cast?
Alongside Meester, Brody and Bell, the original cast are all expected to return in season two.
Joanne’s younger sister and podcast co-host Morgan is played by Justine Lupe; while Timothy Simons takes on the part of Sasha, Noah’s older brother, and Jackie Tohn will take up her position as his wife, Esther.
Joanne and Morgan’s parents, Lynn and Henry, are portrayed by Stephanie Faracy and Michael Hitchcock; and Tovah Feldshuh and Paul Ben-Victor play Bina and Ilan Roklov, Noah and Sasha’s mom and dad.
Others in the returning cast are thought to be:
- Emily Arlook as Rebecca, Noah’s Jewish almost fiancée
- Sherry Cola as Ashley, Joanne’s best friend and podcast agent – and the woman who inadvertently set her up with Noah
- Shiloh Bearman as Miriam Roklov, Sasha and Esther’s daughter
- Stephen Tobolowsky as Rabbi Cohen, the head rabbi and Noah’s boss at the Temple Chai
- D’Arcy Carden as Ryann, Joanne’s friend
- Ryan Hansen as Kyle, a former fling of Joanne’s
- Leslie Grossman as Rabbi Shira
And alongside Meester’s new character, Miles Fowler will also be a new addition to the show – playing Lenny, one of Noah’s Matzah Ballers basketball squad teammates who gets set up with Morgan.
Is Nobody Wants This based on a true story?
While a lot of the story is fictional, Nobody Wants This is loosely based on the early beginnings of writer Erin Foster’s relationship with her now-husband, Simon Tikhman.
Like Noah, Tikhman is Jewish – and Foster (who, FYI, also hosts The World’s First Podcast with her sister, Sara) converted to the religion so they could be married.
Foster originally wanted to play the role of Joanne herself – but on Netflix’s insistence, the part went to Bell.
